________________
I am the Soul
469
rituals but the Dharma of the self. Self is the atma. One who like the Dharma of atma, the natural disposition of utma, is a dharmishta. In Gita, it has been said –
स्वधर्मे निधनं श्रेयः परधर्मो भयावहः
This is a very meaningful verse. In the broader sense, this verse only means that it is better die in one's own Dharma, for another's Dharma is reason to fear.
The communal school of thought will translate this as - one should be prepared to die for the faith that our family-tradition has been following and that even looking at another faith evokes fear. Brothers! This meaning is bound to create a rift among communities. A Jain will say, my religion is the true religion and all others are false. In the same way, others following other religions will also say the same. The one calling another religion as false is bound to invite clashes. Then is the verse from Gita poisoning the minds of people?
But, Brothers! Only the ignorant ones who do not understand the verse, who do not know the definition of true Dharma, and who mistake community for Dharma, can make such a meaning of this introspective verse. Lord Krishna had not meant so. Communalism is not Dharma. The faith of the family-tradition is not Dharma. The sect that our forefathers followed, that sect is not religion. Here, the word swa-t-, self is meaning atma. The pure and natural disposition of the atma is the Dharma of the self. It is here that we have to settle and to die in the Dharma of the self. Death in the Dharma of the self leads to nirvana. Therefore, it is preferable. That means, Lord Krishna says that before you die attain the Dharma of the self, and then die so that the wandering through lives is avoided.
PER - paradharma - whatever there is other than the utma is para and its natural disposition is Dharma. Being engrossed in extraneous substances is paradharma. Expecting happiness
Jain Educationa International
For Personal and Private Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
