We are the people of 21st century - intelligent and forward looking. Why should we think and talk about old terminologies like Dharma and Religion? Are they still relevant? I am sure this question will arise in the minds of the readers. Then I have a counter question- Why should we learn history in our school? The reason might be, you should think about the present learning from the past to make your future bright. If we want to know about Dharma we need to go into the past, especially into our Shastras. In our Vedas and Shastras, Dharma is defined very broadly and going by that definition it has nothing in common with words like Religion and Majhab.
Dharma can be defined as virtues of humankind. It has no religious connotation. In Indian ethos, Ramayana and Mahabharta hold a special place. These epics teach us that it is Dharma (i.e. virtues) that triumphs. Our struggle has always been to uphold Dharma. We don’t get any instance in our history of over six thousand years, of we indulging in war for caste, faith or mazhab-conversions; we did not build kingdoms for the advancement of our religion, because there was nothing called religion in first place.
All that existed was Dharma-Virtue. What we have tried doing is saving our dharma and culture. After all there should be some reason for India still retaining its dharma despite being invaded and ruled by so many people from different parts of the world. The wars waged by Shivaji and Rana Pratap among others were certainly not for advancement of their faiths or religions but for the protection of our dharma. For us culture is life, which is the genesis of Dharma. The Culture has originated from the Nature. When India is called ‘Dharma based society’, it does not mean that is based on religion or faith but on Culture i.e. Nature. From Nature came Culture and from Culture came Dharma. We still revere nature- sun, trees, animals, seasons to name a few.
To elaborate further, humans can love or hate, but it is love that is dharma. Humans can speak truth or falsity but truth is dharma. Similarly it is sacrifice to enjoyment and duty to authority that is dharma. It is being helpful than being selfish that is dharma. All this originates from the concept of Dharma. We can conclude that dharma is not just about duty and being duty-bound but a means for the process of rational self-control. And when this self-control ebbs, society and nation accelerate down the degradation path.
Man is a social animal and his being social should be based on the principles of dharma. If this dharma is not the basis then he remains only a beast.
But today “Dharma” is getting all together a corrupt meaning- as religion. Due to which its authority and piety are getting subdued. So the need of the hour is not to blindly criticize Dharma but to understand it. As it is based on Natural Truth, one will find sense in it.
Summarising, the dharma cannot be equated to religion or mazhab or jaati as these mean faiths which can be different for different sections of the society. Human Advancement is the only essence of the dharma. Gandhiji’s Ramrajya was also based on this version of dharma. Human Advancement is the goal of the ManavDharma.
Dharma can be defined as virtues of humankind. It has no religious connotation. In Indian ethos, Ramayana and Mahabharta hold a special place. These epics teach us that it is Dharma (i.e. virtues) that triumphs. Our struggle has always been to uphold Dharma. We don’t get any instance in our history of over six thousand years, of we indulging in war for caste, faith or mazhab-conversions; we did not build kingdoms for the advancement of our religion, because there was nothing called religion in first place.
All that existed was Dharma-Virtue. What we have tried doing is saving our dharma and culture. After all there should be some reason for India still retaining its dharma despite being invaded and ruled by so many people from different parts of the world. The wars waged by Shivaji and Rana Pratap among others were certainly not for advancement of their faiths or religions but for the protection of our dharma. For us culture is life, which is the genesis of Dharma. The Culture has originated from the Nature. When India is called ‘Dharma based society’, it does not mean that is based on religion or faith but on Culture i.e. Nature. From Nature came Culture and from Culture came Dharma. We still revere nature- sun, trees, animals, seasons to name a few.
To elaborate further, humans can love or hate, but it is love that is dharma. Humans can speak truth or falsity but truth is dharma. Similarly it is sacrifice to enjoyment and duty to authority that is dharma. It is being helpful than being selfish that is dharma. All this originates from the concept of Dharma. We can conclude that dharma is not just about duty and being duty-bound but a means for the process of rational self-control. And when this self-control ebbs, society and nation accelerate down the degradation path.
Man is a social animal and his being social should be based on the principles of dharma. If this dharma is not the basis then he remains only a beast.
But today “Dharma” is getting all together a corrupt meaning- as religion. Due to which its authority and piety are getting subdued. So the need of the hour is not to blindly criticize Dharma but to understand it. As it is based on Natural Truth, one will find sense in it.
Summarising, the dharma cannot be equated to religion or mazhab or jaati as these mean faiths which can be different for different sections of the society. Human Advancement is the only essence of the dharma. Gandhiji’s Ramrajya was also based on this version of dharma. Human Advancement is the goal of the ManavDharma.
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