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Adding content from Dharma - the six antigen for the mind page
If Dharma which is the soul of India perishes, then India which is the personification of Dharma dies and those would be the consequences. But, Vivekananda confidently declared "Such a thing can never be". This confidence is in conformity with the declaration made by Sri Krishna in Bhagvad Gita that whenever Dharma declined, he would appear and resurrect it. To sum up, the difference between religion and Dharma is this; Religions are many such as Shaiva, Vaishnava, Smartha, Boudha, Jaina, Sikh, Islam, Christianity, Parsi etc., Religion is personal to individuals, and left to their choice. One can join or change a religion according to one's urge and desire. Respect for all religions is Dharma. Practice of every religion is in conformity with Dharma. Dharma is universal, it applies to all whether they belong to any religion or not. It is a code of conduct for all human beings for all time to come. It is eternal and unalterable just as you cannot alter the property of fire of burning and of water of flowing. For the country and humanity which are facing wide spread decline of moral values, a crisis of character on slaught on women, violence and many other ills, adherence to "Dharma" alone is the remedy. It alone can destroy sinful thoughts, establish moral authority and make people follow the righteous path, and thus save the nation and humanity from catastrophe.
If Dharma which is the soul of India perishes, then India which is the personification of Dharma dies and those would be the consequences. But, Vivekananda confidently declared "Such a thing can never be". This confidence is in conformity with the declaration made by Sri Krishna in Bhagvad Gita that whenever Dharma declined, he would appear and resurrect it. To sum up, the difference between religion and Dharma is this; Religions are many such as Shaiva, Vaishnava, Smartha, Boudha, Jaina, Sikh, Islam, Christianity, Parsi etc., Religion is personal to individuals, and left to their choice. One can join or change a religion according to one's urge and desire. Respect for all religions is Dharma. Practice of every religion is in conformity with Dharma. Dharma is universal, it applies to all whether they belong to any religion or not. It is a code of conduct for all human beings for all time to come. It is eternal and unalterable just as you cannot alter the property of fire of burning and of water of flowing. For the country and humanity which are facing wide spread decline of moral values, a crisis of character on slaught on women, violence and many other ills, adherence to "Dharma" alone is the remedy. It alone can destroy sinful thoughts, establish moral authority and make people follow the righteous path, and thus save the nation and humanity from catastrophe.
==References==
#M. RAMA JOIS, DHARMA - The Global Ethic, Published by "Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan
'''Dharma''' was formulated as a solution for problems arising out of the six inherent enemies in Man, namely Kama (desire), Krodha (anger), Lobha (greed), Moha (passion), Mada (infatuation) and Matsarya (enmity). Every civil or criminal injury caused by an individual to other individuals or society is traceable to one or more of the six enemies acting alone or in combination. This inherent weakness of man has been the subject matter of an indepth study by those who formulated 'Dharma' .The root cause for all good or bad, verbal or physical acts of individuals has been analysed and explained in Manu Smriti.
==Causes for evil actions==
<blockquote>"'kqHkk'kqHkQya deZ euks okXnsglEHkoeà deZtk xr;ks U|.kkeqÙkek/kee/;ek%AA rL;sg f=fo/kL;kfi «;f/k"BkuL; nsfgu%A n'ky{k.k;qDrL; euks fo|kRizorZdeÃA ijnzO;s"ofHk/;kua eulk·fu"VfpUrueà forFkkfHkfuos'k'p f=fo/ka deZ ekuleÃA ik#";eu`ra pSo iS'kqU;a pkfi loZ'k%A vlEc)izyki'p ok3e;a L;kPprqfoZ/keÃA vnÙkkukeqiknkua fgalk pSokfo/kkur%A ijnkjksilsok p 'kkjhja f=fo/ka Le`reÃA MANU XII 3 -7"</blockquote>Action which springs from the mind, from speech and from the body produces either good or evil results. By action are caused various conditions of men. Mind is the instigator for all actions which are connected with and performed by the body. They are of three kinds and fall under ten heads:
===Three sinful mental actions:===
A sin takes its origin in the mind in three ways:
(i) Coveting the property of others;
(ii) Thinking what is undesirable; and
(iii) Adherence to evil doctrines.
