Yesterday I told you that dhrtaráśtra means “the mind”. The mind is born blind. It does not have the capacity to see anything in proper perspective without the help of the viveka [conscience]. Hence for a clear vision of anything, to grasp its meaning, to comprehend its deeper significance, the guidance of the conscience is a must. The word saiṋjaya stands precisely for that – the conscience. So the blind mind here is seeking the help of the conscience.

There is a perennial conflict going on everywhere on earth between good and evil, light and darkness, virtue and vice. Human society progresses through this conflict. Pure good without an element of evil in it, or pure evil without an element of good in it, is a chimera, not to be found in this world. Wherever evil is found to be dominating over good, we call that state a state of imperfection. The aim of human life is to progress from imperfection to perfection. The movement of human society, the movement of both individual and collective life, from imperfection towards perfection, is human progress. This forward movement indeed is progress. This evil force, this blind force, that puts human beings into the dark slumber of utter ignorance, has to be firmly dealt with by people. The same struggle went on in the past, is going on in the present, and will go on in the future as well.

Once I said that if any sadvipra [spiritual revolutionary] imagines that a society of sadvipras has already been established, and that now we will be in a position to enjoy a tension-free, relaxed existence, that person will be making a great mistake. Never will sadvipras have scope for peaceful sleep. They will have to keep constantly awake, like vigilant soldiers. They will have to keep watch on the slightest possible dark corner through which evil forces might enter in.

To the viveka, that is, Sanjaya, Dhritarastra is asking:

Dharmakśetre Kurukśetre samavetá yuyutsavah;
Mámakáh pándavashcaeva kimakurvata Saiṋjaya.

[“O Sanjaya, now that my children and the children of Pandu have gathered on the battlefield of Dharmakśetra, of Kurukśetra, eager to fight, what is taking place?”]

Dharmakśetra – the Human Body

Now, what is this Dharmakśetra? The word dharma is derived from the root verb dhr plus man. Hence dharma means “that which supports” or “what is supported”. It is a primary quality, a basic attribute. It is the noumenal quality, meaning “the quality that controls all other qualities”. “Noumenal” is an old German term which means “that fundamental unique entity out of which the manifold comes into being”; and the manifold that comes into being is called the “phenomenal”. For example, one falsehood is the noumenal cause of the phenomenal crimes. That is to say, one falsehood is the source of all related evils. If the falsehood were not there, there would be no other evils either. Once a thief has turned truthful, he will no longer be a thief.

Every object has certain basic qualities which are its identifying marks and by virtue of which it can be recognized. These are called its dharma. Oxygen, for example, has its own dharma; carbon also has its own dharma. The especial dharma of water is to drench things, the especial dharma of air is to dry things, the especial dharma of fire is to burn things. Fire has many other dharmas, but that particular quality which controls all the other qualities, that is, its noumenal quality or noumenal cause, is what we call its dharma.

The world of plants and vegetables also has certain basic dharmas by which all the plants and vegetables can be recognized. Depending on these basic dharmas there are certain secondary dharmas. The world of animals also has some, in fact, quite a number of basic dharmas, with secondary dharmas dependent on them. Human beings also have their own basic dharma, and depending on that dharma there are secondary dharmas. To write poems, to compose literary works, oratory, dancing, etc. – so many things – farming, business – all are secondary dharmas.

The basic dharma of humans, on the other hand, is mánava dharma, Bhágavata dharma. This essential or basic dharma expresses the essential distinguishing character of a human. But no place is given to this basic dharma; only the secondary dharmas are being cultivated. Poems are being composed, business is going on, politics is going on, speeches are being delivered; but human beings are totally denied their basic mánava dharma. But what exactly is the state of affairs where Bhágavata dharma is absent? Well, it is something like watering an uprooted tree. Devoid of the quality of humanity, what can one do with the secondary qualities alone? To expect fruit from an uprooted tree is nothing but sheer foolishness. Similarly, if people are lacking in their basic mánava dharma, they are no longer human beings. Nothing can be expected of them. They are finished, they are worthless.

Krśńa bhajibár tare saḿsáre áinu,
Miche Máyáy baddha haye vrkśasama hainu.

[I came to the world to worship Lord Krśńa, but I have become bound by illusion and become like a tree.]

