Global Good News: Excellence in Action

The Ramayana: Enlivening Dharma in individual life
By William F Sands, Assistant Professor of the Science of Creative Intelligence and Sanskrit at Maharishi University of Management, Iowa, USA.
21 May 2008

Excerpts from: Natural Law in the Valmiki Ramayana in the Light of Maharishi Vedic Science and Technology, Volume 8, Number 1 (1998),The Silver Jubilee Issue, Maharishi University of Management, USA.

Note: Please see the Excellence in Action article "The Ramayana in the context of the Vedic Literature", as an introduction to this article.

The Principle of Dharma
Dharma is a technical term found throughout the Vedic Literature that bears special import in the Ramayana. Many lengthy passages in the Ramayana concern themselves specifically with its application, and indeed the hero Ram is described as the "personification of Dharma". While the ancient commentators of the Ramayana, as well as some modern scholars, have attempted to unravel the seeming complexities of Dharma, translators have tended to represent it as a set of arbitrary and inconsistent societal conventions developed by ancient ancestors and passed from generation to generation.

It is difficult to interpret Dharma as the fundamental constituent of the world if one insists on it exclusively as a social code such as righteousness or duty. It nonetheless fits perfectly with Maharishi’s description: Dharma is that invincible power of Nature which upholds existence. It maintains evolution and forms the very basis of cosmic life. It supports all that is helpful for evolution and discourages all that is opposed to it.

Dharma is often translated simply as: righteousness, law, duty, or the like. While such renderings are often appropriate, we will see in the following that in some contexts such a translation is incomplete or inadequate.

In this definition, Maharishi describes Dharma as the foundation of life, thus equating it with the most fundamental level of Nature’s administration, the abstract, unmanifest ruler of the ever-expanding universe. Dharma is “that which upholds the universe,” the indomitable force that advances all that is good in life, and which “promotes worldly prosperity and spiritual freedom.” Hence, it is synonymous with Natural Law. In this passage Maharishi also speaks of Dharma as maintaining evolution, though not in the Darwinian sense of the term; rather he is citing the fundamental dynamics which advance life naturally to its supreme value, the unfoldment of higher levels of human development.

In the following, he discusses Natural Law, or Dharma, in this evolutionary role: The purpose of Natural Law is to evolve life to perfection, to take life to its source, which is the absolute, non-changing field of all possibilities. Even though each law has its own specific level of performance and activity, the responsibility of that law, seen in the sequence of all the Laws of Nature, is found to be in the direction of evolution towards more and more.

In Maharishi’s view, the fulfillment of Dharma is perfection, achieved in higher states of consciousness—higher levels of human awareness in which an individual is completely awake to the unbounded value of life. In higher states of consciousness, one is fully and permanently established in self-referral consciousness and enjoys complete freedom, perfect fulfillment, and a mistake-free life in accord with Natural Law. Maharishi Vedic Science and Technology identifies four higher states of consciousness, including Transcendental Consciousness—pure, self-referral consciousness—and three hierarchically structured states in which self-referral consciousness is maintained along with waking, dreaming, and deep sleep.

In Maharishi’s analysis, these higher levels of consciousness are the goal of human evolution, and it is toward them that the Laws of Nature guide every individual. Maharishi’s interpretation of Dharma as the upholder of the universe does not preclude the different social customs and norms of behavior; however, it does place them in a larger perspective. Since Dharma sustains the evolution of the entire cosmos, its application is found in every aspect of life and, in turn, in every level of society including individual, family, and nation. Maharishi explains: "Dharmas", the plural of Dharma, signifies the different powers of Nature upholding different avenues of the way of evolution. They take expression as specific modes of activity or different ways of righteousness, which keep the whole stream of life in harmony—every aspect of life being properly balanced with every other aspect—and moving in the direction of evolution.

As we can see, Maharishi holds that the individual “Dharmas” are not based on human conventions, but are specific Laws of Nature that sustain individual growth and progress. Therefore, translating Dharma as “righteousness” in some contexts may be acceptable, provided the reader understands righteousness as behavior that is in accord with Natural Law, and not dependent upon social custom. . . .

