Page 23 - All India Magazine Aug-2025

the great activities of life. The great and profound axiom that all
life is the field for dharma lay at the bottom of the Hindus' lore
and learning. Tainted by the teachings of the West our knowledge
and education have degenerated into a twisted and anomalous
state. We often succumb to this false notion that nothing but
renunciation, devotion or sattwic attitude can ever form part of
dharma. Men in the West study religion with such a cramped no-
tion. The Hindus used to divide all the activities of life into the two
categories of dharma and adharma (“what is not dharma”); in the
Western world they have made three divisions such as religion,
irreligion and the cultivation of most of the pursuits and function-
ings of life outside the purview of religion and irreligion. To praise
the Divine, to say prayers and to chant hymns, and listen to the
sermons of the priest at the church and such other allied activi-
ties go by the name of religion. Morality forms no part of religion,
that makes a separate category by itself; but many accept both
religion and morality as auxiliary limbs of piety. Not to attend the
church, to entertain the spirit of atheism or agnosticism, to dis-
parage religion or even to show indifference towards it are called
acts of irreligion and immorality. According to the aforesaid view,
these too make up impiety. But otherwise most of the pursuits
and functionings fall outside of religion and irreligion. Religion and
life, dharma and karma are separate categories — many amongst
us interpret dharma in this distorted way. They style dharma all
that pertains to saints and sannyasins, to God or to gods and god-
desses and the renunciation of the world; but if you happen to
raise any other topic, they will demur, “This concerns the world
and not religion”. The occidental idea of religion has taken root in
their mind; to hear the word 'dharma' makes them at once think
of 'religion' and they unwittingly employ the word in the same
sense. But if we impute such foreign connotations to our native
terms, we are sure to lapse from the catholic and eternal Aryan
notions and teachings. All life is the field of dharma, so is the life

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