Dharam sankat is a very very dramatic word!
What is Dharma? This word Dharma is typical to the Hindu culture.
It's a very very all-encompassing word that doesn't have any equivalent in the English language
Dharma is the thoughts, the actions, the values, the beliefs that are appropriate
and suitable for us so it covers so many aspects of our life. Now what is my what
is your Dharma - this is the question that arose in Arjun's mind he was in a
dharam-sankat himself because in order to do his dharma, he has to kill his respectable elders and that is where the dharam sankat arises: what is my duty?
He presents that question before Shri Krishna and Shri Krishna answers it over
the 700 verses of the Gita and if you ask me what is my Dharma Swamiji
To answer it briefly is a little difficult but just in a nutshell the
The Bhagavad Gita explains that it is the bound duty of everybody to perform their dharma
you are receiving so much from nature the grain that you eat
shri krishna says it comes with the help of the rain that falls from the skies so
you are receiving from nature you give back by doing your duty
whatever your duty is you do it perfectly that is the yagya or the
sacrifice and he says look Arjun when you do the yagya that results in rain
and rain results in production of Grain so everybody must do their
Dharma but then you go deeper into it what is my Dharma if you say my Dharma
what is this I if you see yourself as the body then you have a bodily dharma
towards your children your spouse your parents your country etc it's the bodily dharma
but then the Bhagavad Gita goes beyond Shri Krishna starts by explaining to Arjun
that you are not the body you are the soul so whom you are considering to be
your relatives they are not you relatives. you are lamenting for that which is not
worthy of lamentation so when you determine that you are the soul your
Dharma then is to love and serve God that is 'Param - Dharma'
There is a Karmi who does the worldly dharma, there is a karm-sannyasi who has rejected worldly
duties and his only loving and serving God. The loving devotion to God is param dharma
The Bhagavatam says such devotion which is without self seeking and which is without
discontinuation - in other words, it's constant. But the problem is that
for an ordinary person that is not a practical feasibility because you're
living at household life you can't just run away from everything
the Shri Krishna then explains the path karma yog
he says engage your mind loving service for God and with the body you discharge
your worldly duties then the balance comes about you engage in your worldly
responsibilities while the mind is loving God and when the worldly
responsibilities are complete then the body is well you engage in the param dharma
this is the path of karma yoga which is the simple convenient practical relevant
path for most people in household life now in the house, now when dharam sankat comes, now what to
dharam sankat means that so many things that are demanding this is your
duty you need to do it and somebody else is no this is your duty now parents tell
you your duty is to live with them what are you doing in America and your
children see and father your duty is to spend three hours with us and your boss
says your duty is 14 hours for that IT company so now that the dharam sankat has come
right! so, how do you solve this? By enhancing your knowledge!! very simple
If you have a problem at work what is the approach you take? you don't say okay now
let me ask so and so on the street today in order to solve this
problem I need to increase my knowledge so similarly people think that for
spirituality oh I just do it by my intuition but it doesn't work!
why is it a dharam sankat, because you don't have the necessary knowledge
and what is the solution? increased access to knowledge from the scriptures. the more knowledge
you have (understanding) the easier it becomes and if you are not able to understand, you have the Guru
That is what Arjun did, when he was dharam sankat. When his intellect failed
Arjun says O Krishna the gandiv is falling from my hands my knees are
shaking and my tongue is drying up I'm totally confused now you please tell me
what is my dharma similarly you have the guru - when we are confused and our knowledge
cannot come to a conclusion on what is the answer to this problem
then we approach the guru and how can the guru address it - because he has
got access to a higher fund of knowledge with the help of that he tells
us look it's so simple you do this you don't do this ! okay so that is the way to
address this concept of