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Sanatana Dharma means the Eternal Religion, the Ancient Law, and it is based on the Vedas, sacred books given to men many long ages ago.

While the Sruti and the Smrti are the foundation and the walls of the Sanatana dharma, there are two other important supports like buttresses; the Puranas, and the Itihasah, History.

This book is an extract from the most important scriptures of Hindus viz., Sruti (that includes four Vedas), Smrti (that includes institutions of Manu, Yajnavalkya, Parasara, Vasistha, Vyasa, Gautama, Atri etc.), Puranas (eighteen in numbers) and Itihasa (that includes two great epics Ramayana and Mahabharata).

This book was first published in 1904 by Board of Trustees of Central Hindu College, Benares with an aim to constitute the Principles on which religious and moral teaching is to be given in all institutions. It contain the fundamental ideal and doctrines which are generally received as orthodox, but does not enter into the details as to which sectarian divisions have arisen.

This book may prove useful in laying a firm foundation of right thinking in the minds of Hindu youths, and may help in shaping them into pious, moral, loyal and useful citizens of their Motherland and of the Empire, is the prayer with which its compilers send it fourth to the world.

The present edition is the revised version of the earlier edition that was first published in 1904. the editor of the present book has corrected various diacritical notations according to the modern usages. Further, he has improved the edition by replacing old-usage of English words such as thee, thy, thou etc. with their corresponding modern English equivalents.