“Dharma”, a concept that is deeply linked to Hinduism and many people think they know. You ask them what it is, and most of them link it to religion. Dharma, as per the ancient scriptures is one’s Duty. We have heard about it from elders, but still, we get “Dharma Sandheham” and “Dharma Sankatam” meaning, doubt regarding what to follow and what not to. There are 11 types of Dharmas, but I have decided to speak about 5 of them, which I feel are important.
Hopefully, at the end of this post, you will get to know Dharma which is related to sharing knowledge.
1. Samanya Dharma – A person following Samanya Dharma is firstly a selfless individual. Someone who is known for forgiving, being truthful, merciful, emotionally strong, quiet person, believe in peace, being patient and with no amount of expectations, greed, jealousy. Samanya Dharma teaches individual patience and an ability to see every individual as one. Samanya Dharma thus makes a person a compassionate and respectful individual.
2. Varna or Guna Dharma – Varna in Sanskrit refers to the classifications of people on the basis of profession. Unfortunately, the real sense of Varna is not properly understood by many of us. So, Varna is not something that comes at a time of birth but it is something that’s internal and comes out during the education. Varna here directly connects to the personality. Dharma that is with respect to the Varna that an individual belongs to is Varna Dharma. We have four Varna and they are Brahman, Kshatriya, Vaishya and Shudra. The people based on their profession fall in any of the four varnas.
A Brahmin can be a teacher, a priest, a doctor and an administrator and his dharma in all the three professions is nothing but acquiring knowledge. A teacher is nothing without knowledge, a priest requires knowledge of Vedas and rituals, a doctor knowledge of medicines and illnesses and administrator should have knowledge of everything to administer. Thus the dharma of a Brahmin should be nothing else other than knowledge.
A Kshatriya is a warrior, whose Dharma is bravery. He is a King, he is a soldier and he is a policeman. In all the roles, the common thing is bravery and the dharma of a Kshatriya is to bravely fight the enemy and protect people. The dharma of a Vaishya is smartness as business and trade require him to be like that. All the other professions don’t require strategic thinking and those are called shudra professions, which all that is required is hard work. For a shudra who is a farmer or a potter is hard work.
3. Ashrama Dharma – Here ashram refers to a stage in the life of an individual. There are four types of Ashrama in one’s life. They are Brahmacharya, Grihastha, Vanaprastha and Sanyasa.
Even with very less understanding, in our teenage or early twenties, we must have heard or mocked somebody as a Brahmachari. What does it mean? When an individual is completely into his/her studies and not bothering about other unwanted things then he is perfectly following Brahmacharyashram. Thus a student should only concentrate on studies and should not engage in any other activity.
Gruhasthashram starts with a person getting a job and taking responsibilities. It can be someone who is married or unmarried. But a person helping his family to survive with his money is in Gruhasthashram. That family can include a wife, parents or brothers.
Vanaprastha is the next stage and that’s the stage of retirement. After striving hard in the active years of life for 30+ years, a person decides to retire. According to Hinduism, once an elder son is married then the parents are said to take Vanaprasthashram. A man will retire from his Job and women will retire from her Job (if working) and from household chores. Especially women must give away all the responsibilities to the eldest daughter in law of the family and should enjoy life playing with grandchildren. That is the dharma in that stage.
Sanyasahram is taken when the grandchildren are completely grown up. In this stage, a person has got nothing to see in life and is the right time to take up Sanyasi by renouncing everything and concentrating only on God.
4. Rashtra Dharma – This particular Dharma comes in every stage of one’s life. It’s the most important Dharma of an individual and a very brave one to fulfil. Rashtra Dharma is the responsibility of person towards Nation or the Motherland and the people. There should be completely no hesitation in fulfilling the Rashtra Dharma. One must be prepared to give up things for Rashtra Dharma and be part of the Rashtra Dharma whenever required with no expectation and rewards.
5. Apadh Dharma – Something that’s closest to an Individual and hits their confidence. Apadh Dharma deals with the person’s ability to manage the Crisis. Here the crisis can be of three types. They are a Natural Calamities which will damage the Environment, Family Crisis which can be related to financial or emotional reasons. Finally, the crisis which damages the self-belief and spirituality of an individual. Tackling this kind of Dharma is a test of will and power. One must change the way they look at things. Always, he or she should be ready to take up the responsibilities and not run away. All this must happen with no expectations for additional benefits and rewards.
Following all these Dharmas is not very hard even in this modern world. All we need to do is to put ourselves ahead of the electronic gadgets and let yourself think about the glorious history of India and explore India. Learn from the past and create the new future only and only by following and fulfilling all the types of Dharmas effectively and become a complete individual.
