Acharya, Dr. Prem Chand Shridhar,
Arya Samaj, Greater
In fact,
man is the universe in a microcosmic form.
Yajuveda (31.2) clearly says, “Man is everything and all things exist in
him”. Our great epic, the Mahabharata
says, “Nothing exceeds the excellence of man.”
Man is the combination of body, mind, intellect and soul. Man has superiority over the living beings in
having intellect and understanding.
Dharma is not a material thing to be shared, nor is it any deity to be
feared for any penalty or to elate to for reward. It is a way of life based on certain
principles arrived at by deep concentration and conceptions of the phenomena of
nature.
Dharma
is the life of truth – relation between Man and God, a link with the whole
universe, reconciliation of both a higher self and a lower self in one. Dharma is to do good everywhere and
discourage envy, hate, egoism, selfishness and bigotry at all levels.
Dharma
is manhood complete, projecting moral, social and cultural standards of
life. It is like a lamp that shows the
way in darkness to be aware of the ditches, the pitfalls, drops and dangers
ahead. It links man to man with the bond
of love, service and fellow feeling.
While on one hand it drives toward good, on the other hand, it drives
man away from evil. It builds general
character and promotes good society.
Religion
(Dharma) wants love of truth, love of friends, understanding, sympathy,
goodness, courage, kindness, generosity, tolerance, wit and wisdom combined to
produce a unique human being.
Einstein
writes, “A person who is religiously enlightened, appears to me, to be one who
has, to the best of his ability, liberated himself from the fetters of his
selfish desires and is preoccupied with thoughts, feelings and aspirations to
which he clings because of their superior personal values”.
In
short, we can say self-development, self-discipline and self-dedication are
indispensable elements in religion. The very foundation of life, as elucidated
by the Bhagavad Gita is “Non-violence in thought, word and deed, Abiding by the
truth, Not to commit theft or steal, To control desires, anger and avarice, To
do only such actions as are pleasant and beneficial to all living creatures.”
Thus,
discussing a lot about the true meaning of the religion (Dharma) we would like
to understand the ten characteristics of Dharma, which make a person
religious. According to Manu they are
“Dhriti, Kshama, Dama, Asteya, Shouch, Indriya- Nigraha, Dhee, Vidya, Satyam
and Akrodha.”
The
first quality of Dharma is Dhriti, meaning patience, firmness, stability and
tolerance. A religious person is the
most tolerant in his nature. If one
loses his/her temper and has no regard for the views of others, he or she cannot
be religious.
Kshama
is the second quality. It means one
should forget and forgive. Forgiveness
can only be shown by one who has a large heart and who is kind in nature. It is also the sign of a great personality.
Dama
is the third. All of our miseries are
due to unfulfilled desires and discontentment.
We can never satisfy our senses, rather our thirst for more and more
enjoyment increases. Dama means
self-control and contentment.
The
fourth is Asteya. It tells us not to
steal, conceal or be selfish. Yajurveda
(40.1) states, “Oh man, do not covet the wealth of others.”
Shouch
means to be clean and honest in one’s dealings with others. Shastras/scriptures exhort us; “Purity in
earning the wealth by all honest means is the only way to prosper.”
Indriya-nigraha
means complete celibacy. It is perhaps
the most difficult thing to be observed by anyone. The control of senses and the organs of
actions is the real bravery one can show.
It is in fact, a great tapa/penance one does.
Dhee
is the seventh quality. It is the cumulative
guidance of all knowledge one gains in life. Knowledge, if not put to use is of no value. Actions
are the true test of what one has gathered and known. Our beliefs must coincide with our
behavior. A religious man must not be
found lacking in this regard.
Vidya
is of two kinds; Apara Vidya and Para Vidya.
One must be able to discriminate between the two. One is the knowledge of the material world
and the other of the spiritual world.
Thus, Vidya is an important factor in the life of a religious man.
Satyam
is the ninth quality of Dharma. Truth
(Satya) is the basis of life. One should
be truthful in all of the actions of mind, speech and thought.
Last
but not least is “Akrodha,” which means not to feel irritated, not to get angry
and to avoid all tensions. Having
control over one’s feeling and not getting emotionally upset in our day-to-day
life is the greatest quality of a person.
Such a man is religious/spiritual in the real sense.
Vedic
philosophy declares, “One conquers anger by mental poise, evil by goodness,
miserliness by liberality, untruth by truth”.
“Yato/Abhyudaya/Nih-Shreyash/Sidhih/SA:
-Dharma”
- Vaisheshik philosophy.
Any
upsetting of this balance is undesirable and is worth rejecting. Wealth and desire that are in accordance with
a balanced life, based on the principles talked about, lead to salvation
(Moksha) and do not result in bondage in the material world.
According
to our culture and philosophy, this is the concept of Dharma. These ten
principles of Dharma if adhered to in life, lead one to a religious and
spiritual life.