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If Sri Ram and Dharam Raj Yudhishthir were Chakravarti Samrats and whole world followed Sanatan Dharma, does that mean people all over earth people followed caste system?

How come we have Hinduism alive only in handful countries coz Pandavas were alive 5 K yrs ago in such small time how whole world got converted ?

If conversion is the case how come Muslims in Pakistan and Bangladesh still follow caste system ?

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    Because in Kaliyuga, majority of people worship body as soul and only reality and reject the ancient Laws of reincarnation and Moksha and burning pyres of dead ones. Hence, new Abrahmic religions were created for them. Today only around 20% of world population i.e. Hindus, Buddhist etc., only believe in reincarnation, law of Karma. Hence, world is full of adharma, violence, materialistic way of life, have no fear of wrong actions leading to effects of Kaliyug as mentioned in Hindu scriptures. But this will change as the Dwapra ascends in future. hinduism.stackexchange.com/a/35411/16530
    – user16530
    Nov 1, 2019 at 14:44
  • Hello and welcome to Hinduism.SE! Thank you for your contribution, but I think this question may be a duplicate of hinduism.stackexchange.com/questions/18006/… Nov 1, 2019 at 21:23
  • See - hinduism.stackexchange.com/questions/18006/…
    – ram
    Nov 1, 2019 at 23:56
  • "Pandavas were alive 5 K years ago" - where did you get that from?
    – iruvar
    Nov 2, 2019 at 22:19
  • @iruvar, from the dating of Mahabhrata, which happened before Kali yuga started in 3102 B.C
    – ram
    Nov 3, 2019 at 2:21

3 Answers 3

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As per Gita 18.67

इदं ते नातपस्काय नाभक्ताय कदाचन | न चाशुश्रूषवे वाच्यं न च मां योऽभ्यसूयति || 67||

idaṁ te nātapaskyāya nābhaktāya kadāchana na chāśhuśhruṣhave vāchyaṁ na cha >māṁ yo ‘bhyasūtayi

This roughly translates to

This instruction should never be explained to those who are not austere or to those who are not devoted. It should also not be spoken to those who are averse to listening (to spiritual topics), and especially not to those who are envious of me.

As you can see there are instructions in Gita itself to not bother with those who are not interested in the matter. So no point for sages to go around the world preaching about Dharma etc, and thus Hinduism is alive in few countries.

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The questions are:

How come we have Hinduism alive only in handful countries coz Pandavas were alive 5 K yrs ago in such small time how whole world got converted ?

If conversion is the case how come Muslims in Pakistan and Bangladesh still follow caste system ?


The Oldest literature of Sanatana Dharma aka Hinduism is the Veda.

The Veda, per se, advocates Self enquiry, but not idol/god's messenger/saints worship. So BASIC tenets of Sanatana Dharma aka Hinduism rest on ONE formless God/pure spiritual concepts only.

The subtle concepts of SPIRITUALITY were expressed in the Veda had been spread through out the World in earlier era, in ONE form or the other.

The Adam and Eve story from Abrahamic religions, has roots in the Rig Vedic mantra.(Rig Veda I.164.20)

दवा सुपर्णा सयुजा सखाया समानं वर्क्षं परि षस्वजाते | तयोरन्यः पिप्पलं सवाद्वत्त्यनश्नन्नन्यो अभि चाकशीति ||

Two Birds with fair wings, knit with bonds of friendship, in the same sheltering tree have found a refuge. One of the twain eats the sweet Fig-tree's fruitage; the other eating not regardeth only.


Coming to the aspect of existence of Hinduism in a handful of countries, the following is my opinion.

  1. if one takes the ONE God concept of the Veda, then we can understand that almost all the Abrahmic religions are also following the same. Then, we can surmise that the majority of the population in the World also following Sanatana Dharma.

  2. if we consider the ritualistic methods of present day Hinduism, then we have to accept that only a handful countries are following that way.


Coming to the practice of caste system in Muslims, I think it is an off-topic.

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Hinduism did not spread to other countries because, the religion does not believe in converting people from other religion, like Christianity and Islam. Hinduism also believes in live and let live with other religions.

Hinduism Beliefs

Hinduism embraces many religious ideas. For this reason, it’s sometimes referred to as a “way of life” or a “family of religions,” as opposed to a single, organized religion. Most forms of Hinduism are henotheistic, which means they worship a single deity, known as “Brahman,” but still recognize other gods and goddesses. Followers believe there are multiple paths to reaching their god. Hindus believe in the doctrines of samsara (the continuous cycle of life, death, and reincarnation) and karma (the universal law of cause and effect). One of the key thoughts of Hinduism is “atman,” or the belief in soul. This philosophy holds that living creatures have a soul, and they’re all part of the supreme soul. The goal is to achieve “moksha,” or salvation, which ends the cycle of rebirths to become part of the absolute soul. One fundamental principle of the religion is the idea that people’s actions and thoughts directly determine their current life and future lives. Hindus strive to achieve dharma, which is a code of living that emphasizes good conduct and morality. Hindus revere all living creatures and consider the cow a sacred animal. Food is an important part of life for Hindus. Most don’t eat beef or pork, and many are vegetarians. Hinduism is closely related to other Indian religions, including Buddhism, Sikhism and Jainism.

Origins of Hinduism

Most scholars believe Hinduism started somewhere between 2300 B.C. and 1500 B.C. in the Indus Valley, near modern-day Pakistan. But many Hindus argue that their faith is timeless and has always existed.

Unlike other religions, Hinduism has no one founder but is instead a fusion of various beliefs.

Around 1500 B.C., the Indo-Aryan people migrated to the Indus Valley, and their language and culture blended with that of the indigenous people living in the region. There’s some debate over who influenced who more during this time.

The period when the Vedas were composed became known as the “Vedic Period” and lasted from about 1500 B.C. to 500 B.C. Rituals, such as sacrifices and chanting, were common in the Vedic Period.

The Epic, Puranic and Classic Periods took place between 500 B.C. and 500 A.D. Hindus began to emphasize the worship of deities, especially Vishnu, Shiva and Devi.

The concept of dharma was introduced in new texts, and other faiths, such as Buddhism and Jainism, spread rapidly.

Hindu Caste System

The caste system is a social hierarchy in India that divides Hindus based on their karma and dharma. Many scholars believe the system dates back more than 3,000 years.

The four main castes (in order of prominence) include:

Brahmin: the intellectual and spiritual leaders Kshatriyas: the protectors and public servants of society Vaisyas: the skillful producers Shudras: the unskilled laborers Many subcategories also exist within each caste. The “Untouchables” are a class of citizens that are outside the caste system and considered to be in the lowest level of the social hierarchy.

For centuries, the caste system determined every aspect of a person’s social, professional and religious status in India.

When India became an independent nation, its constitution banned discrimination based on caste.

Today, the caste system still exists in India but is loosely followed. Many of the old customs are overlooked, but some traditions, such as only marrying within a specific caste, are still embraced.

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  • Please do not write such things, the answers here should be from scriptures. These scholars can believe anything many of them can even find meat in vedas and say vegeterinism was introduced by shramanas lol shramans themselves veing veracious meat eaters.
    – Anisha
    Nov 1, 2019 at 20:32
  • @Anisha There is no mandate rule that answers should be from scriptures only. There is a list of sources which we can include in our answers. Please look at those. Articles from historians and scholars are also welcome. It's up to the user which reference should be added. Nov 2, 2019 at 2:52
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    Where is this content copied from? Please provide proper attribution to the original author. Add link to the article (if present) and mention the author name How to reference material written by others. Pure copy paste answers are discouraged. Nov 2, 2019 at 2:54

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