Dharma Vahini

Man must dedicate himself to dharma (prescribed conduct or upholding principle) and act always in accordance with dharma, so that he may live in peace and the world too may enjoy peace. He cannot acquire real peace, nor can he win the grace of the Lord without leading a dharmic life. Dharma is the foundation for the existence of all beings in this world; it is the satya (truth) enduring for all time. The world will face calamities and chaos if the dharmic way of life dwindles. In the place where the effulgent flame of dharma does not illumine, there the darkness of grief results.

God is dharmadevata - Lord of dharma; dharmapriya - always favoring dharma; dharmapalaka - ever fostering dharma; dharmasthapaka - ever establishing dharma; dharmasvarupa - embodiment of dharma. The vedas, shastras (scriptures), puranas (epics), and itihasas (traditional accounts) proclaim aloud the greatness of dharma. In the scriptures of the various religions too, the significance of dharma is elaborated in the language familiar to the adherents. It is the duty of every man to pay homage to dharmasvarupa (embodiment of dharma) and dharmanarayana (personification of dharma).

The stream of dharmic activity will never run dry; where its cool waters cease to flow, disaster is certain. World continues to sustain till date only because dharmic activities continue to flow imperceptibly like the antarvahini (latent flow) of River Saraswati. Not only humanity but even birds and beasts have to adhere to dharma; they too follow dharma to the best of their ability.

Therefore, the stream of dharma has to be kept flowing clearly and fully, so that the world might enjoy all the happiness. Disaster now dances madly on the world stage, on account of the lack of understanding in the true essence of dharma. So, man has to understand clearly the very spirit of dharma. So, what is meant by dharma? What is the true essence of dharma? Can every person be able to practice dharma well? Can a common man too lead a happy life and survive if he practices dharma? Such doubts naturally confuse the mind of man in the course of life. Solving them is necessary; even most immediately needed.

As soon as the word dharma is mentioned, the ordinary man takes it to mean: giving of alms, building choultries and providing free lodging to pilgrims, adherence to one’s traditional profession or craft, law-abiding nature, discriminating between right and wrong, the pursuit of one’s innate nature or the freaks of one’s own mind, concerning only about one’s own welfare and happiness, designing appropriate strategies to fulfill one’s fondest desires, and so on. Isn’t it?

Of course, it is a long time since the spotless countenance of dharma has been tarnished beyond recognition. With the passage of time, it has become quite natural for man to notice changes around him such as beautiful fields and groves turn wild with neglect and become unrecognisable bushland and thorny jungle; the thinning of forests due to cutting down of good and useful trees. This has happened to dharma also.

The dharma described in the vedas, shastras, puranas and itihasas is the highest dharma. Everyone has to acquaint himself with the outlines of the essentials of dharma. Misunderstood by immature and erroneous minds, they have been grossly diluted gradually and their glory has suffered grievously. As a result, the underlying principle of dharma has been forgotten. Just as the pure raindrops from the clear blue sky get colored and contaminated when they fall on the soil, the unsullied divine message of ancient rishis (sages), the example of their shining deeds, and the profound inner motives of their actions are all turned into mere ugly caricatures of the original grandeur when they came in contact with the incompetent and uncultured interpreters and the worldly scholars.

Books written for children contain illustrations to clarify the text; but the innocent children spend their time with the pictures, ignoring what they are intended to make clear. In the same way, the unwary and the uneducated mistake the ritual acts, which are designed to illustrate the grand truths, as profoundly real in themselves and ignore the truth which they were meant to elucidate. Travelers moving along the road rest for a while in wayside shelters but during their stay, they damage by neglect or misuse the very structure that gave them rest. So too, the dull and the perverse alter the very face of Vedic morality and deceive the world into believing that their handiwork is what the vedas teach!

In the past, during such times when the practice of dharma declined and suffered disfiguration at the evil hands of the asuras (demons), responding to the call of the gods and the godly, God incarnated and saved the world from ruin, by restoring the ideals and practices of satya (right and truth) in the field of dharma (prescribed code of conduct or upholding principle) and of karma (action). Now, who can cure the present blindness? Man has to slay the six-fold beast of inner enemies [i.e., arishadvargas - kama (desire or lust), krodha (anger), lobha (greed), moha (affection or delusion), mada (pride) and matsarya (envy)] and offer his pure self to God. Then only is dharma restored.

By calling God with the name of dharma and vedas with the name of vijnana (consciousness), Buddha revived vedas and dharma. For, in those days, the demon named Somaka would not let anyone live who uttered the word ‘Veda.’ So, on account of those adverse circumstances, though he reverentially followed vedas within, he desisted uttering the word ‘Veda.’ Indeed, Buddha was fully spirited with vedas; he was ever infused with divinity. Buddha is often spoken of as an atheist, a nastika! Well, if Buddha is an atheist, who then is the astika, the theist? The entire life of Buddha is a saga of dharma. Shankara (Adi Shankaracharya) was mistaken by some people as being opposed to the path of dharma and karma. But, Shankara opposed only dharma and karma, which have the fulfillment of selfish desires in view. He was indeed the great teacher who taught the path of dharma and karma, of endeavor impelled by jnana, the understanding of the basic truth.

The adherence of Shankara to dharma and karma based on truth, and the faith of Buddha in the essentials of the vedas can be appreciated only by those who have the unnata-drishti (higher intellect). Without that, one will be led astray in the wrong interpretations and cannot trace the truth. In order to climb a great height, a tall ladder is needed, is it not? Sacrificing one’s ahankara (egoism), svartha (selfishness), pashavika pravritti (bestial feelings and impulses), deha drishti (tendency to regard the body as the self) and attaining oneness with the paramatma (supreme Lord), the vishvatma (universal spirit) is what is called as dharma.