These three types of sinful mental actions give rise to four types of evil verbal actions or three types of wicked bodily actions:
===The four evil verbal actions===
(i) Speaking an untruth;
(ii) Attacking another in abusive or strong language
(iii) Carrying tales against another person; and
(iv) Talking ill of others.
===The three wicked bodily actions===
(i) Taking what is not given;
(ii) Injuring living beings; and
(iii) Illicit intercourse with another man's wife
The aforesaid analysis of the various evil mental and bodily actions cover the whole field of civil or criminal injury that an individual causes to another. The instigation comes from the mind. Thus, the sin first takes root in the form of mental action and thereafter expresses itself in the form of verbal or bodily evil actions which inflict civil or criminal injury as the case may be on others against whom they are directed. All the civil and criminal injuries which an individual may cause to others, such as appropriating the property belonging to others or denying what is due to others, or defamation, assault, theft, cheating, robbery, causing hurt, murder, rape, adultery, which are covered by the modern civil and criminal laws under various systems of law, fall under anyone or more of the four evil verbal actions or three wicked bodily actions as analysed by Manu. The several provisions made in the Manu Smriti follow this basic analysis. Before laying down the code of conduct for implicit obedience by individuals and the penalty for disobedience at the hands of the king (the State), Manu cautions everyone to have self -control, so that his mind does not act as the instigator for committing any sinful mental action which would inevitably lead to one or the other type of evil verbal actions or wicked bodily actions. <blockquote>"okXn.Mks·Fk euksn.M% dk;n.MLrFkSo pA ;L;Srs fufgrk cq)kS f=n.Mhfr l mP;rsAA f=n.MesrfTMkf{kI; loZHkwrs"kq ekuo%A dkeØks/kkS rq la;E; rr% flf)a fu;PNfrAA
MANU XII 10-11
"</blockquote>
==Significance of mind control for success==
That man is called 'Tridandin' who has established three controls, on his mind viz.,
(i) Manodanda -control over his thoughts,
(ii) Vakdanda -control over his speech and
(iii) Kayadanda- control over his body.
He who exercises these three controls with respect to all created beings and wholly subdues desire and wrath, assuredly gains complete success in his life. The root cause of all civil and criminal wrongs and the essence of the philosophy necessary for the safety and happiness of individuals and the society are incorporated in Manu Smriti in the above verses. . The above elucidation indicates that training of the mind through proper education is essential for, it is only through such education and training that it is possible to inculcate a sense of self imposed discipline in an individual which in turn enables him to exercise control over the mind, and through it speech and physical actions can be controlled. Manu proceeds to declare that every human being who exercises the aforementioned three types of controls namely control over the mind, control over the body and control over the speech in respect of all living beings secures real happiness and success in his life.
The above guidelines given in Manu are unexceptionable. In fact it is the experience of man that the absence of such control leads to undesirable and sometimes disastrous results. Now take one instance. In the last more than one century the World has made tremendous progress in science. Man has created for himself through science all amenities and facilities such as fast and comfortable conveyance and fast communication, and every type of equipment or gadget to make his life more and more comfortable. But with all this what is the picture we are seeing today? It is horrible. The scientific inventions which are useful for constructive activities are being used for destructive/terrorist activities. As a result, in addition to the sufferings caused by the natural calamities which human beings cannot avoid, as they are beyond their control, man made sufferings are on the increase. Human beings are subjecting other human beings to untold misery and agony by their evil actions perpetrated for purely selfish ends. In particular onslaught and assault on women are on the increase and this is heinous and most degrading. For such purposes they are using the most modern arms and ammunitions. Everyday news papers carry news of such atrocities committed by individuals for one reason or the other. To put it in a nutshell human beings are acting inhumanly using every type of modern scientific knowledge. As a result, scientific inventions which are intended to be a boon to humanity are becoming a curse. Why is it so? The answer is not far to seek. The reason is human beings have not been educated and trained to exercise control over the mind, speech and bodily actions and not to inflict injury on others with purely selfish motive. In fact this should have been the most fundamental education to be imparted to individuals right from their childhood by which alone human beings develop the capacity to control their mind, speech and bodily actions. Everyone should be made to realise, that for the sake of satisfying ones greed or desire one were to indulge in illegal and immoral acts, he might secure a momentary physical enjoyment, but would land himself in deep trouble by losing mental peace and happiness and thus he has to suffer through out his life. It is by such education only that the character of an individual can be moulded so that he lives a useful, purposeful and honest life which gives him real happiness and enables him to devote his time energy and capacities to the service of other human beings and prevents him from exploiting others for selfish ends.
