Dharma Vahini

In this world, one cannot attain Shanti (Peace) so long as the fundamental ignorance persists; mere change of place, prompted by the desire for more worldly comforts or the need for satisfying some passing emotions like Raga and Dvesha (Affection and Hatred), will not give lasting peace. When there is no light in the house, can you properly reorganize things by mere readjustment of furniture here and there groping in the dark, or can the passage across the room be rendered any easier avoiding the furniture? If, however, the lamp is lit, even without readjustment, passage across the room is rendered easier. There is no need to interfere with the furniture at all. Also, if needed, reorganizing things in the room becomes easier. Well then, in the first place, a lamp is needed. Isn’t it?

So too, in this house of benighted world, is it possible to move about in life peacefully, correctly, and truthfully without knocking against some obstacle or other? No, it is not possible. How then are you to succeed? It is essential to light the lamp of Jnana (Wisdom)! You may claim that you live according to Dharma. But, your basic flaw is that your acts are not done in the spirit of dedication to God. If so done, they get stamped with the authentic mark of Dharma.

Some clever folk might raise a doubt and ask: “Can we then kill and injure, in the name of the Lord, dedicating the acts to Him and call them acts of Dharma?” Well, in order to attain the attitude of dedicating all his activities to the Lord, one should be filled with Shanti (Peace), Satya (Truth), Prema (Love), and Ahimsa (Non-violence). Isn’t it? How can cruelty and callousness coexist with these virtuous characteristics? To have the spirit of dedication to God, one must have first won the above four noble qualities. Devoid of these, committing cruel deeds and merely calling as ‘Ishwararpanam’ (dedicating to God) will not make those deeds as acts of Dharma.

Acts which are expressions of Dharma are eternal in nature; they are deathless. Those who do such acts too become Amritaswarupa (Embodiment of Eternity). Because of not engaging in such sacred acts, man is degrading himself from his status of Amrita-putra (child of Eternity) to the status of Anrita-putra (child of Futility)! What an unfortunate thing this is! Holding nectar in the grasp, he is drinking the poison of sensual pleasure. One can only bewail that this fate has overwhelmed man! Neglecting the eternal bliss, which is attained from the constant contemplation of the fundamental Atmic reality of the universe, he is entangling himself in the external trappings of transient, illusory objective world of appearances, and distancing himself from the eternal Atma Dharma. Is this the Dharma prescribed to mankind?

In the Gita too it is declared, “I am the abode of Moksha (Liberation), the abode of Amrita (Eternity); I am the embodiment of timeless Dharma; I am the basis of Brahman whose true form is eternal Bliss.” This Shloka (Verse) is in the XIV chapter:

Brahmano hi pratishthaham-amritasya-vyayasya cha,
Shashvatasya cha dharmasya sukhasyai-kantikasya cha.
(XIV.27)

It is this Amrita-Dharma (Immortal Dharma) which is described in the Upanishads and since the Gita is the kernel of the Upanishads, the same is emphasized in the Gita too. Therefore, Dharma-karma (acts of Dharma) should not be taken as ordinary deeds. Dharma-karma is the very essence of Atma. Those who walk along it are very dear to the Lord; Therefore, to become dear to God, one has to perform true Dharma-karmas. That is why the Gita teaches Atma Dharma to Arjuna through the practice of Dharma-karmas. These are delineated in Shlokas 13 to 20 of XII chapter. Those who have drunk deep at the fountain of the Gita will know them. The most important of the Shlokas in this context is:

Ye tu dharmy-amritam-idam yathoktam paryupasate,
Shraddadhana mat-parama bhaktas-te’tiva me priyah .
(XII.20)

What a grand idea this Shloka conveys! In this Shloka, the Lord states: “The ones who never diverge from the path of Dharma and honor it with full faith and without any aversion, who think of Me as their highest goal, are very dear to Me.”

Note the expression “Dharmy-amritam,” used here. Ponder over it and draw inspiration from it. The nectar of the Lord’s grace is deserved only by those who adhere to Bhagavad-Dharma (Divine Dharma or Fundamental Dharma). Simple folk believe that they have Bhakti (Devotion) towards the Lord. But that is not enough. Do not be satisfied just with that! They should inquire whether the Lord has love towards them! People who pine to discover this are rather rare. But, that is really the true measure of spiritual success.

Man must fulfill a multitude of corporeal duties. The same person is a king to his subjects, a son to his parents, an enemy to his enemies, a husband to his wife, a father to his son, etc. He plays many roles. Yet, if you ask him who he is, would he say any of these relationships as his distinctive mark? No, he cannot, for, they are marks or activities pertaining to physical relationships. They are all names and forms that result from various activities. Nor can he reply that he is the head, the feet, the hands, the stomach, etc., for they are but the limbs of his physical form. He is distinct from all the limbs and beyond names and forms. He is currently known as “Aham” (I am); reflect over that entity well and discover who that “I” really is.

Now, while it is so hard to analyze and understand your own true entity, how can you pronounce judgment on other entities with any definiteness? What you refer to as “I” (Telugu word - Nenu) and as “You” (Telugu word - Neenu), relate to the body, the appearance; they do not refer to Sat (True Existence). The Atma is one and indivisible; Dharma based on that is genuine Dharma.

