Assignment - Dharma

A Guiding Force: Dharma in Stories and Life

Through the eyes of a westerner, Hinduism, or Sanatana dharma, is a difficult concept to grasp. It is a diverse religion and way of life that focuses upon 'Truth; in order to reach a state of oneness with the entire cosmos, known as liberation or moksha. Humans are capable of reaching this end of samsara, the cycle of reincarnation, because at a basic level, all humans are composed of Brahman, Every object within existence is Brahman. Brahman has existed since the beginning of time. Brahman created the cosmos. Brahman is the cosmos. Brahman is all of the Hindu Gods. Brahman is powerful. We are Brahman. However, we do not fully understand atman, our true self composed of Brahman, while we are blinded by maya, the illusion of our current lives. We are too attached to material objects and relationships in this lifetime. For this reason, a human must attempt to atone for bad karma of past lives and earn good karma during the present in order to be reborn into a state closer to liberation. It is especially important for a woman to earn good karma because she must be reborn as a man before she can reach liberation. Men must be reborn into the Brahmin caste, the highest of the four varnas, or social classes. People are ranked by occupation, not wealth. With the need to reach liberation central to Hinduism, a person will choose to live in a certain, expected way. He or she follows the way of dharma, a path of life that defines many responsibilities. It plays an important role in achieving positive karma and will eventually lead a person closer to moksha.

http://www.kheper.net/integral/ontodynamics.html

Dharma has many definitions. It may be used to refer to Hinduism as a religion or it may be applied to the idea of a universal law of Hinduism. It may focus upon a person's way of life and what is expected of him or her. This last definition is the one we shall focus our attention on since it greatly affects the everyday life of Indian people who practice Hinduism. The purity-pollution principle plays a role in dharma. It is believed that actions in everyday life may pollute an individual. In order to cleanse oneself, one must bathe n the Ganges or undergo some other sort of ritual to become pure. Dharma may dictate what a person may eat or what a person may do for a living. For example, a priest must not eat meat because it is polluted, but a farmer, someone from a lower social class, may consume animal products. The idea of reincarnation is the reason why eating meat is seen as polluting. The animal is a lower life form and may hold the soul of a person atoning for bad karma. This is why the Brahmins are forbidden from eating animals.

An old structural hierarchy separates Indian people into a social structure based upon family history and occupation. Ranked highest to lowest, these four varna are the Brahmins, the priestly class; the ksatriyas, the government of India and warriors; the Vaisyas, the farmers merchants and businesspeople; and the Sundras, those who act as servants or laborers. Beneath these four groups is another group that must not be touched. They are known as the Untouchables and are so polluted that they cannot reach liberation. They are not to be bothered. A human's dharma is affected by which varna he or she falls into. It is a Brahmin's duty to be a vegetarian and to study the vedas, the ancient texts of Hinduism. Ksatriyas must remain noble to India and fight in wars for justice. Royalty is included in this level and members are expected to rule nobly or fight if needed. Vaisyas, specifically farmers, need to take care of and harvest crops. Killing anything, even plants, is polluting so farmers are especially important. They may harvest these crops and give them to the pure Brahmin to eat. The lowest varna, the Sudras, are expected to labor without complaint. A person is expected to do the job assigned to him or her. It is believed that is is far better to do poorly at a job assigned than to excel at one never given to the individual in question.

http://kish.in/agriculture_of_india/

In this sense, dharma still may seem like a complex concept since in the west, social classes tend to focus heavily upon wealth. Even in the west, there are specific tasks given to citizens. This can be considered dharma. For instance, as a citizen of the United States, I am expected to seek out an education for myself. As a child, I was placed in school. In order to please my parents and show that they raised me correctly, I fought hard with my material and attempted to learn everything a teacher presented to the class. It was easier as a child since the material was not quite that difficult to understand so I was placed in accelerated classes. At that time, I thoroughly enjoyed myself and never received a poor grade. Then, we moved.

