In this article, I have raised questions and added notes and as an answer to the questions, I have taken the excerpts from Swami Vivekananda’s writings - “The East And The West”
Swamiji, Isn’t our highest goal – Mukti?
“With us (Bharathiyas), the prominent idea is Mukti; with the Westerners, it is Dharma. What we desire is Mukti; what they want is Dharma. Here the word ‘Dharma’ is used in the sense of the Mimâmsakas. What is Dharma? Dharma is that which makes man seek for happiness in this world or the next. Dharma is established on work, Dharma is impelling man day and night to run after and work for happiness.
There was a time in India when Dharma was compatible with Mukti. There were worshippers of Dharma, such as Yudhishthira, Arjuna, Duryodhana, Bhishma, and Karna, side by side with the aspirants of Mukti, such as Vyâsa, Shuka, and Janaka. On the advent of Buddhism, Dharma was entirely neglected, and the path of Moksha alone became predominant. “
So, can I freely choose one over the other – between Dharma and Moksha?
“However, the central fact is that the fall of our country, of which we hear so much spoken, is due to the utter want of this Dharma. If the whole nation practices and follows the path of Moksha, that is well and good; but is that possible? Without enjoyment, renunciation can never come; first enjoy and then you can renounce. Otherwise, if the whole nation, all of a sudden, takes up Sannyâsa, it does not gain what it desires, but it loses what it had into the bargain—the bird in the hand is fled, nor is that in the bush caught. When, in the heyday of Buddhistic supremacy, thousands of Sannyâsins lived in every monastery, then it was that the country was just on the verge of its ruin! The Bauddhas, the Christians, the Mussulmans, and the Jains prescribe, in their folly, the same law and the same rule for all. That is a great mistake; education, habits, customs, laws, and rules should be different for different men and nations, in conformity with their difference of temperament. What will it avail, if one tries to make them all uniform by compulsion? The Bauddhas declared, `Nothing is more desirable in life than Moksha; whoever you are, come one and all to take it.’ I ask, `Is that ever possible?’ ”
So, what’s right - Moksha or Dharma?
" `You are a householder, you must not concern yourself much with things of that sort: you do your Svadharma (natural duty)’—thus say the Hindu scriptures. Exactly so! He who cannot leap one foot, is going to jump across the ocean to Lankâ in one bound! Is it reason? You cannot feed your own family or dole out food to two of your fellow-men, you cannot do even an ordinary piece of work for the common good, in harmony with others—and you are running after Mukti! The Hindu scriptures say, `No doubt, Moksha is far superior to Dharma; but Dharma should be finished first of all’. The Bauddhas were confounded just there and brought about all sorts of mischief. Non-injury is right; `Resist not evil’ is a great thing—these are indeed grand principles; but the scriptures say, `Thou art a householder; if anyone smites thee on thy cheek, and thou dost not return him an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, thou wilt verily be a sinner.’ Manu says, `When one has come to kill you, there is no sin in killing him, even though he be a Brâhmin’ (Manu, VIII. 350). This is very true, and this is a thing which should not be forgotten.”
So, how should one discharge his duties of Dharma?
“Heroes only enjoy the world. Show your heroism; apply, according to circumstances, the fourfold political maxims of conciliation, bribery, sowing dissensions, and open war, to win over your adversary and enjoy the world—then you will be Dhârmika (righteous). Otherwise, you live a disgraceful life if you pocket your insults when you are kicked and trodden down by anyone who takes it into his head to do so; your life is a veritable hell here, and so is the life hereafter. This is what the Shastras say. Do your Svadharma—this is truth, the truth of truths. This is my advice to you, my beloved co-religionists. “
So, can I do whatever I want that gives me happiness and apply the four political maxims if anyone comes in the way?
“Of course, do not do any wrong, do not injure or tyrannize over anyone, but try to do good to others as much as you can. But passively to submit to wrong done by others is a sin—with the householder. He must try to pay them back in their own coin then and there. The householder must earn money with great effort and enthusiasm, and by that must support and bring comforts to his own family and to others, and perform good works as far as possible. If you cannot do that, how do you profess to be a man? You are not a householder even—what to talk of Moksha for you!!”
