The many – Puruṣārtha – Practices of Dharma in Itihasas – Ramayana – 1

While Krishna demonstrated that Dharma was subtle and context-specific, according to some scholars and philosophers, Rama showed that it was straight forward to the extent of being called formalistic and lacking human material. If we look at the Ramayana from a certain angle it may look to be so, especially when we read about episodes which deal with fulfillment of a formal duty or a promise – Dasaratha fulfulling his promise to Kaikeyi, Rama going to the forest simply to fulfil his duty as a son, and at a later stage abandoning his wife Sita to fulfill his formal duty as a ruler and so on.

But this formalism can be attributed to the times of Rama and his Kula and not to Rama personally. Rshi Jamadagnya or Parasurama killed his mother at his father’s orders since it was his dharma to obey his father. Similarly 1000 sons of King Sagara (of the same ikshvaku kula) met their end at the behest of their father. For the most part, it was this kuladharma that drove Rama to take many of his decisions.

Rama stated thus when trying to justify killing Vali-“tvam tu dharmam avijnava kevalam rosam ashtitah|vidusayasi mam dharme pitr-paitamahe sthitam”- “yet you – who knows nothing of dharma and simply following your passions, rebuke me for abiding by my sacred ancestral laws” emphasizing on his pitr-paitamahe dharma.

In another instance Rama states thus – “eko hy aham ayodhyam ca prthivim capi laksmana | tareyam isubhih kruddho nanu viryam akaranam| adharma-bhaya bhitas ca paralokasya canagha | tena laksmana nadyaham atmanam abhisecaye| – “Enraged, I can subdue with my arrows single handed not only Ayodhya but also the earth. But it is not a question of valor here. Oh, the sinless Lakshmana! I am terribly concerned of doing wrong and of ruining my prospects in the other world. Hence, I do not allow myself to be crowned”

Rama decided to go to the forest just to fulfil his formal duty as a son. But in the process he abandoned his rightful claim to the throne despite protests from the praja of his kingdom who did not want him to go. On another occasion, he had to abandon his wife Sita being fully aware of her innocence just to fulfil his formal duty as the king towards his citizens. Now if the citizens’ voice and opinion mattered that much, then he should have stayed in the kingdom in the first place thus fulfilling his praja’s wishes. We can observe that Dasaratha asked Rama to go to the forest prioritizing his personal dharma over dharma in the sense of wider good, his promise-keeping being his personal dharma and choosing the right king for his citizens being the dharma for the greater good. In a similar situation, Rama did the exact opposite. He asked Sita to take the test by fire, thus abandoning his personal dharma to uphold the greater dharma – of that of the King.

Contradictory actions like the ones stated above can only be standardized by understanding the underlying dharma that Rama was trying to uphold – as a king, son, husband, brother, friend and in the many other roles that he played. While some people may look at the Ramayana in this formalistic way, we can also view it from a broader perspective in a more positive way to see that dharma was practiced such that the practitioners placed the greater good higher than their personal interests.

More about that in the next post.

The many – Purusārtha – Practices of Dharma in Itihasas – Mahabharata-2

Before the story of Kausika, Krishna narrates the story of an innocent hunter named Balaka who had a rare skill. He could hunt animals even when they were outside the range of his sight, just by listening to the noise made by the animal while drinking water. He was simple hearted and was the sole support for his blind parents. Krishna describes him as someone who followed his sva-dharma or his own dharma, never spiteful and one who always spoke the truth. One day he killed a wild animal who turned out to be an ascetic in disguise. This ascetic had gotten a boon from Brahma and was hell-bent on killing all the creatures around. Hence what Balaka did was a great service although he did not know of the true intentions of the creature. Balaka went straight to heaven even after having killed the ascetic.

These 2 stories bring out contradicting aspects of dharma. While Kausika went to hell for a virtuous act of promise-keeping and truth-telling, Balaka went to heaven for killing (and thus breaking the code of Ahimsa). Perhaps that was Krishna’s intentions too- to put out such contradictions that a man can face while practicing dharma and also to show the intrinsic subtle nature of dharma.

In a Kantian model, Truth-telling and promise-keeping may get the highest rank. But in Krishna’s model, his dharma demanded that the moral agent prioritize the alternatives that he had in front of him before acting in a certain way. Krishna clearly ranks saving lives ahead of the value of truth-telling when he says “prāṇinām avadhas tāta sarvajyāyān mato mama” – saving lives should take the highest priority. Thus his dharma is dictated by constraints of the situation and reflects a societal structure that attributed a higher importance to saving innocent lives than any other dharma. Vyasa reflects the same thought when he responds to a question by Yudhistira thus – “dharmo vyāvasthikaḥ smṛtaḥ” – “depends on circumstances”. Krishna thus persuaded Arjuna by invoking the subtle ways of dharma that breaking vows was still the right thing to do sometimes when compared to fratricide.

Seen from another point of view, this teaching of Krishna is directly opposite to his teachings to Arjuna in Bhagavad Gita. Whereas in B.G he invokes Kshatriya-dharma and asks Arjuna to follow it strictly, fight the war and kill his elders, in this episode he asks Arjuna to break the same code of conduct of a kshatriya that is truth-keeping and not kill Yudhistira.

