Re: [nukkad] Daya dharam

["Indian Rediff" <>]

Aryaji,

My understanding of Dharma is a little bit at a variance with what
youhave said below. Dharma, according to the Gita, is the duty to be
followed by everyone. The Gita is quite clear in explaining what 'your
duty' is - based on the time when it was written. A lot of those
beliefs have to be interpreted to the present day - andpeople do so
quite liberally, or quite strictly, leading to various controversies -
I am not about to cover them here.

Thus the duty of a Kshatriya (warrior) is to fight for the truth.
Anything else is secondary to this duty. Automatically, taking pity on
the enemy (Daya) is ruled out - unless the enemy begs for mercy and
agrees to change his/her ways.

That does not mean you should have no Daya - it has its place as well.
But one cannot supplant the other.

Anyone else with ideas?

On Tue, May 6, 2008 at 8:18 AM, aryaholmes  wrote:
> In Hindu belief system there is a wondrous concept of daya and dharma.
>
>  Over the years I have often wondered at the usage and sequence and
>  exclusion and choice these offer if one were to compute possibilities.
>
>  Daya could translate to kindness. By extension this could also mean
>  a gentler touch in dealing with others, certainly others who are
>  less privileged, or weak, or sickly, or at a disadvantage in life.
>
>  Dharma could mean one's faith, faith in general, a generic application
>  of the virtues in life.
>
>  The question is this. If one had full daya, if one were kind in dealing
>  with others no matter what the situation, and if one were in a default
>  in terms of dharma, would this be acceptable?
>
>  If there were complete daya, would there be a need of dharma?
>
>  On the other hand, and this is a kicker, if one were entirely steeped
>  in dharma, but had no daya, would that work?


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