Dharma Vahini

Dharma has no bounds. It cannot be restricted to any particular society or nation. It is applicable to all living beings. It is a flame of light that can never be extinguished. It is untrammeled and self-standing. Lord Krishna taught the Geeta using Arjuna as a formal cause or instrument. Geeta now pertains to all individuals and has gained immense popularity. It is not set apart for any particular class, religion, or race. It is the very breath for mankind.

Dharma expresses itself in a variety of forms across the world, known sometimes by the persons who codified it, like Manu_Dharma_, sometimes by Varna_Dharma_ (four classes of men who followed duties pertaining to their respective class), sometimes by the stage of life to which it is applied, like Grihastha_Dharma_ (householder_Dharma_), Vanaprastha_Dharma_ (Dharma for a seeker who withdraws from worldly engagements and retires to a forest), Sanyaasa_Dharma_ (renunciant_Dharma_) and Brahmacharya_Dharma_ (Dharma for a student). But, all these are Aachara_Dharmas (rules intended to regulate one’s behavior), but not the Antarartha_Dharma_ (fundamental_Dharma_), the Atma Dharma, the Daiva_Dharma_ (Divine_Dharma_) that I am speaking of.

The above-mentioned Aachara_Dharmas are Deha_Dharmas_ (actions as per the prescribed course of conduct pertaining to the body) and Prakriti_Dharmas_ (Dharmas pertaining to the objective world). The very instrument of those rules, the body, is itself not permanent; even this Prakriti (Objective World) itself is not permanent; how then can these Aachara_Dharmas be eternal? How can their Saara (Essential nature) be described as true? The Sthira (Eternal) cannot be expressed by the Asthira (evanescent); Satya (Truth) cannot reveal itself in Asatya (Untruth); light cannot be procured from darkness. Sthira can emerge only from Sthira; Satya can emanate only from Satya. Therefore, the objective codes of Dharma relating to worldly activities and daily life, though important in their own sphere, have to be followed in accordance with the basic Atma Dharma; then only can the internal and external urges cooperate and yield the bliss of following one single Dharma, i.e., Atma Dharma. Without neglecting or ignoring the True Dharma, if you merge the fundamental Dharma with Aachara_Dharmas, then it becomes very easy to practice Atma Dharma.

Viewing God as a stone - that is the effort being made today! How can such effort lead to Satya (Truth)? See the stone as God. That is real Dharma. How it is done is - First, the form of the Godhead has to be meditated upon and imprinted on the consciousness; then, that form has to be conceived within the stone; then, the stone is forgotten in the process and, finally, you will only experience God. In the same way, you have to fix your focus on the basic Dharma, the Atma Dharma as the only entity; and then, filled with that faith and vision, you have to follow the manifold Aachara_Dharmas of the world. If this is done, there is no danger of the authentic meaning getting diluted, or extinction of the flame of Atma Dharma. Isn’t it?

What happens when a stone is worshipped as God? The unlimited, the ever-present, the all-pervading-immanent entity, the absolute, is visualized in the particular, in concrete form. Similarly, Dharma which is universal, equal to all, and independent, can be experienced while practicing each and every worldly act. Do not be misled by the idea that this is not possible. Don’t you try to accomplish a lot of impossible futile acts that finally end up giving you unrest and anxiety? So, can you not take up instead, beneficial Dharmic activities, which will give you peace of mind?

To be independent is your birthright, but not to be bound. It is only when you guide your steps along the path illumined by the universal, unbound Dharma that you are really free; if you stray away from that light, you get bound and you are caught.

Dharma is Svatantra Svarupa, that is to say, it has no bounds; it is independent. But, some might raise a doubt on this fact. Even from a worldly perspective, do you believe that you can be free? No. Without a proper idea about what freedom actually is, you call a certain type of enslavement as ‘freedom’ and another type of enslavement as ‘bondage’. Atma Dharma, which is free from Deha Bhranti (delusion caused by the attachment to the external world and to the body), is true ‘freedom’. People, who have escaped from this Deha Bhranti and achieved freedom in the genuine sense are very few in number. Every act done with Deha Drishti (Worldly objective) and with Deha-tadatmyam (Body-consciousness) is a kind of bondage. Body-consciousness and being slave to the senses is real bondage. Only those who have discarded this notion are considered to be truly Svatantra (Free). To achieve that Svatantra (Freedom) is true Dharma. With that Dharma constantly in mind, if one engages in the activity of living, he can become a Mukta Purusha (Liberated Being).

