The Dhaarmik Traditions - Indic Studies Foundation

12. When did the Sanaatana Dharma originate and who was
the founder of this faith.
The date when the Dharma was founded is lost in the mists of antiquity, but it can
be assumed very safely that by the time the Vedas were written, there was already
well established a system of beliefs. Consequently, the origin of the belief system
predates the composition of the sacred texts by at least a millennium ,so that we
can say that the basic ideas of the Dharma began to coalesce around 6000 BCE.
There was no single founder of the faith, but there were a collection of Rishis and
sages who composed the various mandalas of the Rg.
13. Were the people who developed the tenets of the Dharma
relatively prosperous in comparison to the poverty stricken
conditions prevalent during much of the 20th century
If we invoke the notion of the hierarchy of needs most recently postulated by
Abraham Maslow, we can infer that the Vedics must have satisfied most of their
basic needs relating to physiological wellbeing and those relating to security
before they could begin contemplating their needs for self realization or self
actualization as Maslow terms these higher needs
Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs.
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