Definition of Dharma:
“Key concept with multiple meanings in Indian Religions like Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism and others. There is no single-word translation for dharma in Western languages.
In Hinduism, dharma signifies behaviors that are considered to be in accord with Ṛta, the order that makes life and universe possible, and includes duties, rights, laws, conduct, virtues and "right way of living".
In Buddhism, dharma means "cosmic law and order", and is also applied to the teachings of Buddha. In Buddhist philosophy, dhamma/dharma is also the term for "phenomena".
Dharma in Jainism refers to the teachings of tirthankara (Jina) and the body of doctrine peṚtaining to the purification and moral transformation of human beings. For Sikhs, the word dharm means the path of righteousness and proper religious practice.” (Wikipedia)
Dharma & Religion:
Dharma has nothing to with Religion.
It was a wrong translation to allot the word Dharma to religion, due to lack of any word/concept for religion in any indic language, as detailed below.
https://bharatawakens.blogspot.com/2020/04/faith-belief-religion-spritualism.html?m=1
Dharma is the model way of living, for any human, irrespective to whoever they worship. For instance, if there is an injured horse rider lying on a trail, then it's the Dharma of each and every passerby to help him, whether the passerby is a Christian, Jew, or a Hindu. The dharma of every person as a father is to care for his children. Similarly One’s Dharma as a spouse , child, neighbor, citizen, or as a human is to take care of spouse, parents, neighbors, nation, and humanity.
Origin of Dharma:
No single person,Priest, prophet or or God created Dharma. It evolved as a concept from Ṛta (ऋत,ऋतम्).
Dharma is an ideal action in a particular time, space and role of the doer, in synergy with Ṛta, ie an action in harmony with natuaral order of things. So, Dharma is actually the actionable part of Ṛta Philosophy.
Ṛta :
Vedic Ṛta and its Avestan equivalent aṣ̌a both derive from Proto-Indo-Iranian *HrṚtas "truth",
The concept on Ṛta is found in the Rigveda(10.85;4.23, 9-12;10.190).
In the Vedic vision the universe is not conceived as a random mass of elements and events, but wholesome and in harmony. The ordering principle of nature, the inflexible law of harmony, the universal cosmic flow which gives to everything from the vast galaxies, down to the nucleus of an atom, their nature and course, is Ṛta.
Ṛta then, is observable everywhere. Ṛta governs the movement of the heavenly bodies, Ṛta commands the shift and play of the seasons, ritu; and it is Ṛta that guides the repeated round of birth, growth, and decay of all life forms. Ṛta lives in each human being as the pulsation of the heartbeat and the innumerable rhythms that balance life. Ṛta was before human and shall be after them, Ṛta is eternal.
http://ignca.gov.in/exhibition-of-Ṛta-ritu-cosmic-order-and-cycle-of-season/
In this concept , the fate of individuals or even the fate of universe is neither prewritten nor in hands of will or inclination of God(s) at that time but rather, the fate of self and even the fate of universe is in hands of each and every individual.
Examples :
#People to obey the king, the king to care for people, are Dharma for the people and the king, to create a sustainable and stable Kingdom , in harmony with Ṛta.
#Husband and Wife both take care of each other with devotion, is Dharma of husband and wife, for stable relationship and stable happy family.
#Man sustains on plants and animals but upto his requiremt and doesn't harm nature beyond his sustainance is Dharma of an earthling for sustainable future.
# Herdsman making a living by milk of cows and then taking their care in their old age is Dharma of a Herdsman.
# Parents to care for kids and later kids take care of them, is Dharma for both for a sustainable society.
# Neighbours respect their boundaries as a Dharma,and live together peacefully and prosper.
# Employer pays fairly and employees work honestly are Dharma for both.
If any of the above don't do their Dharma, ie as per Ṛta, the balances of nature or society shall go awry , the systems shall become unstable and clashes shall rise. The larger the scale of deviations or numbers of deviating people, larger the impact escalating from individual clashes to wars, famines, calamities upto total collapse of systems.
For example, if in a certain tribe living on a island, children of a generation stop caring for their parents, and leave them to their fate, then soon parents shall also start caring for themselves and may soon even stop having children and then in 2-3 generations , humans may disappear from that island.
If people , like we see nowadays, start exploiting natural resources excessively then calamities shall also start happening.
The way of Ṛta is a responsible living where actions are taken responsibily taking in account long term consequences even the society as well and therefore the way is naturally harmonious, peaceful, prosperous and long term sustainable as well.
Sustainability needs harmonious coexistence not only among humans but also among all species and maintaining the balance of nature and thats the way of Ṛta.