In all worldly activities, your speech and deeds should be careful not to wound propriety or the canons of good nature; you should be prepared at all times to adjust to the changing situations with spontaneity; your conduct should be free from svartha (selfishness); you should have rati bhava (affectionate feelings) towards God; you must be ever vigilant to discover the truth behind all this scintillating variety. This is your entire duty, your true dharma. “Sarvam khalvidam brahma” - ‘All this is Brahman.’ In this jnanagni (blazing fire of jnana - wisdom), completely burn into ashes all traces of your selfishness, desires and worldly attachments, and immerse in the nectarine bliss of the union with Brahman; that is the ultimate goal of dharma, and of karma (action) inspired by dharma.

“Sacrifice ajnana (ignorance) of ahankara (egotism) and mamakara (attachment) at the altar of jnana (wisdom)”: This is the objective of vedas related to dharma. Every single nissvarta karma (unselfish act) which prepares the ground for the merging of the soul with the supreme soul, which broadens the vision towards the basic Brahman, immanent everywhere, is a dharmic act. Each such dharmic act is a tiny stream that swells the river of holiness rushing towards the ocean of the highest dharma, brahma-jnana (the knowledge of Brahman). Your various dharmic acts and activities are all rituals in the worship of the paramatma (highest atma) that pervades the universe. Every holy act done selflessly and surrendering to the Lord is a significant component of the dharma that leads to the highest dharma of Brahman-realization. The strategy of the bharatiya (Indian) way of life is directed towards the sanctification of every movement and every thought, word and deed, into a step towards that highest dharma of Brahman-realization; and this is what is pleasing to the Lord.

We have to understand ancient dharma-karmas (pious actions) precisely by entering into their symbolic meaning. The spiritual field has many technical terms, each with its own special connotation. These have to be clearly understood, so that we can correctly grasp the teachings of the shastras (scriptures). Let us take an example: People used to perform yajnas (sacrificial rites) in ancient times; and they sacrificed pashus (animals) in these yajnas. But, the term pashu is only indicative. It was not the dumb creature that had to be cut to pieces; without their knowledge, these animals are in a way living a life to be sacrificed in yajna! The animal that has to be sacrificed and offered is different. In the spiritual vocabulary, pashu means jiva bhava (thought of limiting one's self to body-mind-intellect) or sharirika drishti (body-consciousness) or ahankara (I-consciousness), and it is this that has to be slaughtered. The animals that we see are only symbols of the animal qualities. Similar is the case of the true meaning of the dharma. The meaning of the dharmic activities considered now is different from the actual meaning as per the spiritual vocabulary just as in the above example of yajna.

Paramatma (Lord) is known as pashupati or Govinda. Pashupati means the Lord of all jivas (living beings); Gopala too means the same, i.e., the guardian of all jivas. In ordinary terms, Gopala means tending cows. Paramatma is not called ‘Gopala’ merely because of tending cows. The tending of cows is only a symbolic play of Lord Krishna, to indicate His mission of tending jivas.

The shastras (scriptures) have, like the principle of Godhead, profound inner meanings. The aim of dharma is to make the jiva (individual) give up the attachment to the external world and the illusion that it causes, and to make it realize its true divine nature.

These true meanings and inner significances of vedas must be learned by all, young and old. Let us look into an example which will make you realize what the ancient dharma taught and the meaning taken in the present times. Take for instance, the Shiva temple which every bharatiya (Indian) must have seen. Right in front of the idol of Shiva we have the image of Nandi, the bull. What is its significance? The present-day meaning is that the sacred bull is the vahana (vehicle) of Shiva and that is the reason for its being there. But the meaning as per ancient shastras is different! The pashu (bull) represents the individual soul or a jiva (living being) while the shiva-lingam represents Ishvara (almighty God), and that one should not see any differences between jiva and Ishvara. That is why, according to the temple customs, it is said, “No one should pass between the Nandi and the shiva-lingam.” The belief of the present-day people is that it is very sacred to see shiva-lingam through the two horns of Nandi. They believe so because of not knowing the true meaning. But, the inner significance of this is, “You must see the Shiva in the jiva.” Pashu being the vahana of pashupati means, when jiva merges with Ishvara there will not be two separate forms (that of Nandi and Ishvara), they take on a single name and form known as ‘Nandishvara’. Thus, Nandi too attains the status of being honored and worshiped. When the pashu is offered fully to the Ishvara, and its separate identity is cast away, that is the true significance of ‘animal sacrifice’ in the yajnas.

Today, these symbolic acts have changed shape beyond recognition. Similar is the case with the ancient dharma-karmas; their symbolic acts too have changed shape beyond recognition. The practices of today and the principles of yesterday are far apart. Even the smallest detail of secular life has to be inspired by the higher ideal of spiritual fulfillment. Then, even simple folk can be led on, step by step towards the goal. When you do not discriminate about the process and the purpose of every act, but, still, go on doing it, it becomes a funny, fossilized version. Once, even Prahlada said, “Since it is difficult to destroy the pashu of egotism, weak men find it easy to destroy these dumb animals as a substitute and consider it as yajna.” Such kind of animal sacrifice is the manifestation of tamo-guna (quality of dullness and inertia). The sacrifice of the animal of egotism is the manifestation of satva-guna (quality of purity and good) that leads one towards the Godward path of liberation.

You can see for yourself now, how profound these inner meanings are. Same is the case for each of the ancient dharma-karmas. Every one of the ancient practices, once full of meaning, has now grown wild beyond recognition. Branches have shot out in various directions. It is now not possible to pluck the tree by the roots and plant a new one freshly. So, the existing tree has to be trimmed and trained to grow straight in order to constantly remember the true meanings.