Those who want to become a Mukta Purusha should achieve the above-mentioned Dharma and Svatantra.

Reason for not being able to achieve such Dharma is, you bind yourself. It is always so; no other person can bind you; you do it yourself. “One Atma dwells in all beings”; “God is present equally in all beings” - If such faith in God’s omnipresence is deep-rooted, it will give you Nischita-Jnana (Steadfast Wisdom) that would make you aware that the Lord present within can never be bound! As Atma Dharma has become a far-fetched thing for people, they are not able to have such deep-rooted faith in the omnipresent God. And, without such deep-rooted faith in God’s omnipresence, Nischita-Jnana cannot shine. Devoid of that Nischita-Jnana, one becomes blind, bound, and will be prone to predicaments and troubles. The goddess of Dharma will not choose such.

Therefore, first, endeavor to become Svatantra (Free)! As a preliminary to such endeavor, cultivate immense faith in the Atma Dharma and practice that true Dharma in all Aachara_Dharmas (prescribed duties of the world). Only then can you be regarded as a moral individual, a Dharma Purusha or as the one who practices Dharma. On the other hand, if you practice temporal duties related to the objective world or the body as true Dharmas, life becomes meaningless, and you cannot be regarded as Dharma Purusha.

Seeing the Atma Dharma in all worldly Dharma is as holy as elevating stone into God. If the duties of worldly life are done ignoring the true Atma Dharma, it is as unholy as treating God as stone.

The Aachara_Dharmas pursued apart from true Atma Dharma and pursuing true Atma Dharma divorced from Aachara_Dharmas are both barren of results. They are both inextricably intertwined and should be treated as such and practiced in union. The senior officer needs the work of the junior official as much as the junior official needs the financial help of the senior officer. Who then is the bound one and who is free? Both are bound to their respective desires. Until the fundamental principle of the Atma is recognized, the outer state of bondage or servitude will be inevitable for anyone. When the principle of the Atma is recognized, Dasya Bhava (Attitude of Servitude) will be diminished. Then, the Prakriti Dharma (code of behavior towards the objective world) will be merged with the Paramatma Dharma (code towards the inner Divine Self).

Vedanta, Adhyatmika Shastra (Scriptures relating to the Supreme Spirit), and Dharma (prescribed code of conduct or upholding Principle) — all aver man to live and act as Bhagawan (God), and not as Banisa (bondman). Then, all acts become Dharma-Karma (virtuous acts) and not Kamya-Karma (acts done with intent to gain the fruits thereof). The shackles of bondage cannot be avoided by a mere change of the type of activity. They can be avoided only by changing the point of view from the Deha to the Deva (Mortal to the Immortal). The moral qualities also will be rendered stronger, thereby.

Some people hold the opinion that being employed is bondage, while sitting at home without any specific work is freedom! This is a sign of want of intelligence, and delusion. When employed in a job, one has to obey the superior officer. But, can one escape the demands and compulsions of relatives even while at home? Well, even when one is amidst friends only, can one avoid the necessity of acting according to their fancy? Finally, can one be free at least from the need to take care of one’s own body and cater to one’s comfort? How then can one have a chance to feel free, from the cage of bondage? All life is a prison, regardless of the differences in the types of bondage. It is so, as long as the attitude of identifying the Self with the body is there.

That is why once Shankara (Adi Shankaracharya) said, “Naraka (Hell) means nothing by the Dehabhimaanam (Body-consciousness).” Dehabhimaanam is just another form of the Daiva-vimukhatva (God-aversion attitude).

Who can remove all the thorns and pebbles from the face of the earth? None can succeed in this. The only way to avoid them is to move about with footwear. So too, true Dharma which makes one free in the true sense can be attained only with Satya Drishti (vision fixed on the Reality) with full faith in the Brahman, which is your own essential nature. This is what is revealed by Vedanta. All other changes made externally will only give temporary relief. He who tramples down egotism and declares with conviction thus, “I am not the bondman of this body, which is the repository of all types of servitude; the body is my bondman. I am the master of everything; I am the embodiment of freedom,” is liberated.

