The meaning of dharma is not religion, but the natural trait or characteristic. The dharma of fire is to burn, of water to flow. In the language of chemistry, dharma is the property. In Sanskrit, the natural property is called dharma. The dharma of the eyes is to see. The mind, senses and heart have their own dharma. Human beings depend totally on the dharma of the body, senses, mind and heart, but these are not really dependable. The only dependable thing is God Himself and nothing less. Therefore, if one wants to surrender or seek help from someone or if one needs a dependable friend, one should turn to God alone. The senses are not one’s dharma. The meaning of swadharma is one’s duty towards others, towards life. Swadharma does not mean religion.
The Bhagavad Gita does not talk about religion. It does not speak about dharma in the sense of Hindu, Vaishnava, Shaiva, Buddhist or vedic dharma. The word ‘dharma’ is not used in this context. It is used purely scientifically and does not mean religion at all. It means the natural property, duty and right conduct. That is the scientific meaning of dharma. It does not mean a religion like Hinduism, Christianity, Islam, Jainism, Judaism or Zoroastrianism. They are known as sampradaya, sects or traditions, not as dharma.
Dharma talks about man’s duties. The meaning of dharma is: Yato abhyudayaha - ‘That which uplifts you, that which gives you happiness.’ Your dharma is not to fight with your wife, to look after and bring up your children, serve your parents. Do not kill, do not steal, do not drink alcohol, isn’t this dharma? Achara prabhavo dharmaha - ‘Conduct and thought itself is dharma.’
When God comes into dharma, it would be better to call it bhakti or spirituality instead of dharma. If someone wears a tika on the forehead, people say, “Oh, he is very religious, very dharmic.” Do not call him dharmic, call him a bhakta. To believe in God is bhakti and spirituality. However, even if one does not believe in God, but instead fulfils the duties of one’s station in life as son, father, husband or servant, then that is dharma. In the Ramacharitamanas (Uttarakand, after doha 40, chau 1) it has been said:
Para hita sarisa dharma nahi bhaaee,
Para peedaa sama nahi adhamaaee.
There is no dharma superior to doing good to others,
And no meanness worse than troubling others.
There is a story in the Mahabharata. During the last phase of the war, Arjuna and his unknown half-brother, Karna, who was born to Arjuna’s mother, Kunti, before her marriage, were fighting on the battlefield, each one for his army. Suddenly, Karna’s chariot would not move because something was wrong with the wheels. When he stepped down to repair it, Arjuna stopped shooting. That is the dharma of a warrior: when a soldier has no weapons, no defences, he should not be killed.
At that moment, however, Sri Krishna asked Arjuna, “What are you doing?” Arjuna replied, “He has no weapon, so I cannot kill him now.” Sri Krishna said, “What do you mean? Now is the time. Finish him. Kill him.” Arjuna had to obey. Karna said, “This is not dharma. You know I have no weapon.” Sri Krishna just laughed and said, “Yes, now you remember dharma, when the calamity falls on your head, but when the queen was being stripped naked in a public place, at that time did you remember dharma? When all of you conspired to burn the five brothers in the wax house, did you remember dharma?”
Karna did not know what to do. He could not repair his chariot. He stood up, fought and was killed. Sri Krishna said, “Practise dharma with those who practise dharma. There is no use in practising virtue with a person who does not want to practise it.”
One should know when to use the forces of the higher mind and when to use the forces of the lower mind. When the higher mind does not know how to function, it is always taken over by the lower mind. If the higher mind wants to exist in its own higher spheres and does not want to become subservient to the lower mind, it has to act in a certain manner. How it has to act is difficult to understand and many people do not know this. They are always carried away by their emotions, and the higher mind loses ground when it is under the sway of those dominant emotions.
With a saint one should behave like a saint, with one’s mother one must behave like a daughter or son, with the wife or husband one must behave like a husband or wife. When a person is coming to one’s house with a definite purpose to do some harm, one must behave with him accordingly and protect oneself. This is one’s dharma.