What IS DHARMA?

                 What  IS  DHARMA?

Most of the religious practitioners believe that Dharma, like Karma, is one of the most complex conceptions that exists in Hinduism.  It has been used to mean duty, righteousness, law, order, right rules of conduct, justice, morality, religion and truth. In Sanskrit,  dhr--- means to hold, to establish, to formulate, to manifest, to sustain , to unite, etc. According to V.V. Merchant a great Sanskrit scholar and interpreter of Hinduism, Dharmas, which is the plural of Dharma, stands for the ordained or natural duties of life—whether religious, ethical, social, etc. As for Ma. this particle of the word Dharma refers to the universe, the cosmic mother principle which contains, supports, nurtures, nourishes and sustains the universe. 

            Indian seer Sri Aurobindo Ghose (1872-1950) describes the Indian conception of Dharma as not merely the good, the right, morality and justice and ethics, but the whole government of all relations of man with other beings, with Nature and God.  Dharma, according to him, is both that which we hold to and that which holds together our inner and outer activities, and in this primary sense, it connotes a fundamental law of our nature which secretly conditions all our activities. Dharma, he adds, is all that helps us to grow into the divine purity, largeness, light, freedom, power, strength, joy, love, good, unity and beauty.

            Sri Aurobindo believes that there is no ethical idea which the word Dharma has not stressed. Truth, honour, loyalty, fidelity, courage, chastity, love, long-suffering, self-sacrifice, harmlessness, forgiveness, compassion, benevolence, beneficence are all the common themes of Dharma.

             Gandhiji (1869-1948) believed that according to the scriptures that is Dharma which is enjoined by the holy books, followed by the sages, interpreted by the learned and which appeals to the heart. The first three conditions must be fulfilled before the fourth comes into operation. Above all, Gandhiji wanted Dharma to be practiced in everyday life.  He did not share the view that the end of Dharma is to acquire merit after death.  He observed: “If it has no practical use in this life, it has none for me in the next. “

4^th February 2020                                                      G. R. KANWAL