Dharmo rakshati rakshitah

Dear Friend

Very interesting question

“Dharma eva hato hanti/ Dharmo rakshati rakshitah” (One who destroys Dharma is destroyed by Dharma/ One who protects Dharma is protected by Dharma).

Is this the real meaning?

If we try to translate “Dharma protects those who protect Dharma” in Sanskrit then it will be more like “Rakshitam Dharma Rakshati“.

Then what could be the real meaning of this sloka?

Let us break down each word and find out the meaning:

Dharm~Eva Hato Hanti, Dharmo Rakshati Rakshitah!

Tasma~Dharmo Na Hantvyo, Ma No Dharmo Hato~Vadhit!!

Dharm - Dharma

Eva - used to emphasis

= Dharm~Eva - Dharma alone/Dharma indeed

Hato - Being killed/destroyed

Hanti - Kills/destroyes

Dharmo - From Dharma

Rakshati - To protect

Rakshitah - The protected one


Tasma - Hence/Therefore

Dharmo - From Dharma

Na - Not

Hantvyo - To kill/destroy


Ma - Do not

No - Nor

Dharmo - From Dharma

Hato - Being killed/destroyed

Vadhit – Killed


If one adds all the meanings, it becomes:
Dharma used to emphasis Dharma alone/Dharma indeed Being killed/destroyed Kills/destroyes

From Dharma To protect The protected one

Hence/Therefore- From Dharma Not To kill/destroy

Do not Nor From Dharma Being killed/destroyed Killed

So the meaning of the Sloka : Dharma eva hato hanti/ Dharmo rakshati rakshitah

Dharma destroyed, destroys; Dharma protects, the protected.

This is what the Sloka conveys.



Dharma does not destroy, nor Dharma can be destroyed.

Here Manu is trying to state a fact rather than an advice.

Compare this with Gravitational Force: Here it goes,


If Gravitational Force is destroyed, everything on earth will fall apart; Gravitational Force keeps everything protected on earth. Neither Gravitational Force can be destroyed, nor does Gravitational Force destroy.

Manu is just stating the fact that Dharm is an essence of everything. It is neither a philosophy, nor moral obligation, or religious doctrine, or some kind commandments, or any faith or belief.


Now coming to your next part “Why yudhistra had to suffer at the hands of the treacherous Duryodhana ?


The course of the events and how Yudistrara dealt with it lead all the Pandavas to suffer as well as to enjoy success.

Even Sri Rama suffered the agony of separation from MA Sita.

Here also how Ma Sita handled her situation brought both Sri.Rama and herself the sufferings.

Suffering is the result of our perception of events and how we handle them.

Because man is free to select his options, he needs to think and understand that any human activity, including in action, has the potential to cause a chain of consequences. It is therefore important to choose an appropriate path. If he had no options or if he was not free to choose, that is another matter.

Mahabharata seeks to awaken the essence of Dharma within us, to learn to distinguish Dharma from its opposite.

One has to look within oneself, grasp the true intent and spirit of Dharma in order to judge a situation and act in the best interests of the self and of the fellow beings.

On one occasion, Krishna tells Yudhishthira: "Sometimes one protects dharma by forgetting it."

Yudhistrar handled the situations in a way, that lead to a chain of consequences, resulting the sufferings for Pandavas.

Dharma pictured in Mahabharata is ambiguous, uncertain and often disputed. For instance, Draupadi after the dice game, demands to know whether Yudhishtira had a right to stake her in the game after he had staked and lost himself. It was so difficult a question that even Bhishma, the recognized authority on Dharma, when pointedly challenged by Draupadi, confessed his inability to decide the issue. ”I am unable to answer your question because Dharma is subtle”, he says (na dharmasaukshmyat subhage vivektutm shaknomi te prasnam imam yatthaavat).

It was said that Dharma is subtle (sukshmam) because its essence is concealed in a dark cavern (dharmasya tattvam nihitath guhaayaam).

