Dharma = Religion?

                People in India are very proud of their “dharma”. It’s a common word especially among Hindus. But with utter pain I have to suggest here that very few people really know the true meaning of the word.  To put it in other way, do you really think that you are honestly practicing dharma? 

                Dharma is a Sanskrit word. It’s mostly related to Hinduism these days. But we can safely assume that the word can be used to connect all religions including Christianity and Islam; not only Hinduism. If we look at literal meaning of the Sanskrit word, dharma means duty. So by thinking without conservative mindset i.e. by trying to be open to correct our misinterpretations, there is no harm in saying that performing your duty honestly without any self interest is dharma. So if someone claims that my dharma is Hinduism, Buddhism Or Jainism to name a few, it means that it is his duty that he  should follow the righteous path shown by the great teachers of these religions and not only praying or fasting in their name. It’s his duty to follow and try to understand the path shown by these religions. Same can be said about Islam or Christianity. For believers in them, it’s the duty of those people to follow the righteous path shown by Prophet Mohammad or Jesus Christ. Hence the word dharma according to me does not belong only to Hindus or any particular sect only.

                  It does not only mean that praying in the name of God fulfills your dharma. What it states that even if you don’t pray daily in the name of God, but you have to follow the truthful path shown by each religious teaching. Even an atheist can follow his dharma by fulfilling his duties towards society, his family, his loved ones or even his job if done with pure heart is dharma. If he is doing a good work, like helping the poor and needy without any selfish motives, one should not hesitate calling it as dharma as the meaning is not confined to any particular religion or sect but towards the whole society which includes entire world. It’s our duty to be a part of the world society and act taking it into consideration. So, even a religious preacher can get a lot to learn about dharma from an atheist also.

                   What I want to convey here is that instead of manipulating the definition of dharma as done by few self proclaimed religious scholars, people should ask themselves and then try to find the essence of the word instead of blindly following a particular definition.

        e.g. Imagine a man of 25-30 yrs. Lets assume that he is married has parents to look after, has kids who are his responsibility is always praying  and not  taking time out to look after his parents or his wife and kids. Would you say that he is doing his dharma? I won’t; because according to me his real dharma is to look after his old parents and take care of his family which is his duty and responsibility. I don’t mean that he should give up his prayers or his duty towards God. But what I mean is that his primary duty is his family and he can pray few times a day instead of praying throughout. The basic idea is that if you are surrendering yourself to God, its good but you should also take care that no one has to suffer in that process especially those who are totally dependent on you.  I won’t like to implement my thinking on you on this particular example. You can definitely have your own opinions.

                    Here citing this example, some people may claim that even Gautam Buddha had left his family in search of answers. But here we should not forget that he did so because he was performing the dharma of touching and changing many lives and improving them. His duty was upliftment of the entire society. Hence we can say that he performed his dharma and did not hurt anyone.

                     To put the whole argument in simpler terms, we can say that dharma for doctor is to treat his patients properly, for a businessman it may mean to conduct honestly the trades and so on.

                     It’s up to people to agree with me or not. Suggestions are always welcome.