DHARMA AND KARMA, WHICH ONE SHOULD HAVE PRIORITY?

August 18, 2008

Dharma In other words, the path of righteousness or following the ethics laid by

our gurus in ancient Hindu scriptures with total blind faith.

However, I have never been able to understand the true meaning of Dharma. The

era in which the Hindu scriptures were written was satyug and we are now living

in kalyug. According to me dharma is different in every situation. Something

that is right for one person may not be so for another. For example, it is wrong

to kill another human being but a warrior in the battlefield does not do

anything wrong by killing his enemy he is simply doing what he believes to be

dharma.

Another example is that it is against the dharma to lie but if someone lies to

save the life of someone, then that that lie can be condoned. So dharma cannot

be fully justified as the path of righteousness. Sati was one of the dharmas of

a Hindu wife. But what kind of dharma is this which wants a woman to throw

herself in the burning fire when her husband dies while the rule for the husband

is totally different when his wife passes away and he is allowed to get married

once again and lead a happily married life? Committing suicide is against dharma

but being a Sati also means committing suicide. Strange that dharma is different

for different people and it keeps clashing with its own boundaries of what is

right and what is defined as wrong.

Karma on the other hand merely means the actions that we choose to perform at

our physical and as well as mental level. As long as we keep our hearts clear of

bad intentions, according to me that karma is the real dharma. I truly believe

that I will leave all the riches, all my relationships, my thoughts, my dharma,

my religion behind when I die, but what I will surely take with myself will be

my karma or my actions in this life and this will decide my happiness and

sorrows in all my lives to come.

What I will sow is what I will reap and I will eat the fruits of my own karma.

Besides that, along with the faith and devotion for the one who has created me,

the only thing that I can offer Him at His lotus feet are my karmas. If only

everyone keeps in mind that whatever they do, they are offering their karmas to

God, then I am sure none of us need dharma in our lives. We will make sure that

along with the nectar of pure devotion we also offer and perform karmas with no

negative thoughts or evil intentions so that we can place them at the feet of

the Lord. My karmas alone have the power to bring me close to my creator or push

me away in hell. I pray to my Sai, My creator to help me clean my soul with my

good karmas. And so in other words my karma is my dharma. And I hold my karma

far more important than any dharma.

August 21, 2008

Jai Sai Ram, I am happy to read this post. I truly believe as you have mentioned "I pray to my Sai, My creator to help me clean my soul with my good

karmas. And so in other words my karma is my dharma. And I hold my

karma far more important than any dharma. Really it deals with all the exact details that I think all the time. Our old tradition of "Sati" issue and widowed men getting married right away, that kind of injustice in our society leaves sad feeling on my mind. Many a times we have noticed in our society...that women are the greatest enemies of women in the families and so as in societies in general. And the only solution to the problem is to accept each individual as a form of GOD. Show respect and LOVE to all. Though it is difficult to expect from everybody and that is the interesting GAME of BABA to let everybody play the game, we are granted FREEDOM OF CHOICE, win/loose the game, Learn from the defeat, and if the lesson is not learned the GAME continues!Well, wishing PEACE and LOVE to all,Meera Bakshi--- On

Mon, 8/18/08, Swamy Mahadevan <mahadevanvnswamy wrote:Swamy Mahadevan <mahadevanvnswamy DHARMA AND KARMA, WHICH ONE SHOULD HAVE PRIORITY?"" Monday, August 18, 2008, 12:56 PM

DHARMA AND KARMA, WHICH ONE SHOULD HAVE PRIORITY?

Dharma In other words, the path of righteousness or following the ethics laid by our gurus in ancient Hindu scriptures with total blind faith.

However, I have never been able to understand the true meaning of Dharma. The era in which the Hindu scriptures were written was satyug and we are now living in kalyug. According to me dharma is different in every situation. Something that is right for one person may not be so for another. For example, it is wrong to kill another human being but a warrior in the battlefield does not do anything wrong by killing his enemy he is simply doing what he believes to be dharma.

Another example is that it is against the dharma to lie but if someone lies to save the life of someone, then that that lie can be condoned. So dharma cannot be fully justified as the path of righteousness. Sati was one of the dharmas of a Hindu wife. But what kind of dharma is this which wants a woman to throw herself in the burning fire when her husband dies while the rule for the husband is totally different when his wife passes away and he is allowed to get married once again and lead a happily married life? Committing suicide is against dharma but being a Sati also means committing suicide. Strange that dharma is different for different people and it keeps clashing with its own boundaries of what is right and what is defined as wrong.

Karma on the other hand merely means the actions that we choose to perform at our physical and as well as mental level. As long as we keep our hearts clear of bad intentions, according to me that karma is the real dharma. I truly believe that I will leave all the riches, all my relationships, my thoughts, my dharma, my religion behind when I die, but what I will surely take with myself will be my karma or my actions in this life and this will decide my happiness and sorrows in all my lives to come.

What I will sow is what I will reap and I will eat the fruits of my own karma. Besides that, along with the faith and devotion for the one who has created me, the only thing that I can offer Him at His lotus feet are my karmas. If only everyone keeps in mind that whatever they do, they are offering their karmas to God, then I am sure none of us need dharma in our lives. We will make sure that along with the nectar of pure devotion we also offer and perform karmas with no negative thoughts or evil intentions so that we can place them at the feet of the Lord. My karmas alone have the power to bring me close to my creator or push me away in hell. I pray to my Sai, My creator to help me clean my soul with my good karmas. And so in other words my karma is my dharma. And I hold my karma far more important than any dharma.