The Connect between Ritual and Dharma

Written by mmpandit

By Dr Manish Pandit

Introduction:

That there exists a problem in terms of lack of Dharma especially within the urban classes and within the new generation is correct but I didn’t always recognise it or see it clearly as I have done for the last few years.

The Problem:

There is a terrific deracination which exists in modern Hindu society, a problem which started decades ago when the Communists got hold of the education system in India and treated Hinduism as a disease which must be eradicated at all costs. This in turn created a society where anything Hindu was to be denounced at all costs.

Articulation of Thought:

I saw the problem in the late 1990’s but it wasn’t until 2003/4 that I got the broader vision on what could be done to correct the decline.
The decline is corrected in the micro cosm when one creates a single person who does a ritual/ a sadhana/ a homa because the parts of those three (ritual or a sadhana or a homa) are 10 different components and the sum total eventually is what we understand as Dharma.
For sure, the ritual by itself is not Dharma and for sure the sadhana by itself is not Dharma, but it’s implantation into that individual and the subsequent dialogue which takes place between the individual AND the ritual/ sadhana/ homa us what causes growth of the individual in the right direction and that is a process which must eventually result in Dharma and Dharma then leads on to Raksha (to protection), to realisation of Su Kama (right desire), Artha (economic progress and material realisation) and finally to Moksha.
Without Dharma in fact, one could argue that none of the other three Purusarthas would even exist or be able to sustain themselves.
In the macro cosm, a collection of many such individuals who practice ritual/ a sadhana/ a homa begin to connect back to the roots (which combats the headlessness in modern Hindu society and also the rootlessness and deracination accompanying the denying of Hindu thought in most schools in India)
This is an ongoing effort and will obviously take time but since we call ourselves Sanatana Dharma, I expect that it will eventually come to pass.
Jai Mahakaal

• Previous Post In The Joy of Being Alive
• Next Post Arjuna and Buddha: An Analysis of the Differences

mmpandit