==Conclusions==
Every individual should, by constant effort, regulate his mind, speech and action so that he does not inflict any physical or mental injury or any pecuniary loss or damage on other individuals. It is a matter of common knowledge that in day-to-day life on account of greed and being actuated one or more of the six enemies inherent in man namely: Kama (love/desire), Krodha (anger), Lobha (greed), Moha (Passion), Mada (Infatuation) and Matsarya (enmity), a man indulges in wrongs. To illustrate, a man commits theft to acquire money or any other moveable property for gain. He indulges in cheating others or in corruption to acquire more money. For the same purpose he commits robbery, or dacoity or even murder. Similarly to have sexual enjoyment for a moment, man commits offences against women. By doing so he degrades himself to the level of an animal, commits offence of rape and ruins the life of a woman or commits adultery and ruins himself in every respect. On many occasions man does these acts secretly thinking that no one knows or will come to know of these acts. But the fact remains that the ATMA (Soul) within himself is an unavoidable witness. It is impossible for a human being to commit any wrongful or sinful act without the knowledge of the Atma (Soul). As far as the Atma is concerned, being part and parcel of Paramatma ( the almighty God) it is incapable of compromising with the wrong acts of a human being within whose body it resides for the time being.
Manu Smriti Ch. 12-35 expounds this aspect thus<blockquote>'''"<nowiki>;</nowiki>RdeZ ÑRok dqo±'p dfj";a'pSp yTtfrA rTKs;a fonq"kk lo± rkela xq.ky{k.keÃA''' "</blockquote><blockquote>""If a man in his conscience, feels ashamed/guilty to do an act, or while doing an act, or after doing an act, it is the clearest indication of Tamasa Quality -viz, the act is a sin ". "</blockquote>Therefore, the soul always tells the man who has committed the offence, that he has committed a sin. If a person commits theft, his soul will always be telling him "You are a thief. you have committed theft". Similarly, if a person commits murder, his soul will always be saying "You are a murderer". Similarly if a man commits rape on a woman, his soul tells him "You are a rapist". If a minister or officer is corrupt and
receives bribe, his soul will always be telling him "You are corrupt" and so on. To outward view, he might pose to be honest, and tell people that he has not committed any offence and all that happened was on account of a "System Failure", but his soul cannot be fooled. It does not allow him to have peace of mind. It constantly reminds him of his misdemeanours. Thus, he loses mental happiness. It is for this reason that the individual feels ashamed within, though before others he may try to pose as a good man. It is this aspect which is highlighted by Manu in the verse and calls upon every individual to establish an internal check, which alone is the guarantee for good conduct or to eschew bad conduct and not the fear of Police which only makes a man to be more careful and secretive in committing offence. This internal check is what is meant by "God Fearing" as Atma (Soul) is God within the man. Thus the substance of the verse is that a man is bound to feel ashamed within himself for his sinful acts. This happens at all the three stages.
