THE DILEMMA OF DHARMA IN THE GĪTĀ
Religious Constraints on Moral Duty
Keywords:
dharma, karma, Bhagavad gita, loksamagrahaAbstract
The Bhagavad Gītā demands adherence to its teachings particularly on dharma. One’s svadharma is prescribed as one’s sādhāraṇa dharma or one’s varṇa-āśrama dharma with the latter taking precedence over the former. Performance of dharma with desirelessness for the fruit of the action or niṣkāma karma leads one to attain the state of sthitaprajña. Adherence to one’s dharma promises Mokṣa to a sthitaprajña and Loksamgraha to the society. This paper approaches dharma in the Gītā with a critical eye on its obligatory, exclusive and hierarchical perspective on dharma. It questions its goal of Loksamgraha and explores the hereditary limits it places on individual knowledge and choice.
References
M. K. Gandhi, The Teachings of the Gītā, Bombay: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, 1962, 17-18.
Swami Dayananda, The Teachings of the Bhagavad Gītā, New Delhi: Vision Books, 1989, 15.
Austin B. Creel, “Dharma as an Ethical Category Relating to Freedom and Responsibility,” Philosophy of East and West 22, 2 (1972), 155-168,166.
Madan Prasad Singh, The Ethical Philosophy of the Gita: A Comparative and Critical Study of the Interpretation of Tilak and Ramanuja. Calcutta: Panthi Pustak, 1996, 52. Swami Tapasyananda, Srimad-Bhagavad-Gita: The Scripture of Mankind. Madras: Sri Ramakrishna Math, 2011, 49.
Matilal, “Dharma and Rationality,” in Indian Ethics: Classical Traditions and Contemporary Challenges, eds. Purushottama Bilimoria, Joseph Prabhu, Renuka Sharma, 79-102. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2007, 96.
Surama Dasgupta, Development of Moral Philosophy in India, Madras: Orient Longman, 1961,15.
John M. Koller, “Dharma: An Expression of Universal Order,” Philosophy East and West, 22, 2 (1972),131-144, 143.
S. G. Sathaye, Moral Choice and Early Hindu Thought, Bombay: Jaico Publishing House, 1970, 62.
John McKenzie, Hindu Ethics, New Delhi: Oriental Book Reprint Corporation, 1971, 44.
Saral Jhingran, Aspects of Hindu Morality, New Delhi: Motilal Banarasidass, 1999, 38.
agat Pal, “The Concept of Niṣkāma Karma: Teleological or Deontological?” Indian Philosophical Quarterly 28, 2 (April 2001), 215-225, 224.
Nagaraja, P. Rao, “The Doctrine of Karma,” Aryan Path, 30, 1 (1959), 23-26, 23.
M. Hiriyanna, Outlines of Indian Philosophy, New Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1993, 121.
Jagat Pal, Karma, Dharma, and Moksha: Conceptual Essays on Indian Ethics, Delhi: Abhijeet Publications, 2004, 51.