But isn’t Moksha higher than Dharma as you said earlier ? Should I completely give it up and only keep doing worldly deeds?
"
- By constant repetition of the syllable Om and by meditating on its meaning, everything can be obtained’
- All sins are washed away by uttering the name of the Lord’
- He gets all, who resigns himself to the Will of God’
—yes, these words of the Shastras and the sages are, no doubt, true. But, do you see, thousands of
us are, for our whole life, meditating on Om, are getting ecstatic in devotion in the name of
the Lord, and are crying, `Thy Will be done, I am fully resigned to Thee! ‘—and what are they
actually getting in return? Absolutely nothing! How do you account for this? The reason lies
here, and it must be fully understood. Whose meditation is real and effective? Who can really
resign himself to the Will of God? Who can utter with power irresistible, like that of a
thunderbolt, the name of the Lord? It is he who has earned Chitta-shuddhi, that is, whose mind has
been purified by work, or in other words, he who is the Dharmika.”
Note: Here, the Swamiji is attempting to raise the lazy, sleeping souls, to drag them back into the right track. Not only so, whether one is active or lazy, each has one's own capabilities and personalities. The lessons also should be accordingly given. The above is the lesson to most of us who are still in the class one. So the lessons too are for the class one. As we advance in our efforts in doing our work – our duties and gain enough strength and focus, then that we become eligible for the lessons for the class two. So what is that eligibility?
Well, how will I know if I have become established in my work, that is, I have become purified?
What will be the nature of such a man who has become well established in his work?
How do I know I have become eligible to go to the next level?
“The nature of the Dharmika is constant performance of action with efficiency.”
Note: The history has shown us an example of this criteria already and that reference is that of Arjuna. He who had great strength, master of concentration, the one who had won over the sleep and had a great power of the mind. And yet, kind at heart too. Such condition is possible even for the ordinary like you and me. Please read my other article – “Yoga in Software Engineering” for an example - It illustrates not only the extraordinary experience of a person who had been struggling with health issues and low focus at work, etc but also explores how he overcomes the obstacles in making that extraordinary experience, a permanent trait.
Ok, So, what kind of work needs to be done such that it helps me gain this eligibility the quickest?
“Every individual is a centre for the manifestation of a certain force. This force has been stored upas the resultant of our previous works, and each one of us is born with this force at his back. So long as this force has not worked itself out, who can possibly remain quiet and give up work? Until then, he will have to enjoy or suffer according to the fruition of his good or bad work and will be irresistibly impelled to do work. Since enjoyment and work cannot be given up till then, is it not better to do good rather than bad works—to enjoy happiness rather than suffer misery?
Now what is that good which is to be pursued? The good for him who desires Moksha is one, and the good for him who wants Dharma is another. This is the great truth which the Lord Shri Krishna, the revealer of the Gita, has tried therein to explain, and upon this great truth is established the Varnâshrama system and the doctrine of Svadharma etc. of the Hindu religion.”
Can I get a glimpse of what does the class two look like?
Note: For Arjuna, Sri Krishna’s entire Bhagavad Gita was the advice of the next level in which he explains various facets of that one common goal called Moksha. And then also explains in various verses, how he should direct and align all his work towards Him – that is, towards Moksha.
yat karoṣhi yad aśhnāsi yaj juhoṣhi dadāsi yat
yat tapasyasi kaunteya tat kuruṣhva mad-arpaṇam
Whatever you do, whatever you eat, whatever you offer as oblation to the sacred fire, whatever you bestow as a gift, and whatever austerities you perform, O son of Kunti, do them as an offering to Me. [ BG: 9.27 ]
Swamiji: “
santuṣhṭaḥ satataṁ yogī yatātmā dṛiḍha-niśhchayaḥ
mayy arpita-mano-buddhir yo mad-bhaktaḥ sa me priyaḥ
He who has no enemy, and is friendly and compassionate towards all, who is free from the feelings of 'me and mine', even-minded in pain and pleasure, and forbearing [ BG: 12.13 ]
—these and other epithets of like nature are for him whose one goal in life is Moksha.”
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ O ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Of course, there are many more classes too. The article, stages-of-human-excellence attempts to puts all such classes together!
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