Mahabharata is full of such tricky situations. It constantly challenges our definitions of dharma thus becoming an extended attempt to clarify what dharma is and what we as practitioners should do when we try to be dharmic in this world.

We will move to Ramayana in our next post.

The many – Lokas

We have followed the Jiva in his evolution and in the unfolding of his faculties and powers. When he is clothed in any form including the human form he dwells in this physical world, the world that he is able to see, hear, touch and feel. Science states that there are many parts of this physical world that our senses are not keen enough to perceive and too subtle to effect any of our senses.Albeit being invisible, these parts of the world are still physical in nature. Our Dharma also puts forth details about many worlds that are invisible to the Jiva when he is in this physical world.

In these different worlds or lokas, the Jiva is bound to the cycle of births and deaths and his evolution proceeds. He dwells in these different lokas during his long journey. Chiefly, there are 3 lokas in which the Jiva circles around. Bhulokah or Bhurlokah, the physical earth, Bhuvarlokah, the world next to the physical, and closely related to it but of finer matter and Svarlokah, or Svarga, the heavenly world. The Bhulokah is partly visible to us and it has Prithvi tattva as its basis. The Bhuvarlokah and Svarlokah are totally invisible to us with Apas tattva being the basis for bhuvarlokah and Agni tattva being the basis for svarlokah. Beyond these are 4 other lokas, Maharaloka, Janaloka, Tapoloka and Satyaloka. All these 7 lokas lie within the Brahmanda. There are others like Indraloka, Suryaloka, Pretaloka and Pitriloka which are not exactly separate worlds but special regions situated within these 7 lokas.

There are seven other worlds, usually called Talas, which are regions within the earth, that is of grosser matter than the earth. They are Patala, Mahatala, Rasatala, Talatala, Sutala, Vitala and Atala. We can imagine these Talas to the lokas as an image corresponding to an object. These are on a descending scale unlike lokas which are on a ascending scale.

These lokas are significant to the Jiva since they mark the stages of his evolution. As his powers uncurl, he begins to feel and becomes conscious of these lokas. Thus each loka becomes the form of consciousness of the Jiva as a state and as a place, it represents the modifications of the Prakriti that is expressing each state of consciousness. Puranas and Itihasas introduce the concept of lokas as a prakriti tattva to us first. Hence we can see numerous stories involving Jivas and lokas. As our understanding of such Vedic concepts gains traction, our scriptures take us to the next level and expose our minds to lokas as a yoga tattva – different levels of consciousness or existence for the Jiva to journey into. If we go back to those stories from the puranas after we have gained advanced level knowledge about our dharma, we can realize that the same stories give us a different perspective from the time we learnt them as novices.

Since the Jiva is of the nature of the Ishvara, he is fully capable of realizing these 7 states of consciousness and experiencing all the 7 higher lokas seen above. For the Jiva to experience all these lokas, the existence of the lokas alone is not enough. He also needs Upadhi with which he can experience the lokas and the bhutani, the Bhutas or the elements. We will look at the various upadhis in the coming posts.

Itihasa Puranas – friends indeed

We saw why a common man needs Itihasas and Puranas to stay in touch with his spirituality. This does not mean that learned ones need not know them and can directly approach Vedas. Smriti texts like Puranas are prescribed for the learned ones as well and with valid reasons.

Only in the Puranas are-many things that are taken for granted in the Vedas-explained. Hence if we go to the Vedas without knowing the fundamentals, we will fail to understand their true meanings for want of basic knowledge. We can take the classic example of the fourteen worlds. There are seven Lokas and seven Talas. While the names of the 7 lokas appear in different Mantras/Hymns in Vedas, the names Bhuh, Bhuvah and Suvah appear famously in the Gayatri Mantra chanted daily. If we don’t understand the significance of the different Lokas correctly, then we will not be able to absorb the truths of the Mantras that contain them. Where can we find such basic and detailed information about the lokas then? No prize of guessing the answer – Puranas!

We can take another classic example to illustrate this point. The example of Devas/Devatas/Deities. Many deities like Indra, Agni and Varuna are glorified in the Vedas. But who are they? what is their role in the spiritual universe? what do their individual unique personalities tell us and how do they help us? The Vedas wont give out answers explicitly. But Yaskacharya comes to our rescue here. In his Nirukta, he defines a Deva as devo danadva – from making gifts, dipanadva – from being brilliant, dyotanadva – from being radiant, dyusthano – because his sphere is heaven. Unfortunately, this also does not throw much light about the Devas since all these seem to be their common characteristics. If we turn our attention to the Puranas, we will easily find that there are numerous stories that elucidate each of these characteristics and how they help us achieve our goals. If, without this background information, we go about learning the Vedas, we will never be able to understand and appreciate them.

These are just two of the many examples that can be quoted to drive home the point that Puranas are our friends indeed (since we are always in need of spiritual direction) and that this friendship will always be beneficial in our spiritual journey.