In this condition, a human being is no longer a human being. The basic dharma of humans is Bhágavata dharma, which has four supporting legs – vistára [the principle of expansion], rasa [the principle of total surrender to Parama Puruśa], sevá [selfless service to Parama Puruśa and His creation], and tadsthiti [the final ensconcement in Parama Puruśa]. Bhágavata dharma stands on these four legs. That is why the scriptures say, Sah dharma catuspádah – “Dharma is a four-legged being.” If it loses any of its legs, it becomes lame and is no longer dharma. It is lame, it is invalid. It will not be in a position to support any secondary human dharma.

The inner urge for this four-legged dharma arose in human beings out of an urge for happiness. People want happiness, want composure, and want peace. In the course of their efforts to get happiness, people realized that happiness could not be found in finite objects, but only in that which is infinite and limitless – Nálpe sukhamasti, bhúmaeva sukham. A little happiness is no happiness, and ends quickly. No sooner do you put a delicious but small item in your mouth than it dissolves. Only a craving for the item persists, and you agonize with an unfulfilled desire. It follows that if you want to enjoy real happiness, then you have to find something that will never come to an end, and will give you complete satisfaction that will never come to an end. The source of this infinite happiness, however, is no one but Parama Puruśa Himself, Puruśottama. The mental structure necessary for realizing Him, and the delight that comes out of this feeling, is indeed dharma.

Sukhaḿ váinchati sarvo hi tacca dharma samudbhútah;
Tasmáddharma sadákárya sarvavarńae prayatnatah.

“Everybody wants happiness. The inspiration for dharma originates out of the desire, the craving, for happiness. Each and every person in the universe – whether a vipra or a kśatriya,⁽¹⁾ a businessman or a farmer, an intellectual or a manual labourer – all should cultivate dharma under all circumstances.” That indeed is dharma.

All living creatures have their own dharmas, no doubt. But Bhágavata dharma is found only in human beings. That is why humans are superior to other beings – because their fundamental quality is Bhágavata dharma – not true of any other being. A day may come when other beings will develop this Bhágavata dharma as their basic dharma, but today that is not the case. Cultivation of this dharma necessitates, presupposes, a [special] quinquelemental physical structure, nerve cells and nerve fibres. Without a quinquelemental body assembled in this way, dharma sádhaná is not possible.

In order to have perfect control over the mind, the cooperation of the brain is a must; each and every nerve cell has to be developed, and, with the help of a special technique, the physical body must be brought under control. Then and only then will progress be possible. When the physical body no longer remains, that is, when one passes into a bodiless state of existence, then the mind remains just as a seed, modified into the form of saḿskáras. There being no brain or nerve cell attached to it, it cannot perform any function. It commits no sin, nor can it acquire any virtue. It is completely good for nothing, a worthless entity. The cultivation of rationality is as much beyond its capacity as is mental work. Its existence thus is meaningless. Its only destiny is to carry the burden of saḿskáras over and over again. There is nothing else for it to do; it is a completely helpless being. It is only when it is privileged to have a physical structure that it is in a position to cultivate dharma; that is not possible under any other condition whatsoever. Even the feeling that “I cannot do dharma sádhaná” is absent there. Because mental functions are not possible without nerve cells. When there is a physical body, there is scope for the mind to think of higher things, and dharma sádhaná is possible for human beings.

This basic dharma of human beings can develop and spread only under these conditions. Under no other conditions is it possible. So the kśetra [field] for dharma sádhaná is this very human body, the dharmakśetra. (The kśa is the combination of k and śa. The Rgvedic pronunciation is something like kśa, while the Yajurvedic is something like kkha. Both are correct. In Bengali, which follows Yajurvedic rules, dharmakśetra is pronounced dharmakkhetra.

So the dharmakśetra is the human body. Within this dharmakśetra there are both sin and virtue. Sin and virtue have met within the body, on this dharmakśetra, in order to fight. Both are sharpening their weapons. Neither is ready to admit defeat to the other. It is an agonizing situation, a situation full of frightful consequences. Confused and agitated in this grim situation, the blind mind is asking the conscience: “What will be the outcome of this battle?”

Footnotes

(1) A vipra is a person who controls others by his wits, a member of the intellectual social class; a kśatriya is a person whose mentality is to dominate over matter. –Trans.