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VALUES AND RELIGION
Dharma was thus viewed by our ancient sages and lawgivers as an expression of spontaneous love binding one individual to another in a spiritual bond. It was not a lever to exert political power, but an impersonal law to regulate human relations and promote social, economic and spiritual welfare. Politics were required to be based on dharma which sanctifies them and also looks to them for its own preservation. The following quotations from the Mahabharata will bear us out :
dharmamevānuvartasva na dharmad vidyate param. dharme sthitā hi rājāno jayanti pṛthivīmimām. (Śantiparva, 93.6). sarve dharmaścāśramaņām gataḥ syuḥ
kṣā're tyakte rajadharme purāņe. (Ibid., 63.28 c.d.).
4. While in the field of politics, religion asserted itself through the powers that be, it was directly responsible for the growth of social institutions which however changed from time to time. The system of caste (varna) is an instance in point. It was intended to stabilize the society by defining the duties and responsibilities of the different strata of the people, best suited for particular tasks expected of them. But protests were voiced against it as early as the times of Mahāvīra. and Buddha, although their followers could not but pride themselves upon the Kstriya caste of their Masters. The system nevertheless remained effective for centuries with but minor variations and adjustWhat was a virtue in a particular context became a vice in another. The custom of widow-burning which was restricted to the warrior caste in the beginning became a universal practice in later times, though it has now almost completely died out. Untouchability is yet another instance of an irrational custom succumbing to the demands of the age. Religion in its ephemeral character formulates customs which are to be abandoned when their purpose is over.
ments.
5. In its aspect of personal experience religion is responsible for the institution of the four stages of life (asramas). One has to reach the highest stage of complete renunciation of worldly interest and asceticim (sannyasa) through a number of others, viz. a life devoted to study (brahmacarya), a life dedicated to worldly affairs (garhasthya), and the life of a forest hermit engaged in acquiring spiritual knowledge (vanaprastha). In the religion of the Jainas and the Buddhists, and also in Hinduism in the case of an extraordinary aspirant, the order of the stages is however not strictly followed. One is allowed to renounce the world the moment one feels the urge for it from within. Such ideal of renunciation and asceticism is accepted in almost all the religions of the world
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