Chapter II

Dharma cannot be restricted to any particular society or nation, for it is closely bound up with the fortunes of the entire living world. It is a flame of light that can never be extinguished. It is untrammeled in its beneficent action. Krishna taught the Gita to Arjuna. But He intended it for the whole of humanity. Arjuna was just an excuse. That very Gita is today correcting all mankind. It is not for any particular caste, religion or nation. It is the very breath for humans everywhere.

Dharma expresses itself in a variety of forms, known sometimes by the persons who codified it, like Manudharma, sometimes by the group which followed it like Varnadharma, sometimes by the stage of life to which it is applied, like Grihastha-dharma etc. But these are subsidiary practical details, not the Fundamental Norm. The Atmadharma, the Divine Dharma, is what I am speaking of. Practical Dharma or Acharadharma relates to temporary matters and problems and physical needs, to man's passing relationships with the objective world. The very instrument of those rules, the human body, is itself not permanent; how can these Dharmas be eternal? How can their nature be described as true? The Eternal cannot be expressed by the evanescent; Truth cannot reveal itself in untruth; Light cannot be procured from darkness. The Eternal can emerge only from the Eternal; Truth can emanate only from Truth. Therefore, the objective codes of Dharma relating to worldly activities and daily life, though important in their own sphere, have to be followed with the full knowledge and consciousness of the Inner Basic Atmadharma; then only can the internal and external urges co-operate and yield the Bliss of harmonious progress.

If, in your daily avocations, you translate the Real Values of Eternal Dharma into love-filled acts, then your duty to the inner Reality, the Atma-Dharma is also fulfilled. Always build your living on the Atmic Plinth; then, your progress is assured.