For example, While snakes are a threat to us, yet removing snakes from the ecosystem may lead to rats overbreeding and running over harvests leaving starvation behind. So there is a place for them in the system and therefore eradication of any species even venomous or predatorous is not an option in Dharmic living.
At the Core of Ṛta are Action-consequence link,Aware and Responsible living with respect to all entities and beings of universe and to their place in the system.
Ṛta leads to gratitude to universe and its harmony and respect to all beings and their place in the universe.
People all over the world realised the benefits of such living and therefore Pagans cultures developed similar codes. Ancient arab codes of months of non-violence and trade, Pashtunawali of Pshtuns, and similar tribal codes are micro applications of concepts of Ṛta. Even the little indian family practice of keeping track of who gifted what or how much and even keeping track and inviting who invited you to have a balanced and sustainable system are such micro applications.
Similar Concepts in different Ancient Cultures:
Egyptian goddess ‘Maat’ is upholder of order of universe in personalized form. Iranian concept is ‘Asha’ counterpart of Ṛta. Asha and is opposing force of Drug, which represents evil and deceit and disorder.
Chinese philosophy of Dao, literally the “Way,” is both the source from which the universe is continuously generated and the cosmic order itself.
The Greek Moirai were pernolaized form of cosmic order in classical Greek religion, though later in Greco-Roman times they were considered controllers of destiny of people.
In a modern philosophical context, the preestablished harmony (harmonia praestabilita) is found in the philosophy of Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, a German rationalist, as the cosmic order that holds together and unifies the innumerable individual units, which he called monads.
Official Scripture, Code or Manual.
No Official, code, manual or scripture. It comes from own evolved discernment.
Also, one has to act as per Dharma in several different roles at any time. Dharma of a father, husband, citizen, neighbour, friend, employee all simultaneously and there may rise conflicts often. Generally in such a scenario, the greater good should be compass. There is an ‘apaddharm’ also, which allows extreme actions, again for the greater good, like a sanyasi picking up sword to save the weak from the badits.
So, as such, there is no standard code.
Dharma changes as per place , role and time and the compass is own judgement of righteousness.
Hinduism/Sanatan/Dharma has no simple carrot and Stick like reward system, like follow this and have infinite pleasures for eternity or unbearable pain for non compliance . Rather, all consequences arise from own action or thought, and one can't escape the consequences, called Karma erroneously in common english. Even divine beings, such as even some demigods, even some of the Indras were cursed and they had to suffer for their immoral behavior or wrong actions.
Gita says one can't escape doing Karma, while being alive, as inaction is also an action and therefore one has to act righteously in any situation.
So one should consider a righteous action as the greatest way of worship, is the theme of Gita, which considers Karmayoga the greatest of yogas.
No painful prostrations, fastings, costly offerings, no strict obedience to a code, nothing, just getting what u giving, what going around later coming around, individual being responsible for the consequences of own actions is the simple message of Dharma in Gita, and other scriptures.
Just act responsibly, that's all.
A connected concept to Ṛta is that of Rin , which shall be elaborated next.
7. Sanatan Dharma
As Ṛta is universal and eternal , so is Dharma also and hence the 'Dharma' is also called Sanatan or Sanatan Dharma.
Bhagwan Ram used the word Sanatan Dharma during his conversation with Bali, where he told him that it was against Sanatan Dharma to try to have a physical relationship with his brother’s wife. Sanatan Dharma was used by Krishna while telling Arjuna about the Eternal truth.
The 25th Shloka of Baal Kaand in Valmiki Ramayana reads, “राज्यभारनियुक्तानामेष धर्मस्सनातन:, translating to, “Those who have the responsibility of maintaining the state, it is their Sanatan Dharma."
Shloka 12 of 162 chapter of 12th Parv in Mahabharata reads, “सत्यं सत्सु सदा धर्मः सत्यं धर्मः सनातनः । सत्यमेव नमस्येत सत्यं हि परमा गतिः ॥ ४ , translating to “For truthful people, truth is Sanatan Dharma. Bow down in front of the truth because truth is eternal salvation.”
8. Ṛta & Indian Culture:
Countless Indian cultural practices show application of principles of Ṛta behind them.
For example, taking the example of snakes, even a snake who has eneterd an indian house is rarely killed , rather grabbed and left somewhere far.
Ants are given flour by many. Trees are also revered and protected. Rivers are worshipped and meant not to throw waste in. Even Crocodiles and Tigers are held funerals of.
https://www.indiatoday.in/trending-news/story/chhattisgarh-village-holds-funeral-for-beloved-crocodile-500-people-attend-1428711-2019-01-11
Cows, Bulls, Goats, stray dogs are common on roads and usual for indians, somewhere back in the mind there is a feeling that earth belongs to all and not just property of humans.