Enlivening Dharma in Individual Life
Throughout the Ramayana, the reader is continually faced with the complexity of Dharma. In addition to its holistic perspective discussed above, the Ramayana also presents individual actions—both dharmic and adharmic—often perplexing to the characters in the story as well as to the modern reader who tries to predict appropriate courses of action. For example, when hearing of Ram’s intention to comply with his exile, his mother Kausalya argues that his duty (Dharma) lies in serving her. Ram counters by citing a higher Dharma—the need to fulfill his father’s command. In this simple example, we see two contradictory expressions of behavior, both apparently in accord with Dharma, and yet it is difficult to discern the one most correct or dharmic.

The dilemma of how to act correctly is, of course, a central problem in cultures of every era of human history. Maharishi, speaking to this concern, notes that correct behavior is action in accord with all the Laws of Nature, but because there are so many laws it is impossible to know them all, and thus what constitutes right action in every context. However, he provides a practical and effortless solution for ensuring right action.

Speaking in the context of management, Maharishi explains, "It is not possible to have the knowledge of all the systems and all the laws that govern different fields of management, and without the knowledge of the laws that govern different aspects of the life of the individual, or national or international life, it is not possible to become a perfect manager. Therefore, it is very necessary to find a way so that even without the knowledge of all these innumerable laws that govern different areas of creation and evolution, the trained manager should be able to manage any field of management that he undertakes to manage from the basis of all the Laws of Nature, like a gardener who manages the whole tree by simply handling the root. To develop this quality of management it is necessary to gain the ability to handle the whole field of management from the fundamental of management—self-referral consciousness—WHOLENESS."

Maharishi here illustrates that to act in accord with Natural Law one must learn to function from the transcendental field of pure consciousness. By regularly experiencing self-referral consciousness one cultures the ability to spontaneously maintain the awareness on that level and operate from it. As the total potential of Natural Law becomes lively in the awareness, the ability to think and act in accord with the Laws of Nature spontaneously grows: Vedic Science takes the human awareness to its simplest state. In its self-referral state it enlivens the total potential of Natural Law. When the total potential of Natural Law is enlivened in human awareness this makes a man spontaneously act according to Natural Law.

To fully understand how we can engage the support of Nature we may recall Maharishi’s point that the total potential of Natural Law is not an entity that lies outside oneself; it is the simplest form of our own awareness. Thus, when we establish our awareness permanently on that level, we are the total potential of Natural Law, and every action we take is a reflection of this reality. Maharishi’s use of the word "spontaneously" is especially important for it underscores his point that life in accord with Natural Law is not the result of intellectual analysis; rather, one established in a higher state of consciousness effortlessly and naturally functions in accord with the Laws of Nature, without necessarily understanding the individual laws involved. The result is a life free of mistakes, without stress or strain, in which all desires are spontaneously fulfilled.

A compelling element of Maharishi’s vision of Natural Law is the absence of a systematic code of conduct. While most societies necessarily rely on codes of behavior, either as customs or formally documented rules, Maharishi explains that life in accord with Natural Law arises from the direct experience of the total potential of Natural Law, and not from compliance with a specified set of “do’s and don’ts”. It is significant that this holistic approach can eliminate the need for codified standards of behavior, for it provides the means for every individual to spontaneously act in an appropriate and socially acceptable manner, whatever rules are applicable to the circumstances. . . .

Global Good News invites you to read the full version of this paper, "Natural Law in the Valmiki Ramayana in the Light of Maharishi Vedic Science and Technology", Volume 8, Number 1 (1998), The Silver Jubilee Issue, Maharishi University of Management, USA.
Please visit: http://www.mum.edu/msvs/articles.html

About the author:
William F Sands is Assistant Professor of the Science of Creative Intelligence and Sanskrit at Maharishi University of Management. He received his B.S. from Georgetown University, and an M.S.C.I. from Maharishi European Research University. He received his M.A. and Ph.D. from Maharishi International University, where he received the Vyasa award for the outstanding Ph.D. dissertation of his graduating class. He has studied Sanskrit for over 17 years. Dr. Sands wrote an article on Maharishi’s Absolute Theory of Government in the Valmiki Ramayana.

"The potential of every student is infinite. The time of student life should serve to unfold that infinite potential so that every individual becomes a vibrant centre of Total Knowledge."—Maharishi