Dharma
and Moksha. Central
beliefs in Hindu traditions cluster around two concepts: dharma and
moksha. Each idea concerns the direction
of human destiny.
1.
Dharma-focused traditions:
it is necessary to uphold, preserve, perpetuate, and refine the physical world
generally, and human society specifically; Human beings are affirmed as
essentially social, governed by physical needs and must live with other human
beings
a.
Definition: The
word dharma refers to (a) the cosmic and social order and (b) the rules
pertaining to it.
b.
Texts:
i.
Vedas – insuring
constant fertility and well being of the world via sacred rituals meant to
nourish gods an other powers that sustain the world
ii.
Gita – each
person responsible for own duty, social function, upholding order of society
and so contributing to welfare of society as a whole
iii.
Dharmashastras
(“treatises on dharma”) – individual well-being and prosperity dependent on
order of society and cosmos. Disorder is
a constant threat (collapse of caste distinctions, etc.)
c.
Dharma and Caste:
the dharma-focused tradition are often concerned with the maintenance of caste
system in order to preserve social and cosmic stability
i.
Caste or
i.
hierarchy and
occupation
ii.
Purity and
impurity
iii.
Caste mobility
and rebirth
iv.
The emphasis on
doing your own dharma (Cf. the story of ekalavya)
b.
Dharma and the
destabilizing course of time
i.
Hindu notion of
time as cyclical (cf. Vishnu and the lotus stem)
ii.
Yugas and the decline in virtue (cf. the mythical cow)
1.
Krita: 1,728,000;
Treta: 1,296,000; Dvapara: 864,000; Kali: 432,000
2.
1 cycle =
4,320,000 years = 1 mahayuga (then minor dissolution of the world for 1
mahayuga)
3.
1000 mahayugas =
4,320,000,000 years = 1 kalpa = one day in the life of Brahma, followed
by return to cosmic nondifferentiation for 1 kalpa of time
iii.
Brahma lives for
100 Brahma years of Brahma days and Brahma nights 315 trillion, 360 billion
years (315,360,000,000,000 years), after which nothing exists, including
Brahma, but primal substance. Then the
cycle begins again and continues endlessly.
1.
Individual,
society, history = insignificant. Even
the gods are trapped in the cycle and eventually fall
2.
Moksha-focused
traditions: it is necessary to find ultimate release from the world (moksha),
which is often accomplished by renouncing society;
a.
Definition: moksha
means “release” or “liberation” from karma and so from the cycle of death and
rebirth. In moksha one becomes unbound
by the laws of karma and samsara = the ultimate spiritual goal in Hinduism
b.
The end of
births; an anonymous, impersonal and blissful state
c.
Articulated in
philosophical schools such as Yoga and Advaita Vedanta, which advocate renunciation and
control of the senses, detachment
d.
Represented in
Hindu mythology
i.
Shiva: world
renouncer, destroys
ii.
Kali: reminds us
that death, sickness, and suffering are inevitable within the order of dharma
e.
Human beings
affirmed as a uniquely spiritual and solitary animal who
at some point yearns to transcend all physical and social limitations.
f.
Hindu traditions
have often sought to harmonize these two demands (of dharma and moksha) or to
show how they are essentially related.
Karma and Samsara: two basic
concepts that inform the notions of dharma and moksha.
1.
Karma: law of
cause and effect by which one reaps what one sows.
a.
“karma” means
“works,” “deeds”
b.
All actions,
particularly moral actions, have predictable effects – each person is
responsible for every action he or she performs; every action will influence
one’s future
c.
One’s present
conditions, character, circumstances are all the result of past actions
d.
Textual and
popular understandings of karma
2.
Samsara: as the
cycle of rebirth / as the flux and flow of creation
a.
The cycle of
birth and rebirth
b.
One’s present
life = one of a long chain of lives, countless lives in human and non-human
forms (including existence as deities)
c.
Hierarchical
order of all species in existence, such as caste
d.
Samsara as the
fluid and changing universe
TERMS
1.
karma
2.
dharma
3.
moksha
4.
samsara
5.
yuga