Does dharma mean religion?
Religion? The word dharma is multivalent.
Multivalent means it has many different meanings. So in the Bhagavad Gita itself usually it is used in sense of beauty. There is a whole book called Mimamsa Sutra just like there is Vedanta Sutra which begins with the question Athato Brahmajitya Now let us enquire about Brahma.
So similarly, the Mimamsa Sutra they begin with the question Athato Dharmajitya Now let us try to find out what is dharma. And there, there are many different definitions of dharma. So the word dharma one of the meanings it is given from the spiritual perspective dharma means that which helps us develop love for God.
That is dharma. The Bhagavad Gita often uses dharma in the sense of social duty. For example, Kul dharma hain sanat hai.
Kul dharma, dynastic duty. Kshatriya dharma it is there. So it is the duty of a warrior.
So the word here dharma is used in terms of in terms of the beauty that springs from one's nature. Or one particular attribute. So if you belong to a particular dynasty you have a duty associated with that dynasty.
If you belong to a particular psychophysical nature you have a duty associated with the psychophysical nature. So basically if we consider the soul is the core. And the soul which is the core has its own nature.
Which is to love and serve God. And that alone is the sanatana dharma. That is the eternal dharma.
So the word dharma essentially means that activity which harmonizes with our nature. So if I belong to a particular family then the activity which maintains harmony in my family. If I belong to a particular psychophysical nature then that activity enables me to harmonize with my psychophysical nature.
If I belong to a particular country that activity harmonizes me with a particular with that country's duty, with that country's function, country's rules that will be my national dharma. So we could have our social dharma, we have our dynasty duty, we have our occupational duty. So dharma is a multivalent word.
And from the transcendental perspective dharma means that which helps us to develop love for God. So in the Vimamsitra also it is said that dharma is that which, tomorrow I will talk about the three modes of material nature. Satvaguna, Rajoguna and Tamoguna.
The three ways in which our consciousness is shaped. So dharma is that activity which increases the sattva and decreases the rajas and damas. That is also dharma.
The word dharma can have many different meanings. So in this world when we are born, all of us are born in a particular religion. So based on the religion that we are born in, there are certain duties associated with it.
Certain festivals that are celebrated, certain practices that are done, certain rites are performed. So those we could call as religious duties. And that could be also one meaning of the word dharma.
So when the word dharma is reduced to any of these alone, then it becomes a problem. But to say that dharma does not refer to religion, if I am born in a particular religion, there is a religious duty associated with that and dharma refers to that. If I am born in a particular dynasty, there is a duty associated with that.
It is a dynastic duty. But when we reduce dharma only to the duties associated with our particular with one feature of us, whether it is our religion, whether it is our family, whether it is our nationality, whether it is our caste, whatever it is, then that becomes a misunderstanding of the meaning. The essential meaning of the word dharma is at its core that the nature of the soul, to love and serve, to love and serve the eternal, that is sanatana dharma.
So anything that harmonizes with our nature, with our natural situation, that is dharma. So if you are born in a particular religion, there is a duty that is in harmony with that particular duty. They can also be called religious duties.
Dharma has that meaning but it doesn't have only that meaning. Does that answer your question?