(i) When a man thinks of doing a sinful act, he feels ashamed, But if the mind is allowed to be overpowered by greed or anger or by anyone of the other enemies (Arishadvarga) for any reason he commits a sin. If however, he listens to his conscience he will not commit the sin. Similarly in the course of doing an illegal act, the soul keeps telling him continuously, 'What you are doing is a sinful act' .Even at that late stage if realisation comes, and he gets over that desire, he gives up the act and feels greatly relieved. Such instances are innumerable. It happens many times that though, on account of greed, selfishness, or anger or even dire necessity, a man decides to commit offences, some time before the offence is committed, self realisation dawns whether by itself or on account of the samskara received earlier or at the instance of his well wishers or advisers he stops, and then thanks himself and the well wishers for having stopped him from becoming a sinner. Manu Ch. viii-84 rouses the conscience of an individual in a verse which is intended to be part of an exhortation to witness, It reads:
'''-'''<blockquote>'''"vkReSo ákReu% lk{kh xfrjkRek rFkk··Reu%A ek·oeaL;k% LoekRekua u`.kka lkf{k.keqÙkeeÃA''' "</blockquote><blockquote>"The Soul itself is the witness of the Soul and the Soul is the refuge of the soul."</blockquote>Despise not thy own Soul the supreme witness to the acts of men.
The eternal advise by Manu for all human beings to be followed throughout life is not to indulge in self deception. Manu has indicated this aspect to make every person realise that it is not necessary for any other person to come and say that a particular act is wrong and he should not indulge in it. The soul is the witness, the soul is the police, the soul is the judge. The soul is capable of indicating what is wrong and what is right. Therefore, it always warns an individual. A man with good samskara immediately yields to the advice. But a man who is unable to control his desire, falls a prey to sinful desire. But at the same time after committing a sin he feels ashamed of himself for his sinful acts, though not witnessed by any outsiders, and suffers through out life. This is the fate of those who commit murder, rape, who indulge in corruption and who are ultimately caught and punished. Those who are not caught and prosecuted and punished might not go to jail, but they suffer without fail and go to hell, here and now, not after death. They may not be caught by the police, or even if caught and prosecuted for want of evidence in the Courts, they may not go to jail, but they are bound to suffer by losing mental peace and by loss of reputation for themselves and members of their families. That is why it is said that death is preferable to loss of reputation.
Manu again warns every individual in the following words:<blockquote>"-
'''v/kesZ.kS/krs rkor rrks Hknzkf.k i';frA rr% liRuku t;fr lewyLrq fou';frAA'''
"</blockquote><blockquote>"Those who indulge in adhanna attain immediate success and secure fulfillment of their desires. "</blockquote>They overpower their opponents. But ultimately their ruin down to the roots is certain.
This is the warning to those who indulge in adharma to achieve their unlawful objects. Therefore, the universally applicable and eternally valid advice flowing from the verse is "When an evil thought comes to your mind and the soul tells you that it is an evil one you should make every effort to get over your weaknesses or greed anger or other feelings created by the other enemies inherent in man", even if it be at the instigation of your own kith and kin. The principle flowing from this is, a man must be true to his conscience. Manu adds that many a man thinks of indulging in wrong acts with the object of securing wealth and when he is unable to secure it by legitimate methods, he thinks of securing it by illegitimate methods. Therefore every one should strive not to submit or surrender himself to such desires. To illustrate, a man wants to earn money or even more money, so that he and the members of his family may lead a comfortable life. There is nothing wrong in the desire is. Then he should consider what the correct way of fulfilling that desire is. The right way is to secure knowledge of any art or craft or trade, business or avocation and thereafter with the aid of such knowledge to work hard, honestly and earn the money. Rightfully earned money gives mental happiness. Further, apart from earning money honestly, spending -must also be for right causes. For instance, if a person earns the money legitimately, but spends the money on his bad habits or immoral habits or desires such as drinking alcohol, or immoral sex, or giving trouble to others, he is sure to suffer from want of mental peace and happiness, Therefore, the advice is, even after having secured wealth rightly one must spend the money on the right purposes or causes. For instance, if a man secures money rightfully and spends the money to mitigate the miseries of others, such as feeding persons who are hungry or giving money to poor students, who are in need of it1or education or to persons who are in need of it, though his wealth decreases, his mental happiness increases. In fact, the pleasure and happiness a man secures and enjoys by helping others in any manner, who are in need of such help is more than the pleasure he gets by spending money purely for selfish purposes. Therefore, the whole purpose and object of education must be to develop good qualities in individuals and enable them to rise to a divine level higher than human beings at any rate not to degrade himself to the animal level. The above aspect has been forcefully brought out in the Nitishataka- 72:<blockquote>'''",rs lRiq#"kk% ijkFkZ?kVdk% LokFk± ifjR;T; ;sA lkekU;kLrq ijkFkZeq|eHk`r% LokFkkZfojks/ksu ;sAA rs·eh ekuq"kjk{klk% ijfgra LokFkkZ; fu?uafr ;sA''' "</blockquote><blockquote>"Persons who render selfless service to other human beings are the greatest. "</blockquote>Persons who carry on their profession, avocation or business with self interest, but without exploiting and causing any injury to those who deal with them are good.