On another occasion, Draupadi wonders why they have to suffer so, if they were the righteous ones. If everything happened by the will of god, why then do the virtuous suffer? She exclaims, it seems only the powerful escape harm, not the righteous. Yudhishthira tries to explain: "None should ever perform virtue with a desire to gain its fruits.. ... Do not doubt virtue because you do not see its results. Without doubt, the fruits of virtue will be manifest in time, as will the fruits of sin.

The fruits of true virtue are eternal and indestructible”.

Years later, Yudhishthira has similar doubts. Soon after the war, he was overwhelmed by a sense of horror and melancholy; and was much troubled by the death and destruction caused by the war decides to perform Rajasuyaga as penitence for the acknowledged wrongs of the war.




Sometime sufferings give great lessons, as in the case of Ramayana and Mahabarata.



The sufferings of the Yudhistra and other Pandavas and Draupadi, Nala and Damayanti, Savitri and Satyavan, clearly explain to us the fact or hard truth that the goal of life or perfection can only be attained through pain and suffering.


Pain is the means through which man is moulded, disciplined and strengthened. Just as impure gold is turned into pure gold by melting it in the crucible, so also the impure and imperfect weak man is rendered pure, perfect and strong, by being melted in the crucible of pain and suffering. Therefore, one should not be afraid of pain and sufferings. They are blessings in disguise. They are eye-openers. They are silent teachers. They turn the mind towards God and instil mercy in the heart, strengthen the will and develop patience and power of endurance, which are the pre-requisites for God-Realisation.


The message of the Mahabharata is the message of Truth and Righteousness.

The great epic produces a moral awakening in the readers and exhorts them to tread the path of Satya and Dharma.

It urges them strongly to do good deeds, practise Dharma, cultivate dispassion by realising the illusory nature of this universe and its vainglories and sensual pleasures, and attain Eternal Bliss and Immortality. It induces people to do what Yudhishthira did and abandon what Duryodhana did. Stick to Dharma tenaciously. You will attain everlasting happiness and Moksha, the summum bonum of life. This is the final purport or central teachings of the Mahabharata.

May the teachings of this illustrious and ancient epic guide us in every walk of our life. May we stick to Dharma. May the great characters of the Mahabharata inspire us! May we imbibe the righteousness of Yudhishthira, the purity of Bhishma, the courage of Arjuna and the liberality of Karna! Glory to Sri Bhagavan Vyasa, the grandsire of the heroes, the author of the Mahabharata, a Chiranjeevi and an Avatara of Lord Hari.

May His blessings be upon all of us !

Source:

http://www.dlshq.org/religions/mahabhara...

Dharma and Duty

Robert E. Svoboda


Generous friends took me with them in mid February to New Delhi’s Siri Fort Auditorium for the concert commemorating the fiftieth anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King’s visit to India. When during that evening the musical luminaries on stage launched into “We Shall Overcome” I gladly joined in, but in the Hindi version: “Ham Honge Kaamyaab.” As I sang I remembered three men with whom I associate that song: Dr King, Naseeruddin Shah, and my mentor, the Aghori Vimalananda.

In Sanskrit dharma literally means that which is established, firm. Often equated with religious creed or dogma, a human’s dharma is rather what he or she was born to do, for all dharma is ultimately sva-dharma, an individual’s personal path through existence. Dr. King was for instance born to help lead the United States toward freedom from racial discrimination. Though this may not have been his original life aim, each step he took along his way led him toward his tryst with his destiny. One of the most critical of his steps was his trip to India, and his exposure to Gandhiji’s dharma.

People follow their dharma when they follow the internal compass that directs their wanderings through the forest of the world, a GPS system generated for each of us by the pre-existing karmas that we bring with us into our embodied existences. When you act according to the dictates of your personal dharma Providence will assist you, even when (or especially when) your dharma puts you at odds with the conventions or prejudices of others. Attempt to cleave instead to a course that violates your intrinsic nature and you will find the world resisting your efforts. Dharmo rakshati rakshitah, says Manu: “Protected, dharma protects.” The less-often quoted second half of the verse goes on to add that, “Destroyed, dharma destroys.”

