________________
The Concept of Dharma : A Reappraisal : 111
mass, right from rural folk to urban dwellers. Though such sort of proliferation does not seem to have any traditional footing, it nevertheless indirectly contributes to the preservation of dharmic consciousness. But, it is also seen that through the passage of time, the core meaningful message of dharma is somehow pushed to the oblivion on account of several degenerate social moves like political atrocity and subjugation, unprecedented economic disparity, social inequality causing social injustice which are due to blind superstitions and irrational moves.
Dharma today, is almost kept to the minimum and rather the common man usually leads a life of corruption and hypocrisy. There are prolific growth of temples, religious institutions and congregations, emergence of god-man in any number throughout the nook and corner of the entire subcontinent and elsewhere. All this might have started with noble mission. But, painfully, such moves have mostly been not up to the mark in concretizing their mission. Corruption is rampant today and there is almost a total moral bankruptcy. Despite all such dharmic patronage, the subcontinent is now rated as one of the most corrupt areas of the world. It indeed is a matter of heavy concern. It goes without saying that such a situation forces us to review and examine the whole setup. Dharmic lapse which one notices today is not due to its philosophical foundation. But, it seems to me such untoward consequence has happened because of not properly comprehending its philosophical implications. The dārśanic impact on dharma is along positive and complementary. As it has been discussed, starting from the Cārvāka up to the Vedānta darśana (in its different facets), the classical philosophical views have not at all been advanced in opposition to dharmic order. Rather those moves, in their own ways, are booster to dharmic thinking as well as practice.
The Cārvāka's opposition to the Vedic sacrifices of animals and even men (in the name of spiritual attainment) is commendable. The Jaina darśana is primarily dharma-oriented. Its noble
