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What Is Dharma Essay 2
What Is Dharma Essay 2
Ivan Gaichuk
Dr. W. Y. Bandara
RELS 2300
2 November 2015
What is Dharma?
The worlds population is about 7.3 billion people on 2015 statistics data, and 1.2 billion
of them live in India.1 Most of the people in India follow religious practices like Hinduism,
Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism. Those religions have differences but all of them embrace a
philosophical conception called dharma that sets them apart from any western religion. The word
dharma cannot easily be translated into English because there is no single word to define its
meaning. The book Living Religions, by Mary Pat Fisher explains that dharma refers to a broad
complex of meanings, encompassing duty, natural laws, social welfare, ethics, health, wealth,
power, fulfillment of desire, and transcendental realization (Fisher 71).2 In this essay I will
According to dharma the cosmos is a unified whole in which absolute reality and the
relative manifestation are profoundly connected. This absolute reality is referred to as Brahman.
It unifies everything that is diverse in the universe, and it cannot be known. Brahman also exists
within all people as atman which means the subtle self or soul (Fisher 77). The atman can be
reincarnated after death infinite times into an array of different living things. After reincarnation
the self remains the same even though the physical body may change. If a soul is fortunate
enough to be reincarnated as a human, it has a precious chance to advance toward its ultimate
goal of liberation from the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth to merge with the absolute reality.
Although the soul can reincarnate as a different being, a persons karma determines the souls
next reincarnation sequence. 3 Karma is a concept which explains that every act a person makes,
every thought or desire a person has will influence the persons future experience (Fisher 77).
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The type of karma a person builds during life, good, or bad, will affect the souls next
reincarnation. In order to build good karma, one must do good deeds and live by the principles of
dharma, only then can the soul break away from the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth, or samsara
To live by the principles of dharma a person has to build good karma throughout life in
order to achieve liberation. Everyone has a duty in life; everyone needs to fulfill their duty if they
want to live by the principles of dharma. In India the caste system is a big part of life. A persons
duty depends on what type of caste that person belongs to. The caste system divides people and
fixes their jobs and place in society. Every caste has a place in society and without one the others
cannot function properly. A person does not choose which caste they belong to, instead it is
passed down by the family tree though generations. Marriage between different castes is frowned
There are four different castes in India. The Brahmins who are the priests are at the top of
the caste system. A Brahmins job is to study the Vedic texts and to perform various rituals.
Kshatriya are the warrior caste, their job was to make everyday decisions and to run the
government. The Vaishyas are skilled farmers and merchants. The Sudras are the unskilled
workers. The Untouchables are the lowest class and were given the most unfavorable jobs such
According to dharma everyones life is divided into four parts. For example, a Brahmins
life is divided into four different parts, each approximately 25 years. For the first 25 years of life
a Brahmin is required to be a student. The next part of life is the householder stage. During this
stage he is expected to marry, raise a family, and contribute productively to society. After this
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part of life he is expected to detach himself from worldly pursuits, to meditate and practice
spiritual study. When he is an old man he is expected to cut himself off from his wife and family,
to renounce from society and all worldly possessions and live life as a sannyasin. Some
sannyasin go to live in comfortable temples, others choose to wonder the streets with little to no
clothes, a water jug and walking staff, and a food bowl. A person who has reached the renouncer
part of life has only one job. It is to concentrate on practices that will finally release him from
samsara so that his soul can be joined with the absolute reality (Fisher 101).
The word dharma refers to how most people live their lives in India. There are many
different components to dharma. To live by dharma one has to do good deeds and do his duty in
life. If a person does good deeds and performs his duty, they will accumulate good karma. The
Karma a person has accumulated in life will determine how the soul will be reincarnated in the
next life. Many life times of good karma are required to reach the ultimate goal of dharma, to
Notes
1. This statistic is based on the study done in 2015 by United Nations Department of
2. The Author of the book, Mary Pat Fisher defines Dharma as encompassing duty,
natural laws, social welfare, ethics, health, wealth, power, fulfillment of desire, and
transcendental realization.
3. The Author of the book, Mary Pat Fisher defines Karma as action and consequence
of an action.
4. The Author of the book, Mary Pat Fisher defines Samsara as the endless cycle of
Works Cited
Fisher, Mary. Living Religions. London: Lauren King Publishing Ltd, 2014. Print.