The Way Dharma Works!!

“Yada yada hi dharmasya
gyanir bhavati bharata
abhyutthanam adharmasya
tadatmanam sri jamyaham”

Meaning - Whenever there are discrepancies in the discharge of natural laws of God, then God incarnates.

The above meaning sometimes hardly portrays the present world’s realities. Many a time, I have wondered as to why all the bad things happen to good people, people who think no ill-will of others. Surprisingly lots of people whom I have spoken to share similar feelings.

Then one of my friends’ presented me with a book “The Difficulty of Being Good – On the Subtle Art of Dharma” by Gurucharan Das. It’s perhaps the best philosophical book I have read till now.

The book dwells into mystic world of Dharma, cites current examples like the Satyam scandal and questions the moral values of people in this world. It then takes us deep into the great Indian Epic –Mahabharat and tries to understand the mind of Yudhishtir, the eldest of Pandavas, ‘the protector of dharma’.

Yudhishtir had grown up as a crown prince, but had detested from lying at any stage of his life and tried to uphold dharma whenever possible. He was greatly respected for that priced possession. However, his stance towards upholding dharma did not protect him from his wicked cousins and led him to see his wife disrobed in front of King’s assembly. Still Yudhishtir does not cross swords with principles of dharma.

Years of struggle follow the Pandavas in their forest life after the dice game. One fine day, Draupadi and Bhima get obsessed with Yudhishtir and his principles, and incite him to wage a war against the Kauravas. However, Yudhishtir, even though moved by Draupadi’s plight, refuses to oblige and explains the rules of Dharma and how God will help them eventually.

But the thirteen long years in the forest followed by the cruel 14th year of disguise, hardens Yudhishtir and he slowly soften his hard stances on his principles of Dharma. Strangely enough, it is the same Yudhishtir, who is the first person to declare war on the Kauravas when he knows that Lord Krishna’s mediation had failed. Yudhishtir later tricks Dronacharya to believe that his son is dead and finally turns into an ordinary mortal warrior as his chariot which till then floated a few inches above earth for his dharma values, lands on the war field soil.

By the end of war, we see that Yudhishtir has modified his principles of dharma. He had understood that version 1.0 of dharma may not work properly and upgraded to the next version, wherein he protects dharma but also makes sure that he does not suffer from upholding it.

After reading the book, I had felt that I had gained a little knowledge about the way Dharma works and would strongly encourage everybody to read this absolutely great book.

Comments are highly appreciated :)