The end of Buddhism in India

[Bhadraiah Mallampalli]

Sri Srinivas wrote..

>>Look at it another way, any constitution of a democratic country is
>> >>dharma of some sort. So American constitution is American dharma,
>> >>British constitution is British dharma etc. Any science is shaastra.

>Probably this is not a correct view. Take for example India; India has >a
>constitution which is not based on 'Hindu Dharma'. Presentday constitution
>is a principle of modern social governance. It has >nothing to offer for
>the ultimate realisation of ones' own Self.

The part of Indian constitution which is non-discriminatory and truly
intended for good governance of people can be called Indian dharma, but many
of its provisions may not be fit to be called dharma. Hindu dharma is what
we have developed in the last 1300 years or so with or without support of
Hindu kings. Before Hindu dharma we had a sanatana dharma handedover from
earlier dvapara yuga.

Dharma is not meant for offering any ultimate realization. There are four
aspects of life : dharma, artha, kama, moksha.

Dharma is 'dhaarayate prajaaH' that which bears people, and makes sure no
one is left behind. If Pres.Bush says leave no child behind it is a form of
American dharma. Not all portions of American constitution may be fit to be
called dharma.

Artha is needed to conduct business in this world. In Hindu dharma, even
sanyasis used to pay 1/7th as taxes for the resources they consume in the
forest.

Kama is desire and moksha is for liberation.

>In America the constitution permits any religious belief, and the
> >religious beliefs themselves are in close relationship with >the 'Dharma'
>(leading to ultimate purushartha) we are discussing.

It is doubtful if all religions support dharma. We need to prove each
individual case before accepting, but this matter is out of scope for us.
But whatever caters to every one equally is very much dharma even if it is
not specifically labelled as such (e.g., leave no child behind).

Best regards
Bhadraiah

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