Two Simple Ways To Understand Dharma

“All created beings are unmanifest in their beginning, manifest in their interim state, and unmanifest again when they are annihilated. So what need is there for lamentation?” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 2.28)

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अव्यक्तादीनि भूतानि व्यक्तमध्यानि भारत
अव्यक्तनिधनान्येव तत्र का परिदेवना

avyaktādīni bhūtāni
vyakta-madhyāni bhārata
avyakta-nidhanāny eva
tatra kā paridevanā

1. The essence of something

It is a typical Sunday morning. Time to rest. No pressures of a morning meeting. No preparation necessary for driving a long distance to the office, only to sit in a tiny cubicle, not knowing a soul around, and logging into the same virtual meetings you could have easily taken at home. No concern over the school schedule for the children. You can do whatever you want, as this is a day of relaxation.

You enter the kitchen and reach for a glass. You go to pour cold water into it, out of the filter contraption kept in the refrigerator. Your spouse decides that now is the time to play logical puzzles. Today is the day to dig deep into philosophy. You are on the spot to explain something that no one has ever asked you before.

“I see that you are drinking water. Nice choice. It will help to flush out the toxins in your system. You may not know it, but your system is pretty toxic at the moment. By chance, could you define what that is? I know you and I refer to it as water, but what exactly qualifies for that identification? What are the constituent components? Is there a way to define it? No, I am being serious. Think about it for a moment, and then give me your answer.”

If your mind is in a working state and not still recovering from the eight hours of sleep from the night before, you might offer answers along the lines of wetness and liquidity. Water is wet. Water is a liquid. If a substance is not wet, it cannot be water. If a substance is solid or gaseous, then it is not water. It may have been water only moments prior. The gas may be the vapors that the water transformed into. The liquid still has to be there in order for the proper qualification.

This is one way to understand the Sanskrit concept of dharma. Dharma is the essence of something. In this example, we could say that the properties we identified are the dharma of water. Dharma can apply to anything, in fact. Dharma changes based on the categorization, on the context of the discussion, and on the content being studied.

For the individual, who is a living being, dharma is their tendency to serve. The living being in this sense is a jiva, which refers to a kind of soul that can land in one of two different natures. The jiva can choose to be bound in the material world. The jiva can also reach liberation. Since there is vulnerability and choice, the jiva is a conditioned soul. There is the potential for different conditions.

2. The way to reach the essence of something

Let’s say that we have a machine that has rusted over time. There was both negligence in maintenance and occasional misuse. The machine is still inside. There is potential for a rebirth, so to speak, but corrective measures are necessary. The machine will not necessarily come to life on its own. There is a sequence of steps necessary to get the machine to return to its original nature, to work as intended.

The sequence of steps is also dharma. It is like a system for reaching the essence. For the living being, dharma is the systematic implementation for reaching dharma in the definition of an essence. For instance, a person of the warrior occupation, kshatriya, might be advised to follow certain rules and regulations. They should be charitable. They should be fearless. They should be quick to defend the helpless. They should take it as their highest priority to protect others from injury.

शौर्यं तेजो धृतिर् दाक्ष्यं
युद्धे चाप्य् अपलायनम्
दानम् ईश्वर-भावश् च
क्षात्रं कर्म स्वभाव-जम्

śauryaṁ tejo dhṛtir dākṣyaṁ
yuddhe cāpy apalāyanam
dānam īśvara-bhāvaś ca
kṣātraṁ karma svabhāva-jam

“Heroism, power, determination, resourcefulness, courage in battle, generosity, and leadership are the qualities of work for the kshatriyas.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 18.43)

These different ideals, goals, and objectives are what make up the kshatriya-dharma. In this regard, there can be many dharmas, to match distinctions and delineations, which may be arbitrarily drawn or fixed across centuries. There may be a specific dharma for a specific age. For instance, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu inaugurated the yuga-dharma for the age of Kali, in the chanting of the holy names: Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.

The essence we are trying to reach might be a state of being, such as an orderly passage of vehicles on the road. In this regard, dharma would involve driving on the correct side of the road, honoring the different traffic signals, obeying the speed limits, and so forth. These rules are dharma, for the purpose of reaching a condition which is also dharma.

If we remove all of the conditions, then dharma is something like a religion. Because this dharma is the highest of all, as it applies to the individual in their identity as spirit soul. Since the soul always exists, since it only breaks from our vision periodically, in going from manifest to unmanifest, the dharma for the soul is also eternal. Therefore, we can say that genuine religion, free of outside intervention and perversion, is sanatana-dharma.

Sanatana-dharma applies to everyone. As a concept, it is superior to religion, since religion is more of a faith. Religion has conditions. Religion might be inherited. Religion might be followed out of fear. Religion can change, based on choice. Sanatana-dharma never changes. Sanatana-dharma applies to every individual, whether man or woman, young or old, coming or going. Sanatana-dharma is the way for the individual to once again realize their identity as spirit soul, which has its source in the greatest soul, who is also known as God.

एक-देश-स्थितस्याग्नेर्
ज्योत्स्ना विस्तारिणी यथा
परस्य ब्रह्मणः शक्तिस्
तथेदम् अखिलं जगत्

eka-deśa-sthitasyāgner
jyotsnā vistāriṇī yathā
parasya brahmaṇaḥ śaktis
tathedam akhilaṁ jagat

“Everything that is manifested within this cosmic world is but the energy of the Supreme Lord. As fire emanating from one place diffuses its illumination and heat all around, so the Lord, although situated in one place in the spiritual world, manifests His different energies everywhere. Indeed, the whole cosmic creation is composed of different manifestations of His energy.” (Vishnu Purana, 1.22.52)

In Closing:

Dharma steps of sequence each,
For certain state to reach.

Like warrior on battle’s ground,
To code of conduct bound.

Or with specific time to change,
Like chanting in Kali’s range.

After all conditions exhausted and spent,
As sanatana for my benefit meant.