World's most populous nation, India also appears in top 10 nations with highest forest acreage.
In Indian families, records are kept, often written of guests who came and gifts received from each, in events, to maintain balance.
Indian artisans can be seen doing pranam to their tools, a rickshaw puller to his Rickshawcarpenter to his hammer, a tailor to his machine and even a janitor to his broom, because they feed his family.
Indian soldiers do reverence to their weapons, as they protect them and not as a weapon of violence,
A farmer would do a small pooja to his field before starting ploughing for the season beacuse it feeds his family,
Indian women were often seen putting aside a roti for the oven and some for the cow, or the stray dogs.
Students would never touch a book or notebook with the feet or dropping them on floor.
At the core of Indian culture, there is an inbuilt respect, reverence, and gratitude for every being and thing, which together with Ṛta stems also from Ṛiṇ & Advait. A post on Advait shall follow.
The culture within indian neighbours of sending each other fresh cooked food and the box is never returned empty but the same way later.
9. Ṛiṇ /ऋण
The concept of Ṛta has been further embedded formally in an actionable way in the way of life as Ṛiṇ .
The concept of Ṛiṇ:
Dharmic thought process has recognised various debts ( Ṛiṇ) that play an important part in dharmic values. It is said that each person is born with these debts and must repay them in order to live a fulfilled and complete life. These debts are not meant to be a burden, but are a recognition and expression of gratitude for the numerous gifts that we receive from the world , on a daily basis, unconsciously or without a thought. Taking from the world without giving something back is not appreciated, and thought to incur further karmic debt.
Dharma teaches that the utilization of cosmic/universal materials to meet our life’s requirements incurs a debt towards these cosmic materials. Thus, our “debt” is towards all entities that provided for our creation and sustenance.
The concept is to develop a sense of gratitude and being in debt to everyone who helps our sustenance. While they are limitless such as earth, water, fire, sun, air, trees, rivers, lakes, animals that are part of our food chain or help us any other way, parents, teachers, farmers, traders, service providers, any one, in short all life forms, all things and the complete universe.
In order to be free of bondages of maya and karma and move towards final liberation, one needs to be अनृण anriṇ or, free from debt. and erefore should perform karmas with a sense fo duty and gratitude of paying back the debt to the unverse.
Types of Rin:
The Taittireeya Samhita and the Shatapatha Braahmana altogether list five such debts. These are देव ऋण:, ऋषि ऋण:, पितृ ऋण:, नृ ऋण:, भूत ऋण.
https://mahadeo.foundation/drafts/gems-of-hinduism/the-debts-of-human-life/
The debts are:
1) देव ऋण (Deva ṛin): The debt to God.
Life, the materials of life, the world, etc, everything is created by God and provided for us and our existence. The act of dharma, righteous living, and religious duties, as well as worship, japa, and communion, is the mode of such clearing of deva-rin.
2) ऋषि ऋण (Riṣhi ṛin): The debt to the rishis.
The Scriptures, all material knowledge, logic, math, science, and spiritual knowledge is generated by the Sages and seers. We are indebted to the avatars, the rishis, the prophets, and the scientists as well. Rishi Rin is cleared by studying and acquiring knowledge, giving thanks to those who impart the knowledge, and living what is learned.
3) पितृ ऋण (Pitri ṛin)/मातृ ऋण (Matri Rin)
The debt to parents and ancestors. Our lineage and our life is due to the sacrifices of our ancestors. Pitri Rin is addressed by being dutiful to our parents when they are alive and by living up to their ideals and teachings.
4) नृ ऋण or मनुष्य ऋण (Nri ṛin also called Manuṣhya rin):
The debt to humanity. The Vedas declare the need to worship and develop ourselves together. We have an obligation to look out for each other and see the happiness of others as our own. The world at large provides our material sustenance and accommodates our life and actions. Our Nri Rin or Manushya-rin is addressed by treating others with respect and helping them.
5) भूत ऋण (Bhoot rin): The debt to nature.
We have an obligation to the plants, animals and all of nature. Plants provide oxygen as well as recycle water, animals and other creatures keep the cycle of creation going and fulfill their own purpose. The earth provides for us, the atmosphere also provides for us as do the sun and moon etc. Bhoot Rin is addressed by being environmentally friendly, by living in harmony with nature and by ensuring that nature is not destroyed.
10. Summary
Hinduism/Sanatan = Indian subcontinent people ( not necessarily) who follow the Way of Dharma ie act responsibly in tandem with Ṛta i.e. order of the universe.