But those who give trouble to or exploit others in utter selfishness are demons in human form. The above moral code is a clear exposition of the principle laid down in Manu. It is only great people who sacrifice-their all for the welfare of society. But in the nature of things, all cannot be great. However, every individual can afford to be good. For this purpose, every individual should carryon his profession or avocation or business, which he undertakes to earn his livelihood, in a manner in which while he gets reasonable remuneration or profit, he does not exploit the misery of others. If the number of such persons who are good is larger in any society, there will be peace and happiness in the society. But instead, if people who selfishly carryon their profession, trade or business or avocation to make more money, and for this purpose consider that the misery of others is their opportunity and take advantage of the hardship or misery of others, they are just demons in the form of human beings. The word "demon" refers to the quality of persons whose nature is exploitation, i.e., giving trouble to others to secure or fulfill their own unlimited and immoral desires. This is at the root of the erosion of professional ethics in all professions and avocation, including noble professions such as those of lawyers, doctors and teachers. The consequences of not controlling desires which arise in the mind are explained in the Bhagvadgita Ch. II 62-63, thus: <blockquote>"/;k;rks fo"k;ku iqal% l3xRls"kwitk;rsA l3xRlŒtk;rs dke% dkekRØks/kks·fHktk;rsAA Øks/kk ofr lEeksg% lEeksgkRLe`frfoHkze%A Le`frHkza'kkn cqf)uk'kks cqf)uk'kkRiz.k';frAA "</blockquote><blockquote>"When a man begins to think of securing anything in the first instance attachment to that develops. "</blockquote>Attachment leads to desire; when the desire is not fulfilled it leads to anger; anger in turn leads to loss of sense of good and bad; this loss leads to destruction of sound discretion and finally; the loss of sound discretion leads to total destruction -the man perishes' .
How true it is! We see everyday the human beings just to achieve their selfish purposes indulging in all sorts of crimes, misappropriation, onslaught on women, corruption. This ultimately ruins them and their families and also adversely affects the society as a whole.
To sum up, the solution to the above problems which are posing a serious threat to humanity is:
(i) for whomsoever it is possible to sacrifice their all for the welfare of humanity, or the human society concerned to do so and:
(ii) for all others to carryon their profession, avocation, trade or business in such a way as to render service to Society taking only reasonable remuneration or profit:
(iii) No one should cause injury to others to fulfill selfish desires.
One should not exploit the misery of other human beings for illegitimate gains. This is the 'Dharma' of every individual. This was evolved to combat the six enemies (Arishadvarga) inherent in every individual. It is a preventive measure. To put it in the language of modern health science, just as Triple Antigen was invented as a preventive medicine for the three fatal diseases to which a child might become a victim, Dharma was evolved as the-antigen against sinful thoughts entering the mind of an individual, influenced by one or more of the six inherent enemies whereby the mind acts as an instigator for indulging in sinful/verbal or bodily actions.
==References==
==References==
#M. RAMA JOIS, DHARMA - The Global Ethic, Published by "Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan
#M. RAMA JOIS, DHARMA - The Global Ethic, Published by "Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan
[[Category:Dharmas]]
[[Category:Dharmas]]