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Examine the range of meanings associated with dharma (18 marks)

Dharma is a Hindu concept which is essentially difficult to understand because there is no western equivalent (Jamison). Although it cannot be translated directly into English it is normally interpreted as duty. It has its origin from the earliest Hindu texts, the Srauta Srutas the Grhya sutras and Dharma sutras but is also mentioned and in the Bhagavad Gita. The modern concept of dharma is based on a later Hindu text called the dharma Shrastras. Dharma is believed to be a divine revelation through the Vedas which affects people as individuals as well as the eternal law underpinning the universe (Smith). A universal concept of dharma is Sanatana dharma which relates to the cosmic aspects of the universe. Its pillars cover personal, human, universal and social aspects of nature. Everything in the universe follows dharma blindly (Jamison). This type of Rita dharma outlines a moral conduct of how Hindus should act towards the universe such as looking after its land and waters. Social dharma outlines how a Hindus should act towards society and how they should serve the community. A man perfects himself by rejoicing in his proper works (BG). It also includes ethical concepts such as ahimsa, satya, asteya, sauca and the control of ones senses. These eternal concepts regarding morality are all underlying philosophies of Hinduism. Many Hindus reject their religion being named as Hinduism as it is derived from their geographical location rather than the definition of their beliefs. They prefer to be called followers of sanatana dharma. Hence, dharma is understood by many Hindus as what Hinduism is (Jamison). These moral laws are what Hindus in general are told to believe; political and religious leaders use this concept of sanatana dharma to portray Hinduism as a unified religion. Varnasharamadharma relates to the social part of Sanatana dharma; it is believed to be part of universal law. It relates to the Varna system where people have a job or profession depending on what caste they are born into. Fulfilling ones caste duty is the same as fulfilling their social dharma. Varna is another important aspect of Hinduism which is common within all the schools of Hindu philosophy. casting off both honour and duty, thou will bring evil in thyself (BG). Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita stresses that castes are not mixed up; each social caste must be preserved and distinguished to ensure goodness. Caste confusion according to the Bhagavad Gita leads to debauchery and lawlessness which would not allow someone to achieve moksha. The Varna system was established in the early Vedic texts which is why some Hindu renaissance reformers, such as Gandhi and Dayananda Saraswati, were reluctant to abolish it. The four castes are also arranged in a hierarchical order where the higher castes are believed to be Indo-Aryan while the lower to be indigenous Dravidian. To Brahmins, princes, artisans and serfs. Works have been variously assigned (BG). Brahmins are at the top of the hierarchy, their duty is similar to that of a priest and is related with religious rituals such as sacrifice. They study the Vedas and teach it. The Kshatriyas are rulers and warriors like Arjuna in the Bhagavad Gita. Their duty is to govern and protect their community. The Vaisayas are the common people whose duty is related to agriculture and trade. The last of this cast system is the Sudras who serve and support everyone. The outcastes are the Dalits; their duties consist of the most horrible jobs. People who are born into their caste cannot change it. People have to fulfil their own duty and are forbidden to fulfil others. Never should a man give up the works of which he is born (BG). Ashrama dharma is divided into four stage of life Hindus are expected pass. It covers the human and personal pillars of Sanatana dharma. Brahmacharya is the first stage of life where a person commits to being a celibate stage of life. They are taught Hindu texts in detail by a guru. Celibacy is highly regarded in Hinduism because it is believed to help someone achieve spiritual goals. After this stage, the Hindu moves in to the householder or grhastha stage where their dharma consists of aspiring to

material wealth, physical and sexual pleasures. They are expected to provide for the family and carry out religious rituals. This is believed to be one of the best ashramas as it contributes to the development of society rather than solely ones self. The third stage begins with the birth of his first grandson. They are expected to retire from the material world by handing down their wealth and concentrating on their spiritual wellbeing. His would include studying and teaching the Vedas and preparing for death. The last of the stages is not achieved by everyone; it consists of becoming a sanayasin or renouncer. He leaves his family and concentrates on aiming for moksha. Although this restricts dharma to an individual and contradicts the Hindu Varna concept of serving the community, it is nevertheless considered part of varnasharmadharma.

