moha and dharma

Dharma and Mohah - धर्म  and मोहः

Q: How can one transform moha into love?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Moha means I want something back. Love is only how I can be useful.

Q: How to arrive at what my dharma is?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Gut feeling, if it feels right, this is what I should do.

Mohah can mean infatuation. That is one way of understanding and analysis.

Aspirants of self knowledge need to examine the word moha as  delusion, bewilderment and confusion.

Acaryas summarise the central teaching of Bhagavad Gita as – soha moha nivritti. Arjuna’s soha (sorrow) and moha (delusion) were removed by Bhagavan Sri Krishna’s upadesa – teachings.

Swami Dayananda has elaborated dharma in Bhagavad Gita Home Study and some excerpts are given below in blue.

Mohah clouds judgement:

Arjuna knew dharma – what is right and what is wrong. However he was afflicted by the problem of moha – delusion and became unsure about the very concept of right and wrong. When right and wrong itself is an issue, it cannot be resolved by one whose mind is deluded with reference to right and wrong.

Dharma:

Dharma is a set of disciplines. When we follow these disciplines, we live a life of dharma.  When our actions are right, we follow dharma. Thus dharma is the means of our actions.  One can also pursue values such as ahimsa or satyam. For example a person may try to become a vegetarian. In this case dharma becomes a goal. Once a person becomes a vegetarian, that becomes his way of life.

Protect Dharma by protecting dharmi:

Dharma is something that has to be lived. Thus, when you protect a person who lives a life of dharma, you are protecting dharma.Dharma cannot be protected unless the dharmi, the one who follows the dharma, is protected.

Dharma is the first word of the Gita:

It is important to note that the word dharma is the first word of the Gita. If you protect dharma, dharma will protect you (dharmo raksati raksitah). But this is not the case with things like money. The money you protect may protect you in a time of need, but it can also attract bandits and muggers. But when dharma is protected, it does protect you.

Universal Values or Samanya Dharma:

Dharma is to be seen here as three-fold: sadharana-dharma, varna-asrama-dharma, and kula-dharma. Sadharana-dharma or samanya-dharma is universal ethics, applicable to everybody. Whether the person is of this age or of any other age, from this country and culture or from any other country and culture, he or she has a code of dharma in common.

Universal values, universal law and order, are a part of the creation and are something that we all agree commonly. In other words, they are universal. Whether or not you are educated in this dharma, you do know what is right and wrong.

What you want and do not want others to do to you become right and wrong, respectively.

Being endowed with common sense, a human being is able to appreciate right and wrong without any education whatsoever. I need not be taught that I should not be hurt, that I should not be cheated and so on. These values are commonly sensed by everyone and thus govern all human interactions, although other non-universal values may override them. This is what causes people to compromise.

Visesa Dharma – special or particular dharma:

You should not hurt is an universal value. The hurtful actions of a medical surgeon is an example of visesa dharma.

Varna-asrama-dharma, and kula-dharma, together, are called visesa-dharma, which can be divided in many ways. Visesa-dharma means peculiar or particular dharma, governing certain situations, whereas samanya-dharma applies to all human beings whether a person is a student, a householder, or in any other stage of one’s life. A particular dharma is one that is governed by the structure of a society. For instance, in the Vedic society, the society envisioned by the Vedas, there was a structure called varna and another called asrama.

This structure, consisting of the varnas, made it possible to assign particular jobs to particular groups of people. A broad division was thereby created, along with a concept of duty. Because I belong to this varna, this is to be done by me. This is all an integral part of karma-yoga, as we will see later. This structure of assigning specific duties to particular groups of people is called varna-dharma. This is a visesa-dharma.

Then, there is asrama-dharma,which provides guidelines as per the stage in one’s life. For example, a brahmana, as a student, had to follow a certain order. When he or she married, certain changes occurred and additional dharma was included. As a student, one was not supposed to pursue certain activities. You could follow politics, but you did not participate in politics. If you did, you ceased to be a student. You became a politician, instead. Thus, there was a structure with reference to one’s asrama. Asrama­dharma - what was expected of you, depending on the stage of life you were in, is also visesa-dharma.

Another example of visesa-dharma was stri-dharma or purusa-dharma, based on whether a person was male or female. There was also kula-dharma, dharma applicable to a particular family or clan. The Kuru clan, for instance, had its own dharma.