Some raise a meaningless question, “You go on saying Atma, Atma. Well, what is the form of this Atma?” Is there a form for Atma? Immortality is its Swaroopa (Form). Dharma is its Swabhava (Nature). Nischala (Immutable) and Nirmala (Unblemished) are its Gunas (Attributes). It cannot be limited by any particular name or form. All the activities done with the physical form, i.e., body, should be practiced with the spirit of Atma Swabhava and Atma Dharma. The body alone has name and form; and so, in every activity of the body, you should manifest the Atma Dharma. That is why it is said:

“Puman stree gaurajo-vaaji kunjaro vihagas-taru
Deheshu loka-sangyeyam vijneyah karma-hetushu
Puman-na devo na naro na pashur-na cha padapah
Sharira-akriti bhedas-tu bhoot-pai te karma-yonayah”

One can notice from the above verse: Atma is neither male nor female; nor cattle nor sheep; nor horse nor elephant; nor bird nor tree; it is beyond such categorizations of names and forms. These distinctions and differences arise on the basis of activity and are thus applicable only for the body; the Atma is beyond any modifications and remains as one indivisible; only one thing can be posited about it, viz., that It “is,” meaning It is Sat (Absolute Existence) which means Paramartha (Supreme Truth) and the rest all are entities of Asat (Falsity) and Mithya (Non-independent Existence). These (Asat and Mithya) alone are denotable (because of name and form, where Atma is not a denotable entity as it is beyond name and form).

Suppose you are resting on a chair and few people are serving you. All these are Mithya entities. For example, take a palanquin. Before being transformed into that article, it was a tree, which was changed into timber and planks and finally into a palanquin. With every change in form, the name too changed. Sitting in a palanquin, no one would say, he is on a piece of timber or on a tree, is it not? Objects undergo change; they are not eternal. They are not Sat (Real). These objects can be distinguished by means of name and form; they can even be described by means of their characteristics. For, they are mere modifications and temporary.

Let’s analyze deeply and see! What exactly is a chair? It is a particular modification of wood, isn’t it? Remove the wood, the chair also disappears. When you think of the wood which is the substance, the appearance of the chair will vanish. So too, Dharma! Dharma based on Varna (Caste or Class), Dharma for a Grihastha (Householder), Dharma for a Vanaprastha (Seeker who withdraws from worldly engagements and retires to a forest), Dharma for a Sanyasa (Renunciant), Dharma for a Brahmacharya (Student), this Dharma, that Dharma… all are modifications of the basic Dharma, like the chair, the bench, the palanquin, etc. The separate varieties disappear once you go deep into their nature; these are only Deha Dharmas (corporeal Dharmas) that fade away, and the Atma Dharma alone remains. Just as the articles of furniture vanish and the wood alone remains, the Prakriti Dharmas (Objective Dharmas) disappear, and Atma Dharma alone shines in unique glory.

Of course, for worldly existence, the Deha Dharmas (Corporeal Dharmas) are very much necessary. I won’t say they are not needed. Just as wood is turned into furniture and used as different tools for the sake of worldly needs, if the Atma Dharma, or the Sanatana Dharma or the Satya Dharma is shaped into different tools such as Dharma for a Grihastha, Dharma for Vanaprastha, Dharma for a Sanyasa, Dharma based on Varna, Dharma for women, Dharma for men, etc. and practiced, will the original Atma Dharma change or perish? No. The basic stuff is the same in all; the substance is identical in every separate form. Some raise a doubt saying, “Just as a tree is used up by trimming, cutting into pieces, and made into different articles, the tree of Atma Dharma too is used up by cutting it and transforming it into different useful tools of corporeal Dharmas. Isn’t it?” True, but is it possible to remove the essence of a tree, i.e., wood, from any of the articles derived from the tree? No. In the same way, any Dharma derived from the tree of Atma Dharma will have the essence of Atma Dharma only; essence cannot be changed. So, Atma Dharma cannot vanish. So long as your worldly Dharmas are derived from the tree of Atma Dharma, they can be transmuted, transformed and modified into various forms for different purposes; there is no harm. It is enough if you do not submit the Atma Dharma to the forms of worldly Dharmas. Meaning, a tree can be made into different articles of use; but, it is not possible to make different articles into a tree. So too, embed and apply the Atma Dharma in the worldly Dharmas but do not demonstrate worldly Dharmas as Atma Dharma! That is Adharma; it implies the concealment of true Dharma, i.e., Atma Dharma; also, it is nothing but betrayal of Dharma.

Dharma is Naitika Vartana (Moral conduct); Naitika Vartana is Jyoti (Light); Jyoti is Anandaswarupa (form of Bliss). Dharma is characterized by Pavitrata (Holiness), Shanti (Peace), Satya (Truth), and Kshama (Forbearance). Dharma is Yoga (Union, Merger); it is Satya (Truth). Dharma is the basis for everything. Its attributes are Nyaya (Justice), Indriya-nigraha (Sense-control), Maryada (sense of Honour), Sahanam (Patience), Manchitanam (Goodness), Dhyana (Meditation), Gambheerya (Majesty), Anuraga (affection), Ahimsa (non-violence). Dharma persists through the ages; it is eternal. One can develop Vishwa Prema (Boundless Love) through the practice of Dharma. It is the highest Sadhana (Discipline).

All this “Unfoldment” (Creation - Srishti) began with Dharma; all this (whole Universe) is stabilized by the Dharma only; Satya (Truth) is inseparable from Dharma. Dharma is the law of the universe, which makes the sun and the moon revolve in their orbits. Selfless Dana-Dharmas (Deeds of Charity), Vedas, Mantras (Hymns), Jnana (Spiritual Wisdom) - they all convey Dharma. Dharma is Shasana (Course, Path, Ordinance). Wherever there is Naitika Pravartana (adherence to Morality), there one can see Dharma in action. In the Bhagavata too, it is said, “Where there is Dharma, there is Krishna; where there are both Dharma and Krishna together, there is victory.” So, Dharma is the very embodiment of the Lord. Since the Universe itself is the body of the Lord, then it implies that the Universe is nothing but the embodiment of Dharma; no one can deny it, now or ever.