Dharma -A must read

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HARI AUM

 

Dear All,

 

Here is very inspired piece by Shree Ganapathy Raman

sent to me as a reply to some of my doubts. With his

permission I am reposting it here for the benefit of

all.

 

Regards

 

Balagopal

 

NARAYANA NARAYANA ANARAYANA

 

 

The familiar view that an avatar of the Lord comes to

restore and uphold Dharma

whenever there is a decline of the same.Even Sri

Krishna says in the Gita which is often quoted

'yada-yada hi dharmasya glanir bhavati bharatha

abhyutthanam

adharmasya tada'tmanam srijamyaham' (whenever there is

decline of dharma

then I manifest myself) Dharma is verily the karma

that is conducive to man's

growth and progress.,what impedes them is adharma.At

every time adharma

prevails and preven's mans evolution the Cosmic

Intelligence embodies Itself

as a matter of course.Then what is Dharma?The same can

be defined as that

which holds people together. dharanat dharma

ityahurdharma dhayati prajah'

says the Mahabharatha.It is the all pervasive cohesive

principle ,a centripetal

force that keeps everything in a harmonious state of

integration.It is the

principle that governs the natural tendency for

everything in the universe to come

together and coalesce.This tendency is witnessed both

grossly and subtly in the

universe in all the physical.vital.social,intellectual

and religious activities.It is

a fundamental law ofthe universe.Based on this

law,everyone,in whatever stage,

profession or status in life he is,whether teacher or

pupil,master or servant,

father or son,all hv their dharma to follow.These are

moral codes of conduct

at ethical and religious levels,the ultimate aim being

universal integration.

 

Dharma is indestructible and it cannot decline.It is

only the decline in the correct practice of dharma

that is meant by the term " glanir " referred to in the

verse from the Gita quoted earlier.Like the crops

inthe field being overpowered the bad and undesirable

qualities developed in the human race black out and

suppress the

dharma prescribed for the individual or the group.It

is to set right this decline

an 'avatar' comes.This decline is a recurring

problem.It is like placing the jasmine garlands around

the neck of the monkey,dress it in shining silken

clothes, and seat it on a gem set throne.,can it

forsake its apish tricks?Once it was a vanara,now it

is a nara(man).And in him,thru many lives crookedness

and cruelty hv struck deep roots.These cannot be

destroyed soon.It is a very difficult

task indeed.That is why God assumes the avatar form

and decides to award

mankind the power to discrimainate between right and

wrong,between truth and

falsehood.The avatar does it thru precept and

example.Krishna is the classic example of such

avatar.But upholding dharma alone can't be the purpose

of the

manifestation of the avatar,it has an important

spiritual component in its work.

The spiritual aspect is to remind man of his own

divinity and show him the way

to realize the truth and thru that knowlege to reach

the Absolute.It is in this

Divine alchemy that the avatar comes to perform.

There is a proverb in Tamil which runs like this:

udamaiku oru muzhuku,

udaiyavanuku onbathu muzhuku (The property takes one

dip in water while the

owner takes nine dips).To elaborate: a man jumped into

a steep well to take bath.When he came out of the

water he found that the diamond ring he had been

wearing on his finger was missing.What will he do?He

will not go home lamenting his loss.He will repeatedly

go down into the water to recover the ring which is

his property.This anecdote illustrates the phenomenon

of repeated

appearance of avatars.Whether we know it or not we are

like the rings dropped off the finger of the Divine.He

will not allow us to be lost forever.This is what Lord

Krishna assures us in the oft quoted verse sambhavami

yuge yuge.

 

There are different types of dharmas.Svadharma is

mainly concerned with individual

attributes.Visvadharma is higher than svadharma.It is

universally applicable dharma.It is the cosmic dharma

of the Brahman.Isvaradharma emerges from

visvadharma.Samajikadharma or the dharma of society

emerges

from isvaradharma,the dharma of God.Vyaktidharma or

individual dharma emerges from

samajikadharma.Vyaktidharma is synonymous with

svadharma.Besides being the code of conduct for the

individual,svadharma,

has another aspect,the spiritual.Every human is

expected to strive towards realization of his own

inherent divinity,and direct all his activities

towards that goal.That is Atmadharma.and in this

activity mutual interaction between individuals is an

important element.All activities engaged by

individuals,groups or nations which go against the

principle of universal integration are to be

considered as adharma.There is anoher dharma alled

Sanathana dharmawhichis

another name for Brahman is made one's own.

 

Really speaking,even for the advent of Lord the

prayers of the Grat act as the

invitation.In the external world when the subjects

need any convenience or help they approach the rulers

and inform them of their request.So also in the

internal State,when there is no possibility of

achieving and acquiring Bhakthy,Charity,

Peace and Truth the great and good men who desire to

achieve them pray to the

Lord within themselves.Then the Lord Himself comes to

the world and showers

His Grace on them.Thus came the avatars of

Rama,Krishna because of the prayers of the sages to

get rid of the world from adharma.It is said

Manavaseva is Madhavaseva.But without thought of

Madhava how can Madhavaseva originate?Instead whatever

is done with the Lord in mind,along the path of

truth,and according to the aspects of Dharma,has to be

considered as the Seva

of the Lord and whatever is done for name and fame and

for the fruit thereof

shall not be referred to as Madhavaseva.

 

Of course in the case of Sri Rama he adherred to the

principle of dharma according to sastraic injunctions

and did not hv the mercy to send even Sita to

exile despite the fact that she was pregnant at that

time and here he had to act

in such a way becoz He was the Ruler and not an

ordinary citizen and the Ruler shuld be like Caesars

wife above suspicion.So despite suffering himself

mentally

he had to send her to the forest.Such things never

happened in the case of Krishna as the purpose of His

avatar was entirely diffferent.That is why Krishna is

called Poornaavatar.The cowherd boy who could steal

butter,also became a great warrior and a Great

Teacher.Thus Dharma is one which has to be followed

in right earnest so as to avoid ourselves being fallen

into abysmal disaster.

 

 

agraman.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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