Karma, dharma, swadharma — these aren’t just philosophical terms. Belgian Indologist Dr. Koenraad Elst traces their precise historical meanings and contested interpretations.

Elst distinguishes the Vedic concept of karma — originally a ritual mechanic linking action to unseen fruit — from the later rebirth-karma framework that became central to Buddhist and Hindu thought. He traces the etymology of “Arya” through the Parava tribe and Bharata dynasty, explaining how it moved from ethnic self-reference to the marker of Vedic culture across South Asia and beyond. On Sanatana Dharma, he notes its 19th-century prominence as a traditionalist counter to the Arya Samaj’s reform movement, and addresses the philosophical tension between dharma as cosmic order and swadharma as individual duty — a distinction that shapes everything from caste debates to personal ethics.

About the Speakers:
Dr. Koenraad Elst is a Belgian Indologist with a Master’s in Indology, Sinology, and Philosophy followed by original fieldwork in BHU and a Doctorate on Hindu nationalism. He is famous as an oriental philologist, and historian. One of the few Westerners actively defending Hinduism, he is known for his blunt and objective views.

Dr Sabareesh P.A. is a writer and author of ‘A Brief History of Science in India’, ‘Our Hindu Nationhood’ and a PhD from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.