Dharma and Adharma      

Thus said Banda:
Thou speak’st of dharma, and I know
In they life does it clearly show,
But I think I pursue it too,
And yet we share a different view:
It led me here to dive within,
And it led thee to battle’s din.
We’re both sincere and true to heart.
How could we take a different part?

Thus spoke Guru Gobind:
The difference is: my way chose me,
While you forced yours to your way be.
You are not being true to dharma-
You’re just responding to old karma.

Thus said Banda:
I am amazed to hear thy speech,
For I thought dharma I did reach.
How could I be thus so confused
That dharma’s ways I have misused?
The call I heard led me to here,
And to it my heart’s ever dear.
If that was not my dharma’s call,
Then I don’t hear that call at all.

Thus spoke Guru Gobind:
Of course you do, but it is quiet,
For you’ve decided to deny it.
It fell then silent inside you
And dwells beneath your conscious view.
But deeply there within your heart
Is dharma’s cry: “Come, do your part!”

Thus said Banda:
Due to my mind I’ve not heard clearly
What my heart’s guide told me sincerely.
I’m at last beginning to see fully now
How abruptly I chose to take hermit’s vow.
I let my emotion rule over my mind
And followed a path of an unhelpful kind
For my unique nature and purpose in living,
Which is based on skilled action and selfless giving.
Now please help me to know what true dharma means
In case my mind dharma’s view contravenes.

Thus spoke Guru Gobind:
Dharma is the very fabric of being:
It sustains everything that you are seeing,
And upholds what you cannot see
From now unto eternity.
The dharma binds up all the loose pieces:
Under its harmony disruption ceases.
Dharma’s the network that holds all the cells
That in the drama of life it propels.
If life on this plane has order at all
It’s because good men have heeded its call.
The very word “dharma” expresses its goal:
To realize the unity of every soul.

Dharma’s unchanging, and it’s eternal.
Its precepts are loving and universal.
Dharma’s the one underlying just code
That people of all nations see as hallowed.
If one takes away all the customs and norms,
Removes all the dogmas and social forms,
The single remainder that’s left as the basis
Is dharma-the whole world’s most sacred oasis.
Whatever supports life and spiritual awareness,
Whatever maintains growth and human fairness,
Is dharma. It’s honor and goodness and lover;
Its noble virtues emanate from above.
It has no confusion, no worry, no wrong;
Its perennial message remains ever strong.
In every era and in every time
It shows men the way to splendor sublime.
Virtues and values and higher endeavor
All come from dharma and emanate ever.

Non-harming, non-stealing, non-coveting goods;
Not misusing the senses nor telling falsehoods;
Purity, contentment, strong zeal for growth;
Self-study, surrender-these make up the oath
Of eternal dharma that applies to all
And gives them balance so they can stand tall.
There is nothing rigid or narrow or hateful
In dharma, for which all good men are grateful.
The sense of union and project and caring
Is dharma’s; it leads men to enjoy sharing.
What makes people human and wholly mature
Is dharma, which did and will ever endure.
If some sense of bias or envy creep in,
Then it’s not dharma-it’s some kind of sin.
The ethics and morals of the eternal law
Are guidelines, not rulings to condemn a flaw.
Selfless is dharma; it thinks of the whole:
Serving the people is its sacred role.

Greed, pride, and ego are not in its scope.
Its lofty ideals give all people hope
That they can recover that great era when
Dharma reigned primal-they want it again.
For once was a time when the lives of all
Did under the influence of dharma fall.
There were no crimes, no courts, and no guards.
Each man was noble-of them sung the bards.
There was no need for society’s rules,
For people loved goodness: they were dharma’s tools.
Each person upheld the one sacred code,
And they made it easy to carry the load
Of human endeavor and human plights.
They didn’t waste time in pointless fights.
So wisdom and service were the main pursuits;
They loved one another and had no disputes.
Their effort and skill went to their lofty goal:
The growth and upliftment of each human soul.
The spiritual purpose was their primal need;
They sought to fulfill it in every deed.

That holy time can be revived even now,
And that is the goal to which I avow.
It’s within our reach to create it again.
It’s a possible goal, and the highest of men.
All the great scriptures and prophets proclaim it;
All the great teachings in essence sustain it.
If every person to dharma would hold,
Man’s ultimate destiny then could unfold.
The problems of mankind are due to rejection
Of dharma’s precepts. We under subjection
To thoughtless and selfish actions that kill
Not only the body but heart, mind, and will.

Once, leaders strove to bring dharma alive
And its light in the people’s expression revive.
But conceit, lust for power, and competitive force
Keep leaders from tapping the dharma’s true source.
Prejudice and pride keep the people apart.
They look to the difference, and nor to the heart.
Self-centered, not selfless, they misuse their powers;
Then their human dignity in them but cowers.
By striving for power for only themselves
Into the mire of pain their soul delves.

But the great ones of history showed us the way
To live by the dharma even today.
No limiting outlook distorted their teaching.
Its import is valid, correct, and far-reaching.
Though customs and dogmas might keep it hidden,
The sages revive it, for to it we’re bidden.
The dharma is ours; it’s our noble source.
We’ve but to accept it and follow its course.
It can’t be imposed, but comes from one’s heart-
It’s been living there from the very start.
Dharma’s the Truth, self-existent and pure.
But in midst of ignorance, it can endure
Only if people who love it do live it
And through loving actions to others regive it.

All the great-illumined souls taught
That dharma is the goal to be sought.
The form that it comes in misleads not the wise,
They see beyond surface and always advise
Others to look past the trappings and see
That we are all one-we one family be.
Religion and nation create boundaries that seem
To highlight our differences to the extreme.
But the law of dharma is the law of love,
And we’re all one people within the Above.

Dharma’s eternal and helpful to all.
Without it, all meaning in life would then fall.
The most lofty ideals and precepts of man
Start inside with dharma, and then they expand.
Dharma’s renewal begins in the heart-
And then in the world a man does his part.
Dharma extends beyond sect, caste, and creed.
It’s boundless in spirit, and loving in deed.
Inner awareness shows dharma is true.
Then with it can man the whole world imbue.
By following dharma we attain complete bliss.
The wise know and practice the fullness of this.

The heartbeat and all that we sow
To dharma their existence owe.
The man of spirit its pattern sees
And through his actions its message frees,
To serve mankind in word and deed
And to fulfill the nation’s need
To live in peace and have a glance
Of human wonder, divine dance.
The dharma embraces in every measure
Each one’s tiny and profound treasure,
And finds in each one’s tragic story
The seed that could release his glory
And free us from the human sorrow
That blights our hopes that come tomorrow
We can all as one family dwell,
And to one God our voices swell
In grateful praise and selfless giving
That we in love and grace are living.

Your high awareness makes you able
To keep the dharma sound and stable.
The dharma is in danger now;
We must uphold it-that’s my vow.
So rally to this heartfelt plea:
Go now and fight the tyranny;
Go now and serve humanity
So that each person can be free!