To what extend does dharma indicate that Hinduism is the way of life? (12 marks) Dharma is the Hindu definition of the natural laws of humans and the universe. Dharma extends quite deeply into the lives of Hindus themselves whether it is spiritually or materialistically; hence it is what Hindus see as the way of life. Dharma became the bedrock of Hindu thought (Smith). However, I believe it is not valid to say dharma indicates Hinduism is the way of life because to do so one would need actual evidence rather than mere speculations or opinions. Dharma in some respects is difficult to accomplish, therefore it becomes an ideal an idealised thing can conflict with reality. The Bhagavad Gita is read by about ninety percent of Hindus making it something very relevant to Hinduism. The text itself is a dialogue between Arjuna and Krishna where they discuss dharma extensively. Krishna who is believed to be an avatar of the Hindu God Vishnu stresses the importance of satisfying ones dharma. This makes dharma something important for Hindus to follow and make it part of their way of life. Dharma is subtle and hard to understand (Zaehnar).It is problematic to conclude that dharma indicates that Hinduism is the way of life since the literal meaning of dharma is complex. It cannot be translated into English adequately making it a concept difficult to grasp for the majority, especially if someone is new to Hinduism. It can be argued that Dharmas linguistic complexity and problem can still be understood. The translation from one language to another is often difficult due to cultural and experiential differences. Although a concept cannot be defined by one word, it can be by a group of words. Smith says dharma can mean law, religion, merit, duty, justice or ethics as well as referring to the natural laws of the universe. Since the concept covers a wide range of things, it is possible to cover it one way or another in ones life whether it is personally, socially, universally or morally. A problem to Dharma is that a large part varnasharmadharma applies solely to men. Women have their own type of dharma, Stridharma, which feminists would disagree with. Stridharma consists of women accomplishing the art of making love and passing it down for mother to daughter as well as managing the household and certain domestic obligations. This is a problematic concept because it supports the idea of a patriarchal society where women revolve around the men. The woman also had to treat her husband as a personal deva which puts men at a pedestal and women as second class citizens. Dharma implies that women should devote themselves to social and domestic contribution while offering little choice on how to develop themselves spiritually or personally. Hindus may argue that Stridharma teaches womanhood to a woman and puts out roles for everyone in general whether they like it not. If everyone acknowledged their role and knew their place in society, everything would run smoothly and there would be less conflict.

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Ashrama dharma is seen to be an idealised Hindu concept; fulfilling it is something difficult and only a few are able to satisfy it. If it is near to impossible to fulfil these ashramas then it seems irrational to adopt it as a way of life. Furthermore, this type of dharma is criticized to be contradictory. the two ideals in Hinduism is apparent and they cohabit in tension (Smith). The two ideals which Smith refers to is the householder and renunciate stage because it is contradictory to have them in one system. The householder stage allows one to live a normal life with the materialistic life while the renunciation stage requires a person to isolate and detach himself from the world and society. However, the problem with renunciation is that it is expected from a Hindu when he is old, a time when renunciation can actually be difficult for him to engage in. Jamison says that dharma is primarily an ethical code of behaviour (Jamison). Therefore, it does not conflict with morality and so should be appealing to everyone. Sanatana dharma alone may comply with people because it is essentially the moral concepts everyone should have. The underlying philosophy of dharma gives consideration to all living things through ahimsa and forbids forms of deception such as stealing and lying. This goodness to humans would be appealing to humanists as a way of life. However the branches of sanatana dharma being varnasharma dharma and ashrama dharma make it difficult to follow. This is because the caste system only applies to Hindus, hence it is something non-applicable to people in general. A weakness of dharma could be that it is outdated. Warriors and princes do not necessarily exist nowadays, especially in modern day India which follows the presidential system rather than the monarchy. Moreover, the presidents do not have to be from a particular caste to rule hence that would be a caste corruption in Hindu terms people are doing jobs that they were not assigned. Greater be thine own work, even if this be humble, than the work of another, even if this be great (BG) . Hindus would argue that dharma is not outdated since it is eternal law which refers to the nature of things, nature doesnt change. To conclude, dharma is so deeply rooted in Hinduism itself, it is reasonable to say that it is the Hindu way of life. It is a concept which influences Indian religions outside of Hinduism such as Jainism, Buddhism and even Sikhism. However, many of its concepts would not comply with modern or western thinkers because it is very traditional in its values and ideas. Some of the branches of dharma such as varnasharmadharma and ashrama dharma are very restrictive to Hindus and a lot of the time to men as well.

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