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Dharma was formulated as the solution to the eternal problems confronting the human race, originating from natural human instincts.

Dharma was formulated as the solution to the eternal problems confronting the human race, originating from natural human instincts.

अकामस्य क्रिया कचिद्दृश्यते नेह कर्हिचित् । यद्यद्धि कुरुते किञ्चित् तत्तत्कामस्य चेष्टितम् ॥

अकामस्य क्रिया कचिद्दृश्यते नेह कर्हिचित् । यद्यद्धि कुरुते किञ्चित् तत्तत्कामस्य चेष्टितम् ॥Which means, there is no act of man which is free from desire; whatever a man does is the result of the impulse of desire. Therefore, the source of all evil actions of human beings was traced to the desire for material pleasure which in turn gave rise to conflict of interests among individuals. Further, it was found that the desire (kama) of human beings could also be influenced by the other impulses inherent in human beings such as anger (krodha), passion (moha), greed (lobha), infatuation (mada), and enmity (matsarya). These six natural impulses were considered as six internal enemies of man (arishadvarga), which if allowed to act uncontrolled could instigate him to entertain evil thoughts in the mind for fulfilling his own selfish desires and for that purpose cause injury to others. Dharma or rules of righteous conduct was evolved as a solution to this eternal problem arising out of the natural instinct of man. - Shantiparva of the Mahabharata (Ch.59)

Which means, there is no act of man which is free from desire; whatever a man does is the result of the impulse of desire. Therefore, the source of all evil actions of human beings was traced to the desire for material pleasure which in turn gave rise to conflict of interests among individuals. Further, it was found that the desire (kama) of human beings could also be influenced by the other impulses inherent in human beings such as anger (krodha), passion (moha), greed (lobha), infatuation (mada), and enmity (matsarya). These six natural impulses were considered as six internal enemies of man (arishadvarga), which if allowed to act uncontrolled could instigate him to entertain evil thoughts in the mind for fulfilling his own selfish desires and for that purpose cause injury to others. Dharma or rules of righteous conduct was evolved as a. solution to this eternal problem arising out of the natural instinct of man. - Shantiparva of the Mahabharata (Ch.59)

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. 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.<ref name=":3" />

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. 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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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.<ref name=":3" />

== धर्मपुरुषार्थः ॥ Dharma Purushartha ==

== धर्मपुरुषार्थः ॥ Dharma Purushartha ==

Of the four grand objects of human aspiration—Purusharthas—viz., Dharma, Artha, Kama and Moksha, Dharma is given the foremost rank in the scriptures. Dharma alone is the gateway to Moksha, to immortality, infinite bliss, supreme peace and highest knowledge. Dharma alone is the primary Purushartha. Dharma is the first and foremost Purushartha. Through the practice of Dharma alone can you ever hope to achieve the crowning glory of all human endeavours, viz., Moksha which is the best and the highest of all desirable things. Practice of Dharma leads to the perfect realisation of essential unity or the final end, the highest good, namely, Moksha. The practitioner experiences peace, joy, strength and tranquillity within himself. His life becomes thoroughly disciplined. His powers and capacities are exceedingly intensified. He realises that there is one underlying homogeneous essence, a living truth, behind these names and forms. He is transmuted into divinity. His whole nature gets transformed. He becomes one with the Eternal. He beholds Brahman above, Brahman below, Brahman to the right, Brahman to the left, Brahman in front, Brahman at the back, Brahman within, Brahman without and Brahman pervading the whole world.

Of the four grand objects of human aspiration—Purusharthas—viz., Dharma, Artha, Kama and Moksha, Dharma is given the foremost rank in the scriptures. Dharma alone is the gateway to Moksha, to immortality, infinite bliss, supreme peace and highest knowledge. Dharma alone is the primary Purushartha. Dharma is the first and foremost Purushartha. Through the practice of Dharma alone can you ever hope to achieve the crowning glory of all human endeavours, viz., Moksha which is the best and the highest of all desirable things. Practice of Dharma leads to the perfect realisation of essential unity or the final end, the highest good, namely, Moksha. The practitioner experiences peace, joy, strength and tranquillity within himself. His life becomes thoroughly disciplined. His powers and capacities are exceedingly intensified. He realises that there is one underlying homogeneous essence, a living truth, behind these names and forms. He is transmuted into divinity. His whole nature gets transformed. He becomes one with the Eternal. He beholds Brahman above, Brahman below, Brahman to the right, Brahman to the left, Brahman in front, Brahman at the back, Brahman within, Brahman without and Brahman pervading the whole world.

==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

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.

Manu Smriti Ch. 12-35 expounds this aspect thus

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.

 

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.

Meaning: 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.

 

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.  

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

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.

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.  

(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:

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.

<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.

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.