The meaning of Dharma

This is from my earlier blog which I deleted...posting it again

धर्मः मतिभय उद्घ्र्तह: (Dharmah matibhya udgritah ) - means Dharma is what originates from the logical mind. These words were said by Bheesma Pitamah in Mahabharata and recently the underlying theme of the movie Eklavya where I heard these words and realized how true is the meaning of these words in the present context of Indian society and the religious traditions.

Dharma does not mean only religion, as most people think and perceive, but Dharma means life's purpose, the righteous path one must follow throughout his/her life. The founders of different religions laid down certain rules to be followed by their followers so that they follow the right path. The basic aim of all the religions is the same, to do the right things in life. Anyway, I'm not going into those details but rather what they have become in the present times. The rules have evolved, modified, and changed to some extent during the past thousand years and now they are perceived in a totally different manner.

The foundation of the religion was laid by certain noble men who were saints or sages of the ancient times. They wrote the Vedas , the BhagwatGita, the Quran, the Bible and other holy books which are really a great source of knowledge and wisdom. However, due to the domainace of priests and pundits in the society, the religions have been modified by them for their own selfish needs. The traditions based on total superstitions have been created to fool the general people who follow them in their daily life without any doubt or question as they have been told to follow them by the so-called protectors of religion, the pundits, the priests and the maulvies. The very existence of these people depends on the people who follow the tradions blindly as they get paid to perform the rituals and the traditions. This is their only source of income and the only way they can still dominate the society by instilling fear in people's mind that they will burn in hell if they do not follow them. And the people oblige, as these are being done since centuries. No one even dares to think whether these are right or wrong, or are these totally necessary. But still they would follow, because everyone is doing the same.

If you apply a little bit of logic and thinking, you will realise that these are totally unnecessary. Who ultimately gets benefitted frome them? Only and only the pundits. Noone else. Imagine if everyone stops doing them, who will be affected the most? Only these priests and pundits. That's the reason they tell people to follow them otherwise 'gods' will become angry, and something bad will happen. And as no one wants to attract the wrath of these 'gods', they follow what the religion says.

This is not what is written in the religion. Take for example Hinduism. There are so many good books, the Vedas and the BhagwatGita, which are the ultimate source of knowledge and wisdom. But how many people have ever read them? Not even 1%. How many people actually know the meaning and teachings of Bhagwat Gita? Not even 1%. These great books teach so much, but people do not read them, because they have been told to follow other rituals and superstitions that have been created by the pundits. Does anyone remember Swami Vivekanada, the greatest Swami hinduism has ever produced? No one.The pundits will not earn anything or dominate the society if people start reading the teachings of Swami Vivekananda, or reading the Vedas, but they will earn only and only when people start following the traditions that they have created for their own good.

The words धर्मः मतिभय उद्घ्र्तह: (Dharmah matibhya udgritah ), although have somewhat different meaning, but are correct in this context also. Do what your mind says, and do not blindly follow what has been going on since ages. It's time to apply your own mind to whatever you follow. My heart pains when I see even my friends, the IITians, who are said to be most intelligent people in India, follow these superstitions. I have seen that they won't clean the room on thursdays, will not trim hair on saturday, will take fast on some days of the week, will go to the temple before exams (as if they will get better marks by doing it), will not purchase anything made of iron on saturday and so on. Even in the families, including mine, I have seen such things happening. These things are totally illogical, but everyone will do them, as they are being done since ages.

Why should people follow the rules made by someone else? Can't they think on their own and do what they think is right? Do they have to necessary follow what everyone is doing? Don't they have their own will, and believe in themselves rather than 'god'? Sadly, most people will not, as they fear something 'bad' will happen if they do these things and stop following the superstitions, as they have been told by their religion's Gurus. For them, Dharma is not what originates from the logical mind, but it is something which has been going on and will go on. I hope the situation changes and it is changing, but too slow and too little.


p.s. : Some people might think this post is offensive to their religion, but I don't give a damn.