It is often considered that the  Aryans are a racist  people. Aryan actually means a standard of living and follower of Sanatan Dharma/Vedic Dharma. It was the God himself who gave this Identity to descendents of Manu the Sanskrit speaking people who followed Sanatan. He gave the word arya to signify a gentleman, an ideal person, someone on the path of purity. It was a term meant for those who were on the cutting edge of social evolution. Another way of interpreting the word aryan is that ar also means clear. Ya refers to God.  Thus, aryan means those who have, or are developing, a clear path or a clear consciousness toward God through Sanatan.

In this way, we can understand that Aryanism, or Vedic culture, is a way of life. It is not a race of people or a sectarian creed or religion. It belongs to  particular country called Aryavrata. It is a path that upholds a code of conduct which values peace and happiness and justice for all. Thus, it is a path open for all who want to be trained to be happy with simple living and high thinking, while engaged in proper conduct, a moral life, and selfless service to humanity. Therefore, anyone who wants to live in such a manner may shall follow Sanatan so that in next life time he is born in Aryan Clan. You can become Sanatani at any time but to become Aryan you have to be born in the Clan of Manu (Brahma).

So what does it mean to follow this Vedic Aryan path? It generally means to learn the ways of Sanatan Dharma. This includes understanding one's spiritual identity, knowing that he or she is not the body but is spirit soul, that there is karma for one's actions, and rebirth in another life after death. Thus, everyone will automatically reap the reward or punishment for his own good or evil thoughts, words, and deeds. By having a solid understanding of such spiritual knowledge, there is automatically a respect for all others regardless of race, sex, or species. This brings a moral and peaceful social behavior in everybody toward everyone. By having respect for everyone's spiritual identity, this also brings an innate happiness in us all. We can understand that we are only visiting this planet for a short time, and that we are all in this together. In other words, my contribution to your well-being, especially spiritual well-being, will be an automatic contribution to my own existence. In this way, society at large is in a state of constant improvement. That is the goal of the Vedic Aryan way of life.

Not everyone, however, wants to reach this stage of life or follow this path. That is why the Vedic system installs rules for moral behavior and regulatory sacraments and practices beginning from the prenatal stage all the way through death. Of course, many of these moralistic rules are also quite common in other forms of religion and behavior. However, anybody who is unwilling to follow such rules for a balanced moral standard is dubbed a non-Aryan. Such a person is not on the spiritual path of life, regardless of what other standards or principles of etiquette he may follow. Non Aryans are those who are not the descendents of Manu. A person who lacks spiritual tendencies and acts on the bodily platform of life, willing to do whatever he likes is also non Aryan. The ones who take birth in Aryan Clan and still chose religion other than Sanatan are also Non Aryans.

Therefore, the Sanskrit word Aryan means a way of life that aims at the elevation of everyone in society to a higher level of consciousness. It means to assist ourselves through a disciplined and godly life to understand the purpose of our existence as well as to become a spiritually realized person. It also means that we help every other individual soul because by helping others we help ourselves. That itself is a natural state of being when we can perceive God as the Supersoul, Paramatma, within everyone. All of this is encouraged by, and increases, a natural faith in an all-pervading Supreme Being. Such faith and focus on the Supreme Being can elevate us to return to our real spiritual home after death, which is one of the most important goals of the Vedic lifestyle