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Dharma has been described as a “kalpavriksha'.
“Saddarshana mahaamuulam saddayaajalasinchitam. Gynaanavrittimahaaskandham kshamaadishaakhashobhitam. Daanaadipallavopetam dhyaanapushpam jineshvaraah. Svargamukti phalaadhyam cha dharma kalpadrumam jaguh." - Bhattaraka Sakalakirti’s ‘Prashnottara Shraavakaachaara', Verse 3.105 - 106
Samyagdharshana; (Page 266 & 267, Author: Ashokmuni, Publisher: Diwaakarjyoti Karyaalaya, Byaawar (Rajasthan), year 1981)
The Jinaas have said that dharma is like a kalpavriksha/kalpadruma {wishfulfilling tree). Samyaktva is its root. True compassion is the water that gives it life. Enlightened knowledge is its trunk. The ten types one can follow dharmas are its branches. Generosity is the leaf. Meditation is the flower. Rebirth in heaven and finally liberation are the fruits of this tree.
Dharma is that power which can uplift a downtrodden person. There is true dharma whereever there are samvara {stoppage of karmic inflow into the soul; and nirjaraa {shedding of karmas from the soul). When samvara and nirjaraa reach their acme, new karmas do not attach themselves to the soul and old attached karmas leave the soul and then the soul attains liberation.
The truth is that the soul immerses itself in itself. Its entire awareness is submerged within itself. When the soul looks inwards, it realises the supreme truths of the universe as adumbrated by the Jinaas. This is because the truth is present inside each and every soul. It is an overt attribute of dharma that it takes one from impurity to purity; from sorrow to joy; from deluded self to true self; from death to immortality.
Today, mankind has split life and dharma from each other. Dharma ought to be a part of one's daily life. Where there is consciousness, there is dharma. Dharma is the true nature of the soul. Hence, one cannot say that dharma should be confined to the temples and should not be made applicable to the place of work. Dharma is universal and eternal. It should be followed everywhere. Conduct divorced from dharma is bound to end in tears and sorrow.
And those who think that practising dharma is only necessary during the time one is saying one's prayers or only during the time one is in the temple or saying the rosary, are misguided. Dharma should be practised every waking moment. Not even a second should be spent without dharma.
Today we have successfully compartmentalised dharma into convenient modules. Hence, we practise dharma while praying, while carrying out rituals in the name of dharma, while practising equanimity for a short, pre-specified period of time. But for the rest of the time, our lives are bereft of dharma. This has led to hypocrisy and sham. We have restricted dharma to sectarianism, symbolism,