All Dharmas (codes of duties) must help in this process of the destruction of Ahankara (ego); they should not foster it and make it grow wild. This is the Sutram (Principle). This is Swatantryam (Freedom). If a person, finding it miserable to live with the son, goes to the daughter and lives in her house, that is not winning freedom! That is only a way of feeding the ego. Also, leaving home in search of the comfort and happiness of the senses cannot be considered as ‘_Dharma_’.

One may leave home or any other things for the sake of experiencing Divine Bliss, Divine Happiness and for undisturbed contemplation on the Lord. God is Vimukti Swarupa (Embodiment of Freedom or Liberation). So, experiencing Oneness with the Divine is the true Dharma of the individual, and is true Liberation. A person who has reached that stage can never be bound, even if he is put in the grimmest of prisons; on the other hand, for a person who is the slave of the body, even a blade of grass can bind him and become the instrument of death.

Atma Nimagnata (To be immersed in the Atmic bliss), Antar Mukhata (Inner Vision), Svaswarupa Nishtah (steady faith in the identity of one’s real nature with the Absolute) and Brahma-jnaanam (Realization that all is Brahman); these four alone are the true Dharmas. Only these can confer Swatantryam (Freedom). In order to facilitate putting these four into practice in all the Bhautika Dehaacharaanas (prescribed activities or courses of conduct pertaining to the body and the objective world), though under different names yet latently saturated with the Antar Dharma (Atma Dharma) and made popular as Satya, Shanti, Prema and Ahimsa (Truth, Peace, Love and Non-violence). The mode of pursuit of Dharma, now, as in the past, is to translate these four high principles in every act, thought and in all matters. The Satya, Shanti, Prema and Ahimsa of today are but the four true Dharmas of the past - Atma Nimagnata, Antar Mukhata, Svaswarupa Nishtah and Brahma-jnaanam. Dharma in these two sets of four must be coordinated and harmonized. Then only can it be termed Atma Dharma. It does not matter what your activity is, or what name and form you have chosen. A chain is a chain whatever the material; it binds, whether it is iron or gold, isn’t it? So too, whether the work is of this type or that, as long as the Atma Dharma is the base, and the Atma-tattvam (Absolute Principle) is the root, it is true Dharma beyond doubt. Such work will bless one with the fruit of Shanti (Peace).

But, if one is driven by the waves of Ahankara (egoism), either into the privacy of the home, or the loneliness of the forest, or to any other refuge, it is impossible to escape suffering. Does a snake cease to be a snake when it lies sleeping or when it does not open its hood? In whichever way it is, a snake is a snake. So too, Dharma does not cease to be a Dharma when the worldly activities are motivated by the basic principle of the reality of the Atma. Every act embedded with the fundamental Atma Dharma becomes stamped with the seal of Dharma. But when the acts or rules are framed as motivated by convenience and selfish interest, even if you call them as true Dharma or freedom, they become pseudo-Dharma or pseudo-freedom; they are nothing, but varying forms of bondage or slavery and they can never become true Dharma. These pseudo-Dharmas are like the warders around a prisoner. They are always there around the prisoner restricting his movements whether he is taken to a court or for dining.

Why, even the feeling of ‘friend’ or ‘foe’ is an error. This delusion has to be given up. The Lord, the embodiment of Prema (Love), is the only constant Bandhavya (Relative), Sambhavyah (Venerable person), Ashraya (Refuge), Poshaka (Sustainer) and Hita (Well-wisher). Know this and live in the shade of that knowledge. That is the Jnanamaya Dharma (Dharma built on the bedrock of understanding) and the Dharmamaya Jeevana (the life built on the bedrock of Dharma). Ignoring this fundamental basis, and when the attention is on external polish and changes, the goal becomes unachievable. Jagadrati (attachment to the World) can be destroyed by Harirati (attachment to the Lord).

Why complain that the ground cannot be seen, when what you have been all the while doing is to fix your gaze on the sky? Watch the ground and look at the sheet of water that reflects the sky — then you can see, at the same time, the sky above and the earth below. So too, to adhere to the true Dharma (which after all is the immanent Atmic Principle), man must see in every worldly act the reflection of the glory of the Atma; then, he can fulfill both Atma Dharma and the worldly Dharma together at the same time; that is to say, attachment to the Lord will transmute attachment to the world into a pure offering. However, the goal should not be altered or lowered; that is to say, the essentials, the intent, should be kept intact. Dharma does not depend on the various names and forms, for, they may change and are not so basic; it depends more on the motives and the feelings that direct it and canalize it.