I did not fulfill my dharma when I entered high school. At this point in time, I experienced some personality types that I never witnessed before and had trouble interacting with strangers. One of my friend passed away at the end of my freshman year from bone cancer and this broke me. Suddenly, grades ceased to matter. This trend carried on into college. No longer did I care about looking good or living up to expectations. I pulled away from the world and focused primarily on my own grief. Though, on some instinctual level, I suppose that I understood that I was not living up to my dharma. I felt ashamed of myself and wanted nothing more than to leave school, leave the town that upset me, and cut myself off from civilization. This was an act of cowardice and selfishness. Finally, one year ago, I snapped myself out of my backwards cycle. In order to atone for my failure to complete my dharma, I chose to fight as hard and I could possibly imagine. I wanted to fulfill my dharma. I wanted to make my family proud. But most importantly, I wanted to work hard to show myself that, yes, I am truly capable of great things if I truly try. I can fulfill my dharma for my own self, my family and the friend that never had the opportunity to attend a college, let alone his final three years of high school.

http://www.mdc.edu/main/news/articles/2010/05/mdcstudents_win_ptk_awards_named_cocacol.asp

There are other instances in society where one must follow dharma. At eighteen years of age, a person is expected to vote in presidential elections. When one reaches the age of sixteen, in some households, it is dharma to seek out a job. Pet owners are expected to treat animals kindly. In some families, a child may be expected to take over a family business when he comes of age. In Judaism, a boy or girl may be expected to have a bar/bat mitzvah. Other religions have similar expectations. The list is long. Generally, we do not call expectations and ways of life dharma, but the principle is similar.

Dharma is a central component in The Ramayana, a famous myth from India, and affects the way in which characters act. Near the beginning of the story, Kaikeyi, blinded by artha (or, maya, the term I previously used), listened to her bitter maid and cashed in the boons offered to her for saving Dasaratha's life. The maid did not follow dharma because she chose to persuade Kaikeyi into demanding that Kaikeyi acted upon her boons. However, since Kaikeyi did fall for the poisonous words, she, too, is guilty of not following dharma. She demanded that her son, Bharata, should become the heir-apparent, not Rama, and in addition to this, she also told the king to banish Rama for fourteen years. Following dharma, the king, though heart-broken, agreed to her demands. Rama, believing in his father's choices and justice, another instance of dharma, leaves willingly. However, Bharata does not agree to becoming heir-apparent. He sees the error of his mother's way and, in order to protect his family dharma, he refuses to be crowned king. He is not the eldest son so to take that role would mean breaking tradition, dharma. 

Later, after Sita is kidnapped, Rama is the one who must save her. It may seem peculiar since Sita was discovered by Hanuman, who could fly, but the actions are all made according to dharma. Someone stealing Rama's wife was hurtful to his pride and he was dishonored. For another individual to save the stolen wife would dishonor him even further. In order to preserve dharma and regain honor, it is Rama who needed to rescue Sita. It took much more effort since the monkey people needed to build a bridge across the water, but as a result of their effort, all was well in the end and dharma was preserved.

http://vimaliswamy.wordpress.com/2010/02/28/leadership-the-ramayana-way/

Once Sita is rescued and everyone returns to the city, Rama shuns Sita and says that he cannot have her by his side. Sita followed her dharma by remaining loyal to him throughout her capture and imprisonment, but he does not know that and feels that he must shun her in order to preserve his own dharma. In Indian culture, taking a woman that had been defiled or dishonest was a dishonorable action. He needed to play his role in society and follow his role. In order to prove her innocence, Sita underwent a fire challenge. If she was innocent, the fire would not harm her. If not, she would be burned to a crisp. In the end, she survived the fire because she was carried out of the flames by the god of fire himself without a single burn upon her skin. She proved that she stayed true to her dharma. In the end, depending upon the tale, Rama accepted her.

Dharma shows itself in other tales as well. In Vampire Academy, Rose Hathaway bases her actions upon what she believes is best for her best friend, Lissa, a Moroi. She shows her dharma through her loyalty and need for her friend's safety. It is this dharma that compelled her to leave St. Vladimir's Academy, a sort of boarding school for Moroi and Dhampirs. Feeling that there is danger within the academy walls, Rose acts upon dharma and does the one thing that she was always taught to do in her classes--protect Moroi. In this society, it is a dhampir's dharma to protect the Moroi from the evil Strigoi. During this time, the Moroi have magic, but dharma tells them not to fight. They must depend on the Dhampirs to protect them from harm. Dhampirs need the Moroi in order to increase their numbers since Dhampirs cannot breed with one another. In this sense, the hierarchy in Vampire Academy also represents a sort of caste system similar to the one discussed in Hinduism. One level cannot exist without the other. Later, alchemists are thrown into the mixture and they also have a special place within this system.

http://www.amazon.com/Vampire-Academy-Graphic-Leigh-Dragoon/dp/1595144293

Dharma is all around us. It appears in our books, our film, and our daily life. Some people choose to live by dharma while others choose to live life to the fullest while pushing limits. It is a fascinating concept.