The Word Dharm By Ananya Mishra

The word dharm means the religious practices and thoughts that are aimed to fulfill a pious
goal in life. Accordingly the apar or varnashram dharm is the religious discipline and
injunctions of do’s and don’ts that are explained in the scriptures for uplifting the sattvic
qualities of a human being in general. Varnashram word refers to all kinds and classes of
people of this world living various orders of life (like a family man, a priest, a monk or a
sanyasi), and apar word means ‘secondary’ or ‘general’ or ‘preliminary’ because it is not the
absolute or prime dharm, it is the preliminary dharm for everyone in the world.
The discipline and rules of apar dharm vary according to the state of the spiritual
consciousness of a person, and its rigidness also varies from age to age, that is, from satyug to
kaliyug. In short you can understand that (for the existing age) all kinds of good deeds and
philanthropic works that are beneficial to the society, and sincere observance of the
religious discipline of the ‘order of life’ (religious student, family man, or a renounced
person) you are following, come in this category, provided, that they are done with sattvic
motivation. Sattvic motivation means having faith in God and then doing all the good karmas
only to please God and not for any kind of personal gain. Even if you think of receiving
compliments for your good karmas or the religious practices which you observe, it will not be
classified as sattvic , it will become rajas , because you desired for the compliments and you
have received them. Thus you have already availed the outcome of your so-called good deeds.