Dharma – Page 5 – Anuśīlana.in

mayoditeṣv avahitaḥ sva-dharmeṣu mad-āśrayaḥ

mayoditeṣv avahitaḥ sva-dharmeṣu mad-āśrayaḥ |
varṇāśrama-kulācāram akāmātmā samācaret ||
anvīkṣeta viśuddhātmā dehināṁ viṣayātmanām |
guṇeṣu tattva-dhyānena sarvārambha-viparyayam ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.10.1–2)

“[Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa to Uddhava:] Attentive to one’s dharmas as stated by me and desireless, one whose shelter is in me should observe the conduct of one’s varṇa, āśrama, and family. [Thus] Being of highly purified mind, one should repeatedly observe the reversal of all the endeavors based on thought of real existence in regard to qualities [in objects of the senses] of embodied beings whose minds are [fixed] upon objects of the senses.”

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Bhārata Sāvitrī

Bhārata Sāvitrī

Śrī Vedavyāsa’s final message to humanity in Mahābhārata.

Excerpted from the Svargārohana Parva, 5.47–51.

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ye sabhāya vaiṣṇavera nindā-mātra haya

ye sabhāya vaiṣṇavera nindā-mātra haya |
sarva-dharma thākileo tabhu haya kṣaya ||
sannyāsi-sabhāya yadi haya nindā-karma |
madyapero sabhā haite se sabhā adharmya ||
madyapera niṣkṛti āchaye kono kāle |
para-carcakera gati nahe kabhu bhāle ||
śāstra paḍhiyāo kāro kāro buddhi-nāśa |
(Caitanya-bhāgavata: 2.13.41–44)

“Even if the totality of dharma is [otherwise] present, still an assembly in which defamation (nindā) of a Vaiṣṇava occurs is ruined. If an act of defamation occurs [even] in an assembly of sannyāsīs, then that assembly is adharmic more so than an assembly of drunkards. There is deliverance for a drunkard some day. A gossiper [however] never has progress on their forehead [i.e., never has a bright future]. Even after studying śāstra, the intelligence of many is ruined [by engaging in defamation].”

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prathamaṁ varjayed doṣān yugapat pṛthag eva vā

prathamaṁ varjayed doṣān yugapat pṛthag eva vā |
tathā dharmam avāpnoti doṣa-tyāgo hi duṣkaraḥ |
doṣa-sākalya-santyāgān munir bhavati mānavaḥ ||
duṣkṛta-tyāga-mātreṇa padam ūrdhvaṁ hi labhyate |
(Mahābhārata: 13.232.5, 8)

“First, one should give up faults, all at once or just one by one. Then, one achieves dharma. Giving up faults [however] is certainly difficult to do. [Yet] By completely giving up faults in totality, a human being becomes a sage. … Just by giving up misconduct, a higher standing is attained.”

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gatānugatiko lokaḥ kuṭṭanīm upadeśinīm

gatānugatiko lokaḥ kuṭṭanīm upadeśinīm |
pramāṇayati no dharme yathā goghnam api dvijam ||
(Hitopadeśa: Mitra-lābha, 10)

“People, who are imitative [lit., ‘goers after that which has gone,’ i.e., just followers of what those before them have done], do not accept an advising procuress [i.e., a procuress who gives good advice] as a source of knowledge in regard to dharma as they do even a cow-killing twice-born [i.e., a highly sinful brāhmaṇa who severely transgresses the dharma or behaves in a way that clearly demonstrates he is ignorant of it].”

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sa vai puṁsāṁ paro dharmo yato bhaktir adhokṣaje

sa vai puṁsāṁ paro dharmo yato bhaktir adhokṣaje |
ahaituky apratihatā yayātmā suprasīdati ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 1.2.6)

“That [dharma] because of which causeless and unobstructed bhakti to Adhokṣaja [i.e., Bhagavān, lit., ‘he who is transcendent’] can come to be, and by which the self [i.e., the mind] becomes fully satisfied, is alone the highest dharma for humanity.”

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alpa-mātraṁ kṛto dharmo bhavej jñānavatāṁ mahān

alpa-mātraṁ kṛto dharmo bhavej jñānavatāṁ mahān |
mahān api kṛto dharmo hy ajñānān niṣphalo bhavet ||
(Mahābhārata: 13.227.28)

“Dharma performed even slightly shall be great for one possessed of knowledge. Dharma performed even greatly shall be fruitless as a result of ignorance.”

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brahmacaryaṁ samāpya gṛhī bhavet

brahmacaryaṁ samāpya gṛhī bhavet, gṛhī bhūtvā vanī bhavet, vanī bhūtvā pravrajet, yadi vetarathā brahmacaryād eva pravrajet gṛhād vā vanād vā | atha punar avratī vā vratī snātako vāsnātako votsannāgnir anagniko vā, yad ahar eva virajyet tad ahar eva pravrajet |
(Jābāla Upaniṣad: 4; cited in Govinda-bhāṣya on Vedānta-sūtra 3.4.49)

“After completing brahmacarya, one may become a householder. After having become a householder, one may become a vanaprastha. After having become a vanaprastha, one may roam [i.e., become a sannyāsī], yet after brahmacarya itself one may roam, or after household life, or after vanaprastha. Furthermore, be one a non-student or student [i.e., one who has never gone to school to be trained in brahmacarya or one who is presently in school observing brahmacarya], be one a graduate or a non-graduate [i.e., a graduate of brahmacarya or not], and be one of extinguished fire or no fire [i.e., be one someone who has ceased to maintain the sacred fire sustained in homes by couples after marriage because one’s wife has expired or one has left one’s wife, or be one someone who has never married and thus never maintained the sacred fire], on the very day one may [i.e., should happen to] become detached, on that very day one may roam [i.e., one should leave and take sannyāsa].”

