Dharma, Purushartha

Dharma

The scriptures provide guidance so as to enable humans to distinguish between good and bad and thus concentrate on good karma in actions and thoughts. We must therefore adhere to the eternal guiding principles of ‘Sanaatan Dharma’ so that our way of life is balanced, righteous, virtuous, duty bound and balanced.

Dharma is about being fair and just in any given context. Dharmic behaviour advocates righteous conduct with a pious helpful outlook, being fearless, being truthful and doing one’s duty as best possible in the circumstances of that life.

Dharma ensures cosmic order and social order. Following one’s Dharma thus ultimately brings peace and happiness even though there are conflicting tensions in life that often make it appear as a dilemma at the time since upholding justice and fairness in the face of powerful resistance or dire consequences can be very testing. If it is necessary to fight for Dharma then that must however be done out of duty not out of hatred or greed as Dharma in fact mandates selfless love for all fellow beings.


Dharma is variable depending on the circumstance, the period of time, the place and person. It is not fixed universally but still can be determined using sound judgement in order to adhere to Dharma in any given situation.

Dharma translates into duty, goodness, justice and above all a balance

Purushartha
The Karmic Law and the idea of Dharma inspire confidence of humans in cosmic justice which can be a great comfort in the face of seemingly unjust unfair circumstances of life. The Hindu philosophy encourages the right way of living on this basis and provides four principle doctrines (‘Purushartha’) as appropriate goals that the common man can aim for in each stage of life thus providing essential guidance on ‘how to live’ and ‘what to live for’ whilst exercising ‘free will’. 

These four goals are known as ‘Dharma’ (ethical duty bound righteous living), ‘Artha’ (pursuit of material prosperity and social standing in righteous ways), ‘Kaam’ (fulfilment of sensual and artistic or material desires through Dharmic means), ‘Moksha’ (detachment and liberation from physical and material bonds). The path to Moksha is through dispassionate detachment (‘Vairagya’) and begins with freedom even in action rather than freedom from action. 

These doctrines thus provide realistic religious guidance for everyday life. The first doctrine is Dharma. It is not permissible to violate this whilst pursuing the next goals of Artha and Kaam  Otherwise the result is accumulation of bad karma which will bring misfortunes in the same life or next life. On the other hand it is said that pursuing all four of these goals truthfully will enable a natural graduation towards liberation after fulfilment of more basic needs and desires throughout life. For instance rightfully gained material comfort and prosperity (Artha) is likely to bring harmony, health and greater well being to a household and similarly consensual gratification of passions within social norms (Kaam) ensures more balanced, stable and calm existence as well as reproduction to ensure continuity of life. It is with this perspective that the instructions from the respective scriptures of ‘Dharma Shastras’ (notably by sage Manu), Arthashastra (by sage Kautilya) and ‘Kamasutra’ may be followed as appropriate to the times. 

Spiritual growth is obstructed by the five negative tendencies which must be avoided. These are ignorance (‘avidya’), ego (‘asmita’), negative emotions (‘raga’), unjustified aversions or prejudices (‘dwesha’) and lack of discipline (‘abhinivesha’). There are also six emotional enemies which disturb the mind and prevent rightful pursuit of the Purushartha. These are anger (‘krodh’), greed (‘lobh’), uncontrolled temptations (‘moh’), pride (‘madh’), jealousy/envy (‘matsar’) and lustful desires (‘kaam’) which are beyond control unlike the Purushartha signifying fulfilment of desires with discipline and Dharma. All of these are to be avoided and overcome using free will to build up good karma and free oneself of evil thoughts, intentions and actions.  Prayer to Ishwara will help to achieve this.

Karma and Free Will

Karma and Rebirth

Life is said to be governed by the law of Karma referring to action and reaction.  One’s good and bad actions and thoughts in the present necessarily affect one’s future circumstances. This law therefore determines and explains why for instance some humans suffer more than others and how life presents different conditions to different individuals.  Moreover Karma remains associated with the Jiva-atma and has its effect not only in this life but also gets carried forward to the next life (Punar Janma)

It is said that the total sum of good and bad deeds and intentions (Punya and Paap) associated with the ‘jiva’ is stored as one’s ‘Sanchita Karma’.  Out of this ‘Prarabdha Karma’ is the portion of past Karma which is assigned to influence the current life (Janma). Both good and bad parts of ‘Prarabdha Karma’ are deducted from the ‘Sanchita Karma’ as they are used up to present equivalent good or bad circumstances in this life. The Punya and Paap committed in this life (current Janma) is called ‘Kriyamana Karma’ and the actions we plan to execute are accumulated as ‘Agaami Karma’ which all gets added to the ‘Sanchita Karma’. Thus the ‘Sanchita Karma’ is a running account.  Based on one’s ‘Prarabdha Karma’ the ‘jiva’ takes birth either in one of the ‘Deva Lokas’ or on earth in human/animal/plant form or still inferior births are in the lower Lokas beneath the earth. As humans are not detached from their desires, upon death the ‘Jiva’ carries with it all its cravings and inclinations (‘Vasanas’) as well as the ‘karma’ associated with it. When the ‘Jiva’ enters a new body, these ‘Vasanas’ come back into play and sometimes also influence dreams at night.

Free will

If the ‘Jiva-atma’ takes human form, based on its past karma a human would definitely have to undergo some hardships or may experience very favourable circumstances.  However humans do possess ‘free will’ to best deal with even negative circumstances that may be presented to them owing to negative Prarabdha karma so as to improve the outcomes of these events in their present life. Good actions and positive thoughts if projected strongly enough have the power to nullify some of the impact of bad Prarabdha karma even though the initial hardship will befall one. Although it is not possible to measure or define the exact impact of good actions, that good ‘Kriyamana Karma’ can positively impact this life is certain as is the fact that good actions can add up to positive ‘Agaami Karma’ for the future which all goes to one’s Karma account of ‘Sanchita Karma’.  Some of this ‘fructifies’ as ‘Prarabdha Karma’ for the next life. Thus one must believe in the powers of free will and intelligence and use it to make the best of challenges and opportunities that life throws as this is the way to mould one’s destiny to an extent and to come out a winner despite being dealt a bad hand.

As seen in the movie matrix, everything in life is not absolutely pre written  there are merely ‘possibilities’ and depending on the choices humans make, their destiny keeps on taking shape as life progresses.