Dharma Is Reason Not Religion

Praeulla Kumar Mohanty

All systems are based on law and all laws are based on reason. Some laws are written and others are unwritten. Those unwritten too are based on reason where the authority is not specified but  surmised or experienced. The written law is  backed by authority, the authority of king or council or the People. Any breach is punishable after  a trial where  men and women of reason discuss, listen and proclaim a judgement to punish or pardon or release. But no system works or operates without law. The earth too is bound by law, she cannot deviate from the orbit, cannot stop moving wilfully. The cosmic laws too are based on reason. One may ask, what is this reason? The Greeks claim to have invented reason. But the Indians had practised Reason much before the Greek Enlightenment. Reason for the Greeks was mostly logical. For the Indians it was moral. Rationality for Indians was Dharma not religion. The rational faculty however is not a given constant. The cosmic constants are never changing but the human constants change  when the living conditions change. In other words laws made by men change when society changes. For instance when war is accepted as a human institution the peace time laws change. When food and shelter and peace are available  a liberal temper modulates human logic. But when there is scarcity the changes come in terms of a new logic where survival determines  the new law.

Man in the beginning thought of a divine origin of everything. God has created the world of man and nature. Very easily people thought that he who has created man must provide for him. But the same man later challenged the anthropomorphic origin of man. Darwin  changed the entire system of life and life management with his book Origin of Species. But the two systems exist simultaneously. Rationality  and irrationality exist as twins. Today the world is conflict ridden. The desire to dominate the human order by the rich and powerful comes into conflict with the idea of universal brotherhood. The Indian thinkers believe that the world is one  Family. But this belief was challenged  by several marauders and aggressors. India never learnt to defend herself as its logic was that there is moral reason everywhere and members of the same human family should not attack or defend each other. But  this logic was changed when the country and its people were ruled by the aggressors. Chanakya changed the obtaining logic  and gave a new system of  moral reason. It is obvious that in the evolutionary process of life reason too evolves. New efforts are made to change  the behaviour of man to suit one system of logic.

The Indians today are stay at homes because of the nature of the Corona Virus. To keep them entertained  and enlightened the masterly epics of India., Ramayana and the Mahabharat are serialized after a gap of about 30 years. Every day people hear one word- Dharma- in the epics, especially  in the Mahabharat. There is a confusion in the minds of the modern generations over the word Dharma. Almost all people, particularly the bigots and the politicians use the word Dharma to mean religion. But Dharma is not religion. Dharma fundamentally is moral reason which should help life management. Duties, responsibilities, loyalties, political systems, family systems are all modulated by Dharma, that is, responsible behaviour, respect of the  worthy and dignified behaviour. The attitude to life is primarily sober, culturally courteous and intellectually  refined. But in the Mahabharat particularly we notice a blind king behaves and functions more as a father foolishly overfond of his son than a king  who should treat all the subjects as his own children. This blind king, Dhritarastra who could never have become  the king if his brother had not died, never accepted the Reason that a blind man cannot be a king. He also thought, that his son although younger to Yudhistira ought to succeed him. This is politically and morally Adharma that is unreasonable. It is unreasonable because it does not  have any moral base. In the context of the then Arayavarta.

On the other hand in the Ramayana we see another kind of  unreason. If a noble and virtuous king treats his subjects as his children and tries to please them we should think that Reason's reign has begun and all systems - society administration and family  will grow  and  attain moral perfection . But if a king sacrifices a noble, chaste and loyal wife- the Queen- to pacify or appease the people, his reason is flawed. Injustice, cruelty and irrational action cannot justify Rajdharma.. Sita was sacrificed for political expediency. This is not Dharma. If Dhritarastra was politically and literally blind to moral logic, Rama was blind to innocent virtue. If Dharma is used for personal aggrandizement it butchers logic and rationality. These ancient epics of India should teach the present generation that Dharma is not religion. There is no Hindu or Muslim in the world. There is only man and  his moral logic should be sound enough to lead him in life.