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ato niṣevyamāṇāṁ ca sarvathā bhagavat-kathām

ato niṣevyamāṇāṁ ca sarvathā bhagavat-kathām |
muhus tad-rasikān pṛcchen mitho moda-vivṛddhaye ||
tathā vaiṣṇava-dharmāṁś ca kriyamānām api svayam |
sampṛcchet tad-vidaḥ sādhūn anyonya-prīti-vṛddhaye ||
nanu bhagavad-dharmāḥ parama-gopyāḥ praśna-mātreṇa kathaṁ kathyāḥ tatra likhati—śraddhayeti |
śraddhayā bhagavad-dharmān vaiṣṇavāyānupṛcchate |
avaśyaṁ kathayed vidvān anyathā doṣa-bhāg bhavet ||
(Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 10.472, 475–476, with an excerpt from the Dig-darśinī-ṭīkā)

“Therefore [i.e., because listening to other topics, as well as non-listening, aversion, and even satiation with Bhagavat-kathā, are to be given up], even though one is continuously engaged in honoring Bhagavat-kathā in all respects [by means of hearing it, praising it, remembering it, and so on] one should repeatedly inquire from rasikas thereof [about Bhagavān and topics related to him] for the sake of enhancing mutual delight [i.e., the delight of both the speaker and fellow listeners]. … Similarly, even though one is practicing the dharmas of a Vaiṣṇava oneself, one should inquire from sādhus knowledgeable about them for the sake of mutual delight. [A doubt is raised:] Bhagavat-dharmas [however] are highly confidential. How do they become fit to be explained just because of a question [about them being raised]? In regard to this [doubt], the author writes: When one repeatedly inquires from a Vaiṣṇava about Bhagavat-dharmas with śraddhā, then a knowledgeable person [i.e., a person conversant in the dharmas of a Vaiṣṇava] shall certainly speak [i.e., answer one’s questions], and otherwise shall be at fault [i.e., one who has true knowledge of Bhagavat-dharma based on śāstra yet withholds it from an inquirer possessed of the requisites to learn such knowledge, the foremost of which is śraddhā in bhakti-śāstra, commits a transgression against Bhagavat-dharma, as does someone who gives knowledge of Bhagavat-dharma to an unfit recipient and someone who gives answers about Bhagavad-dharma that contravene the śāstra’s siddhānta].”

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karma-miśrā trividhā sambhavati—sakāmā, kaivalya-kāmā, bhakti-mātra-kāmā ca

karma-miśrā trividhā sambhavati—sakāmā, kaivalya-kāmā, bhakti-mātra-kāmā ca | yadyapi kāma-kaivalye api … ity ukteḥ kevalayaiva bhaktyā sambhavataḥ, tathāpi tat-tad-vāsanānusāreṇa tatra tatra rucir jāyate | ity evaṁ tat-tad-arthaṁ tan-miśratā tu jāyata ity avagantavyam | tataḥ sakāmā prāyaḥ karma-miśraiva | tatra karma-śabdena dharma eva gṛhyate | tal-lakṣaṇaṁ ca yama-dūtaiḥ sāmānyata uktaṁ, veda-praṇihito dharma iti | vedo’tra traiguṇya-viṣayaḥ, traiguṇya-viṣayā vedā iti śrī-gītokteḥ | … śrī-gītāsv evānyatra tasya karma-saṁjñitatvaṁ coktaṁ—bhūta-bhāvodbhava-karo visargaḥ karma-saṁjñita iti | … bhagavad-arpaṇena bhakti-parikarīkṛtatvena ca bhakti-kṛttvam ucyate | tad evam īdṛśena karmaṇā miśrā sakāmā bhaktir … |
(Bhakti Sandarbha: 225)

“Karma-miśrā bhakti can be of three types: (1) sakāmā [i.e., with desire for worldly ends], (2) kaivalya-kāmā [i.e., with desire for kaivalya (mokṣa)], and (3) bhakti-mātra-kāmā [i.e., with desire solely for bhakti]. … Although both kāma [i.e., desired worldly ends] and kaivalya are possible only by exclusive (kevala) bhakti, … still taste arises for that and that [i.e., for kāma, meaning, worldly objects of desire, and kaivalya] in accord with vāsanās for those two [things, viz., worldly objects and kaivalya]. Thus, in this way, its [i.e., bhakti’s] being mixed [with karma] comes about for the sake of those objects [i.e., because of one’s making use of bhakti to obtain those objects, viz., various desired worldly objects and kaivalya]. This is to be understood. Thus, sakāmā [bhakti] is usually mixed only with karma. Therein, by the word karma, dharma is specifically understood [i.e., in the term ‘karma-miśra-bhakti,’ the word karma means dharma], and its definition in general is stated by the messengers of Yama [in SB 6.1.40]: ‘That which is prescribed in the Veda is [called] dharma.’ Here, Veda is that the subject of which is related to the three guṇas as per the statement of Śrī Gītā [in 2.45], ‘The Vedas are that the subject of which is related to the three guṇas’ (traiguṇya-viṣayā vedāḥ). … Elsewhere in Śrī Gītā itself [in 8.3], its [i.e., dharma’s] being defined as karma is also stated: ‘Offering [articles to the devatās] that gives rises to living beings’ desires is defined as karma.’ … Dharma is said to be a cause of bhakti [to Bhagavān in SB 11.19.25 (dharmo mad-bhakti-kṛt proktaḥ)] by its being made an assistant of bhakti and offering it to Bhagavān. Thus, in this way, sakāmā bhakti is that mixed with such [i.e., the aforementioned type of] karma [i.e., that which is synonymous with dharma and constituted of performing that which is prescribed in the Veda in regard to affairs related to the three guṇas].”

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