Thus Spake the Divine - Dharma, the Saviour of Our Life

Thus Spake the Divine

Part III - Religion

Dharma, the Saviour of Our Life

Poojyasri Maha Periyava strongly advocates scrupulous adherence to Dharma, as ordained by our Vedas and Shastras. In this and the next chapter, Periyava underlines the importance of adhering to Dharma. He also points out the repercussions of not adhering to our Dharma.

What is Dharma? There is no one single equivalent word in English for Sanskrit term Dharma, which can fully connote its true meaning. Dharma contains a set of moral laws, combined with spiritual disciplines and practices, which act as a “Rule Book” for an individual. According to the Hindu Religion, Dharma refers to natural universal laws that are required to be observed by human beings to lead a contented and happy life, as also to protect themselves from debasement and suffering. Any action that is intended to bring well- being for human beings is Dharma. Every action that is carried out towards liberation and exaltation is Dharma. The word Dharma comes from the root ‘Dhri’, which means ‘to support’ or ‘to hold on’; that which upholds is Dharma.

In this Universe, for each and every thing, there are prescribed sets of laws conforming to which everything, both in the animate and inanimate cosmos, must function. The life in the world keeps revolving smoothly only because things happen as per the set of laws. Otherwise, everything would turn chaotic. God has framed Codes of Dharma for each and everything, which would mutually align with one another, with the sole objective that all living beings of this universe live a happy and comfortable state of life.

When God framed Codes of Dharma to be adhered to by human beings, He also provided man with a brain that is capable of breaking or violating the laws. Using this brain, man keeps wandering to achieve something or the other, which he thinks is good for him. In the process, he breaks the rules of Dharma set for him. However, what can bring happiness to him is only adherence to the Codes of Dharma. Some force in the world has been, in some way or other, driving people towards the direction of Dharma.

That’s why, in all countries, man, apart from fulfilling his physical needs, continues to do certain ‘peculiar’ acts too. One person bearing something called a Cross reads the Bible. Another does Namaaz. One applies wet sacred ash (Vibhuti) on his forehead. The next applies Naamam on his face. The human society has been following these norms from generation after generations, despite no directly visible results. Why is the society doing so? During his life, man accumulates wealth and other objects. He earns money not only for the needs of the day, but also for the future. When we say “future”, the question arises, “For how many years?” Whatever it may be, but one knows that he cannot live for a thousand or ten thousand years. Thus, he accumulates wealth for himself as long as his life lasts and also for his future generations.

Then, the question arises as to what happens once this man’s life comes to an end. Saints and sages of respective countries have realised that when the body of a man dies, the man also dies along with it. They have also realised that the wealth accumulated to fulfil the needs of this body is of no use to the man after he dies. In view of this, saints and sages have identified ways, which are required for the soul or Atma to reach a higher state. In different countries, different ways have been recognised. That is how Cross, Namaaz, Vibhuti, Naamam etc. emerged as a means to reach the elevated state.

Dharma of the mankind can be summed as one in which the man should view the entire world as that of God’s and carry out his activities accordingly. This is because if he carries out his activities to satisfy his own self will only drive him to the path of Adharma (Acts of injustice). So, he should minimise his selfishness and ensure that he follows the rules of Dharma. All religions of the world have emerged on the fundamental principle that possessions of the world are possessions of God. There is no religion in the world that advocates, “Live the way you wish and accumulate wealth only for your own self”. So long as he gives priority to his own self, he would carry out only those acts, which benefit him or his kin. Hence, all religions have underlined the concept called “God” and have put a break on man’s ego saying, “Hey! In the presence of that Super Power, who has created the entire universe, you are nothing!” If we can cling to that Super Power, the creator of our brain, He will manoeuvre the same in the right direction and motivate us to engage in acts of Dharma. That is the reason why majority of the religions predominantly highlight the concept of Bhakti.

Nevertheless, if anyone is asked to absorb God just as a philosophy and engross into that philosophy with Bhakti, it will be difficult to hold onto the same with firm grip. So, each religion has rituals, such as Sandhyavandanam, prayer, Namaaz etc as mark of his adoration to God. It becomes easy for the common man to exhibit devotion to God in the form of such activities. This also enables a person to continue Bhakti while being engrossed in the worldly life.

At the same time, all religions have also stipulated following of certain principles, such as “Love all; Do sacrifice; Perform service” etc. If the human being leads life adhering to these principles, then, once his body dies, the soul (Atma) will directly reach the lotus feet of God. The ultimate state of unifying with God is articulated in different ways by different philosophies. Advaita says that there is none other substance that exists other than God and hence on expiry of a man, the Atma merges into God Himself”. Another philosophy propounds that one has to do service to God and thereby invoke His Grace to reach the state of blissfulness. Let us not break our heads about that ultimate state. As of now, it is enough for us to realise that “By some means, we will reach the abode of God. After that, whatever trauma we have gone through in this material life, such as sorrows, problems, disappointments and failures, will disappear completely; there will then remain only eternal and absolute “blissfulness”.

If we want God to draw us towards Him, we should carry out our duties meant for Him as well as duties towards this world in a flawless manner. These duties represent our Dharma. That means, Dharma is one which safeguards us once we possess our body and also when we leave our body. Once the body dies, there are no parts of hand or leg remaining. That is why, right when this body exists and before it exits, we should perform activities that are compliant with Dharma, which will provide our body a higher state once it leaves the soul. There is an arrangement called Life insurance. Itis more important than taking life insurance cover for the benefit of our dependents after our death. It is the Dharma, which acts as the eternal’ life insurance cove’ for our own benefit post our death. It is the Dharma that protects us in the form of “after-life insurance cover”. Even while life exists, the same Dharma provides us mental composure and happiness.

There is no need for any confusion as to which Dharma one should adhere to. We are generally absorbed in the principles of Dharma practised by our ancestors, generations after generations. They have attained eternal happiness through their own experiences adhering to such Dharma. Unlike perennial discontentment nowadays, our ancestors were at peace and unmindful of what they were doing. However, we don’t need to reinvent the wheel; it is just enough if we adhere to the rules of Dharma that our ancestors had followed and bequeathed us. There will unnecessarily be chaos if we create something new.

The traumas undergone by Lord Rama during his expatriation in the forest were really terrible. When Rama started for his journey into the forest, Kousalya, as any other mother, wanted to pack food for him during his stay in the forest. She gave a long and deep thought as to which food would not perish for 14 years. Then, she packed the most durable item of “Dharma” for Rama to carry along with him. She sent Dharma as the companion of Rama saying, “Raghava! The Dharma, which you follow courageously and with due respect, will safeguard you in times of your crisis in the forest.” Only Dharma earned victory for Rama at the end. Ramayana amply proves that if one walks through the path of Dharma, even animals would extend support. If one deviates from the path of Dharma, even his own sibling would turn an enemy. In Ramayana monkeys support Rama and Ravana is abandoned by his own brother Vibhishan. It is Dharma that will protect the head. Dharma safeguarded Sri Ramachandra Murti as Vijaya Raghavan (Victorious), while Ravana, despite his 10 heads, was defeated in the war. Whichever a person’s religion, it is the Dharma practised by him that makes him succeed in life. Let all people bravely follow their Dharma with uprightness and attain eternal happiness!

This article is a snippet from the Book Thus Spake the Divine, is available online at www.giri.in and across Giri Trading Agency Private Limited, A chain of Speciality Stores dealing in all kinds of products needed in Indian Culture and Tradition.

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