Gita 01.42 – Three meanings of dharma

Thank you.

The resulting creation of Varna Sankara. Utsadhyante jati dharmaha. It will cause the devastation of the dharma of the jatis, of the community projects as Sri Prabhupada translates it.

We will look at this soon. And Kula dharma shashashvataha. Kula dharma, Prabhupada translates as family traditions.

Now, Krishna is talking about, Arjuna is talking about how dharma will be devastated if they fight and they lead to the Kulaksha, the destruction of the dynasty. And therefore, the undercurrent of statements is that we should avoid fighting. Now the question comes up that Krishna, Arjuna is saying that dharma will be destroyed.

But we often hear Sri Prabhupada stating that dharma is the essential inalienable characteristic of the soul. So how can that essential inalienable characteristic be destroyed? Actually, the word dharma has many meanings. And one foundational meaning, which is often not thought about, is this meaning that our core nature, that is to love and serve.

And when that nature of loving and serving is directed towards the eternal, towards Krishna, then that brings us everlasting happiness. So at the level of our soul, that is our nature. And that actually is dharma, to love and serve constantly.

So along with that, there are other meanings of the word dharma also. So, for example, when Krishna states that dharma samsthapanaarthaya sambhavame yuge yuge, when he says in 4.7 and 8 that he descends to establish dharma. So now if something is just the essential nature, inalienable nature, then what does, why does Krishna have to descend to establish it? And Krishna talks about actually destroying miscreants and proclaiming dharma as authoritative.

So is he just talking about the individual heart or is he also talking at the level of society? Now, surely Krishna is asking Arjuna to fight a war. So there is definitely the social dimension to the project of establishing dharma that is there. So then this dharma, this establishment of dharma at the social level by installing Yudhishthira, Dharmaraja as king, how does it relate with the idea of dharma being the soul's innate nature? So first is that if something is innate, why does it need to be established? Why does it need to be established in society externally? And secondly, towards the end of the Gita, in 18.66, Krishna says, So here he is saying, give up all varieties of religions.

So dharma is the essential, inalienable nature. Why do we need to give it up? So here to understand such contradictory statements, we need to look at the various meanings of the word dharma. So one refers to the spiritual level, the natural spontaneous attraction of the soul to serve Krishna.

And that is not just a choice at the pure spiritual level, that is just the nature of the soul. So that is the sanatana dharma, to love and serve Krishna. Now that is actually, you could also call it a siddha dharma, that those who are siddha, they are spontaneously absorbed in love for Krishna.

Right now we are sadhakas, so we need some process to rise from the siddha stage, from sadhaka stage to siddha stage. Say from Pune or Mumbai, say we decide to go to Vrindavan or Mayapur, then we need a pathway to go there. So similarly, wherever we are situated in our consciousness, we need a pathway to rise to the spiritual level.

And that pathway is the sadhakas dharma. So hearing, chanting, doing services, this is our sadhakas dharma. And by practicing the sadhakas dharma, we actually rise slowly from the material level of consciousness to the spiritual level of consciousness.

And at the spiritual level, we start realizing and relishing our innate dharma of loving and serving Krishna. Now, when we live in this world, one thing is, of course, we have to take treatment, we have to practice Adhana Bhakti. But along with that, you also have to live in this world.

And for living in this world, in a particular society, in a particular dynasty, in a particular, say, profession, we'll all have duties according to those material situations. And those duties in and of themselves may not be spiritual, but still they are not unimportant. They are important because they enable us, they enable society to function properly.

And they enable us to function responsibly as members of society. So, thus such dharmas can be various. So Krishna is talking about two over there.

Arjuna is talking about Jati dharma and Kula dharma. So, now Jati, what does it refer to? Usually we translate, we use Varanashram. We focus on Varanashram.

And Varna we say is by Gunakarma, the qualities and capacities for work. And that is definitely true. But from a functional sociological point of view, the Jati also plays a significant role in India.

Jati is actually a subdivision within Varna. So, there can be different groups of Brahmana, there can be different groups of Kshatriyas. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, when he went to Vrindavan, the Sanodia Brahmin was hesitant to invite him to take food at his house.

Because although he was a Brahmana and Chaitanya Mahaprabhu would take food only at the house of Brahmanas, but still within the Brahmanas also, the Sanodia Jati was considered to be lower, relatively speaking. So, the point is that Jati is a very significant sociological division in Indian society. And it has been that way for several centuries as far as the history goes.

Now, often in the media, the caste system is propagated as very discriminatory and very injustice perpetuating. But the fact was, the division of society into Varna was at one level meant to engage people according to their natures. And another level, it also created a sense of community bigger than the family.

Now, we all need a sense of belonging and our family gives us one sense of belonging. But when people who are engaged in the same profession come together, then the commonality can be much greater. Because they all face similar challenges.

So, the grouping together of Jatis was meant more for cohesion of people within the community rather than the discrimination of that community by other communities. And even now we see that people according to their interests do group together. Say, there can be the association of, say, software companies.

There can be the association of grain merchants. There can be the association of construction company owners or whatever. So, this sort of grouping of like-minded of people who are engaged in similar professions creates a greater sense of belonging to a greater family, a greater community, a community bigger than the family.

And it brings a cohesion that enables people to learn from each other's experience and to cope with problems collectively rather than battling individually. So, Jati Dharma was important that if we belong to a particular community, we have particular duties to that community. So, Arjuna is saying that, you know, I am not just an individual.

He is talking also about Kula Dharma. So, I belong to a particular dynasty. So, I have a duty towards all the members of the dynasty, not just my immediate family.

And I also belong to the Kshatriya community at large. And I have an obligation to the Kula Dharma, Jati Dharma also, to Kshatriyas. Kshatriyas are meant to protect each other and protect society.

So, if I am members of a dynasty, Kula Dharma, they are meant to protect each other also. So, if I don't do this, then if instead I participate in the destruction of the dynasty, Kulakshaya, then Jati Dharma and Kula Dharma both will get devastated because those who will be active protectors of this Dharma will be killed. And in this way, there will be disruption in society.

Today, we face, our society faces what many have called as obsessive individualism. I first and I only. So, even a family, even family has become very difficult to sustain when there is excessive individualism.

What to speak of communities. So, Arjuna is in this way thinking about Dharma at levels, at various levels, at the level of society and at the level of community and at the level of dynasty. But Krishna later will talk about Dharma at the level of the soul.

And he will say how all other Dharmas will be taken care of if we practice Dharma at the level of the soul intelligently. So, by understanding the many meanings of the word Dharma, here, of course, the word Dharma refers not so much to the nature, innate nature, but to duties that facilitate social order by which that nature of the soul can be realized. So, there is material Dharma, which can be called as Aparadharma, which maintains order in family, society, community.

Then there is Sadhaka Dharma, which enables our consciousness to rise from the material level to spiritual level. And then Nitya Dharma or Jaiva Dharma, as Bhaktivinoda Thakur would call it, which refers to the soul's nature to love and serve Krishna. So, by practicing Aparadharma as is appropriate and by vigorously practicing Sadhaka Dharma, we can realize and relish our Nitya Dharma, our Jaiva Dharma as blissful parts of Krishna.