The Whys And Wherefores Of Dharma
People have always remarked on how many words in Indian and European languages have a common root, suggesting their origin from an archaic Indo-European Aryan' language. However, the word 'dharma does not fall in this list. It has exclusive Indic origins and usages. The Republic of India uses the term 'dharma' to mean religion, and so secularism is translated as dharmanirpeksha, but this meaning does not do justice to the word. Scholars repeatedly state that the word is not translatable in English. Words likelaw, righteousness, ethics, morality, are all found wanting. The word has limited usage in the Vedic Samhita (about 63 times), hardly a few times in the Brahmanas, then it almost disappears in the Upanishads. It resurfaces with Buddhism, then explodes with the Dharmashastras, Ramayana and Mahabharata. Along the way, meaning shifts, too. In the Rig Veda, it is used as something foundational, to ritual, to culture, to nature, to the cosmos itself, in lines similar to the use of the word 'rat'. But we also find it being associated with kings, thus connecting it with governance. In the Shatapatha Brahmana, it is associated with a space where there swatter, hence prosperity, and an end of the ways of the jungle-matsya nyaya. But when the Buddha uses the word dhamma, he refers to the foundational principles of the world, and of life, as he saw it. Dhamma reveals the world as anicca, ephemeral; dukka, causing misery and anatta or unsubstantial. Without knowledge of dhamma, the Buddhist monk could not hope for nirvana. Jainism uses the word dharma forte principle of movement, and adharma for stillness. As Buddhism spread, the word dharma starts reappearing in Vedic contexts with increasing frequency. It becomes less cosmic and ritual, and more social, referring to code of conduct, first for brahmins only, then for different communities-varnaashrama-dharma-giving rise to works known as Dharma-sutras, and Dharma-shastras. It is used in works of grammar, to speech that does not follow rules of grammar, and in Mimansaka as ritual that does not follow the prescribed process. the speaking times, and the protagonist Rama tree In the Valmiki Ramayana, composed around the same time, we find the word over1,000 to be the dharma. In the Mahabharata, we find different arguments about what dharma actually means, and there are even points where artha, wealth, power, is seen as more important than dharma, even though Vyasa keeps raising hihand and saying that if dharma isupheld, artha and kama (pleasure)follow. Here dharma is used in amogeneral sense of governance. Archaeologists have found a 25Ashokan edict in Kandahar in Afghanistan, where the Greek Wo'eusebeia' is used as a translation dharma. This word refers to the vasocial and religious traditions that he gods happy, which include pubfestivities, private rituals and reverential behaviour between hurPerhaps the most practical mecomes to us from Kautilya's Arthashastra which states that in the aloof kings, dharma collapses, and julaw reigns supreme, suggestingthdharma is essentially humanity, separate’s us from beasts. But theralways the risk of a king following dharma, and imposing jungle lathe kingdom for his own benefit. Postyourcomments atspeakingt
DISCLAIMER:
The views expressed in the Article above are Devdutt Pattanaik personal views and kashmiribhatta.in is not in any way responsible for the opinions expressed in the above article. The article belongs to its respective owner or owners and this site does not claim any right over it.
Courtesy: Devdutt Pattanaik and Speaking Tree , Times of India
The Whys And Wherefores Of Dharma
People have always remarked on how many words in Indian and European languages have a common root, suggesting their origin from an archaic Indo-European Aryan' language. However, the word 'dharma does not fall in this list. It has exclusive Indic origins and usages. The Republic of India uses the term 'dharma' to mean religion, and so secularism is translated as dharmanirpeksha, but this meaning does not do justice to the word. Scholars repeatedly state that the word is not translatable in English. Words likelaw, righteousness, ethics, morality, are all found wanting. The word has limited usage in the Vedic Samhita (about 63 times), hardly a few times in the Brahmanas, then it almost disappears in the Upanishads. It resurfaces with Buddhism, then explodes with the Dharmashastras, Ramayana and Mahabharata. Along the way, meaning shifts, too. In the Rig Veda, it is used as something foundational, to ritual, to culture, to nature, to the cosmos itself, in lines similar to the use of the word 'rat'. But we also find it being associated with kings, thus connecting it with governance. In the Shatapatha Brahmana, it is associated with a space where there swatter, hence prosperity, and an end of the ways of the jungle-matsya nyaya. But when the Buddha uses the word dhamma, he refers to the foundational principles of the world, and of life, as he saw it. Dhamma reveals the world as anicca, ephemeral; dukka, causing misery and anatta or unsubstantial. Without knowledge of dhamma, the Buddhist monk could not hope for nirvana. Jainism uses the word dharma forte principle of movement, and adharma for stillness. As Buddhism spread, the word dharma starts reappearing in Vedic contexts with increasing frequency. It becomes less cosmic and ritual, and more social, referring to code of conduct, first for brahmins only, then for different communities-varnaashrama-dharma-giving rise to works known as Dharma-sutras, and Dharma-shastras. It is used in works of grammar, to speech that does not follow rules of grammar, and in Mimansaka as ritual that does not follow the prescribed process. the speaking times, and the protagonist Rama tree In the Valmiki Ramayana, composed around the same time, we find the word over1,000 to be the dharma. In the Mahabharata, we find different arguments about what dharma actually means, and there are even points where artha, wealth, power, is seen as more important than dharma, even though Vyasa keeps raising hihand and saying that if dharma isupheld, artha and kama (pleasure)follow. Here dharma is used in amogeneral sense of governance. Archaeologists have found a 25Ashokan edict in Kandahar in Afghanistan, where the Greek Wo'eusebeia' is used as a translation dharma. This word refers to the vasocial and religious traditions that he gods happy, which include pubfestivities, private rituals and reverential behaviour between hurPerhaps the most practical mecomes to us from Kautilya's Arthashastra which states that in the aloof kings, dharma collapses, and julaw reigns supreme, suggestingthdharma is essentially humanity, separate’s us from beasts. But theralways the risk of a king following dharma, and imposing jungle lathe kingdom for his own benefit. Postyourcomments atspeakingt
DISCLAIMER:
The views expressed in the Article above are Devdutt Pattanaik personal views and kashmiribhatta.in is not in any way responsible for the opinions expressed in the above article. The article belongs to its respective owner or owners and this site does not claim any right over it.
Courtesy: Devdutt Pattanaik and Speaking Tree , Times of India