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धर्मो रक्षति रक्षितः

After more than a decade, I went back to being a student. Having signed up for a Diploma in Intellectual Property Rights at the National Law School Bangalore, I went to attend my first class.  I had little idea what lay in store for me but was excited to be back in college.

After a long ride to NLS listening to a biography of George Washington, I walked into the college premises and noticed their motto -

धर्मो रक्षति रक्षितः

The motto means that Dharma protects those who protect Dharma. India's #1 law school could not have chosen a better motto.

This motto for me is the essence of the teachings of Krishna as he urges Arjun to follow his dharma in the Bhagwad Gita. Krishna goes on to teach that it is the duty of everyone to protect dharma even if it means going to war against one's own who follow adharma.

It brings to the fore a larger question - should dharma be followed in fighting adharmis ? Mahabharata shows that it is necessary to fight adharma using any and every means. 

Was true dharma followed when Arjun killed Karna ? It is a Kshtriya's dharma not to attack an un-armed person but Krishna urged Arjun to go ahead  - the reason being dharma is to be followed for dharmis only. Karna was on the side of adarma and hence the laws of dharma did NOT apply to him. 

The same principle was followed to defeat Bhishma Pitamah as well. Even 'dharma-raj' Yudhistir was economical with truth when asked a critical question by Guru Drona . This was a turning point in the war.

For thousands of years, Indians have forgotten this message of Krishna. In the name of following dharma, Prithviraj Chauhan let off Ghori even after defeating him. Ghori came back and executed Prithviraj. 

Shivaji on the other hand followed dharma when dealing with dharmi's only and went on to win many a battle. 

Today in 2014, in modern day Kurukshetra as political parties fight, one needs to remember this motto once again. 

To protect India and its citizens, we need to first protect our own dharma and more importantly - the laws of dharma apply only to dharmis. For those who follow adharma - the corrupt, the ani-nationals , they need to be defeated using every means.









Comments

  1. RishiApril 11, 2016 at 9:04 PM

    That's very correct. With adharmis we should not think about Dharma. We should think about the society,Nation and then take decision. We cannot take high moral ground just because of our personal dharma. Keep aside personal ethics/dharma/.... and do what is right for the Nation even if it leads you to do what you feel is not correct.

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