Life would be easier if a child appeared in the world with its dharma printed prominently on its brow. Since this is not the case, we each have to discover our particularized dharmas for ourselves. Ideally our parents, teachers, and guru study us carefully as we grow, and train us up in the way we should go, even if that way differs in significant details from the way of life that they follow; but that is only the ideal. In practice, most adults try to force children to follow the path that they themselves follow, whether or not that path is right for that child. Pursuing a dharma that is not your own may not seem injurious in the short run, but over the course of a lifetime it will inevitably damage you in some way. Lord Krishna emphasizes this when he tells Arjuna, Svadharme nidhanam sreshtam, paradharme bhayavavah: “it is better to follow your personal dharma even unto death; to live another’s dharma culminates in fear.”

Many individuals succumb to the pressure to conform, and fall into lockstep with their elders and peers; only a few dare to strike out boldly on their own, as did Vimalananda. Though born in Mumbai into a Gujarati Vaishnava community, Vimalananda refused to call himself a “Hindu,” pointing out rightly that that word appears nowhere in any sacred Sanskritic text. He rejected the concept of “Hinduism” as vehemently as he defended the concept of dharma. “Ekam sat; vipra bahuda vadanti!” he would thunder; “all paths lead ultimately to the same Supreme!”

“I do not believe in sampradaya,” Vimalananda would say, “in sects or sectarianism; I believe in sampradaha, complete incineration. Burn down everything within yourself that is getting in the way of your perception of Truth!” When pressed, he would describe himself as a “Vedic,” a devotee neither of Vedic ritualism nor of neo-Vedanta, but rather of the rishis themselves, whose tireless penances enabled them to receive the Vedic hymns via direct perception of divine reality. Vimalananda would tell those who came to him for guidance to “carve out your own niche,” to determine for themselves which path to God works best for them, and to move though the world accordingly. In his own life Vimalananda used his inborn guidebook to navigate the vicissitudes of mundane reality, staying on the course he knew to be right for him despite persistent disapproval from others.

Following your dharma will eventually provide ample rewards, but it may not make your life any easier; in fact, it may make your life much more difficult. Trying to satisfy his father’s cravings, Bhishma Pitamaha swore a vow whose unintended consequences included the creation of the sibling rivalry that terminated in the great war of the Mahabharata, during which he was himself slain. Incited by Krishna to protect himself and his kin, Yudhisthira deliberately misled his own guru to help Arjuna perform guruhatya, the worst of the mahapatakas. Suryaputra Karna, though he well knew the extent to which Duryodhana followed the wrongful path of adharma, could no more desert his friend than the sun could refuse to shine. Karna knew that he would fight his brothers by blood, and died because he remained true to the only man who treated him like a brother.

Heroes like Karna are prepared to die in the performance of their perceived duty rather than turn away from that duty just to preserve their lives. Mexican revolutionary Emiliano Zapata put it this way: “I prefer to die on my feet than to live on my knees.” Terrorists surely believe themselves to be doing their duty, but mere conviction is not dharma, for terrorism involves sacrificing the lives of hated others, and dharma sometimes requires its followers to sacrifice themselves or their loved ones. Like Nargis in Mother India, gunning down her own son to prevent him from descending further into adharma, Bharata Mata cannot tolerate adharma in any of her children, be they “Hindu,” Muslim, Christian, Sikh, Jain, Parsi, Jew, Bahai, animist or other, particularly when that unrighteousness is cloaked in the name of religion. The mill of karma grinds slowly, but grinds extremely fine; truth will most certainly triumph, however long it may take (and it may take decades, or centuries): satyam eva jayate.

As a youngster I learned to sing “We Shall Overcome” as I watched Dr. Martin Luther King march for freedom; but that song really only came alive for me when I listened to it sung as “Ham Honge Kaamyaab” in the final scene of the movie Albert Pinto ko Gussa Kyon Ata Hai? The image of Naseeruddin Shah standing tall, knowing the heavy price he will have to pay for his stand, and ready to pay it, has stayed with me over the years as a true representation of India’s fundamental philosophy: the search for one’s own path through life, and the resolve to follow that path come what may. Cleave to your path, and eventually you too will, indeed, triumph.


Copyright © 2009
Robert Edwin Svoboda