Dharam Raj ….
A
beautiful concept that got distorted over time.
Now
a days, when we hear the word “Dharam Raj” (also known as Yamraaj) the picture
of a scary big man with horns on his head riding on the back of a buffalo comes
to our mind. His role is to pull the life (soul) out of the body and take it to
the ‘other world’. After checking the record of their life, he sends the souls
to heaven or throws them in the hell.
The
concept of Dharm Raj was totally different during the early Vedantic period.
The earlier Upanishads portray the picture of Dharm Raj as an extremely gentle,
kind and benevolent wise person.
In fact the word Dharma Raj was commonly
used for the Sadguru.
Surprised?
I
was too when I first found it out.
The
literal meaning of ‘Dharma Raj’ would be ‘the king or highest authority of Dharma’,
and that is the Guru. Though his picture was very different in ancient times
but his basic function was same.
The
function of Dharma Raj or the Guru was to take the “mind or consciousness” away
from this mortal world of misery, pain and sufferings to the ‘other world’ of
everlasting peace and bliss.
A
beautiful story in the Kathopanishad shows Dharma Raj as a gentle, extremely
kind and wise person.
The
story goes as, when the young prince Nachiketa thought he had made his father,
the king, angry, he went to see the Dharam Raj. After a long and tedious
journey, when he finally arrived at his palace, he was informed that Dharm Raj
had gone out and would be back after three days. Nachiketa sat at his doorsteps
waiting for him without any food or drink.
When
Dharm Raj came back after three days, he saw a pale young boy sitting at his
doorsteps. He immediately realized that the boy was hungry and thirsty. He apologized
and asked his household companions and servants why this boy was not invited in
and attended to properly? He told his
servants that any guest, regardless of the age or status, should be welcomed
and served like a god and ordered
them to bring food and water for this unknown young guest.
He
then turns to the boy and asked for forgiveness for the rude behavior of
his household companions. He asked for the purpose of his visit and as
an apology, he also offered to grant the young boy three boons
(wishes) …. One for each night he waited outside his house.
As his first boon, Nachiketa asked that his father
should not be angry with him when he goes back.
For the second boon, he desired
to know the 'yagna' (a process or gyana), by which, one enjoys a long
life of contentment, free from suffering, sorrow and fear.
Both these boons were granted.
Both these boons represent all the happiness one expects to enjoy on earth.
But Nachiketa knew that such happiness, which is
associated with the physical world, is transitory.
So for his third boon, he asked Dharam Raj for the
knowledge of the Self, the Atman - its origin, its nature and its destiny.
With the asking of this third boon, the teaching
of the Kath-Upanishad begins and Dharm Raj bestows upon him the Gyana
(knowledge) of Atman and Brahman, the self and the supreme God.
Having received this
wisdom, Nachiketa became free from death and attained Moksha.
Now.... This
picture of the Dharam Raj is
definitely not of a terrifying, frightening scary man with horns on the head.
Nachiketa did not get frightened or ran away after seeing him.
Then,
how and when did this picture got distorted?
Perhaps
it got changed, first with the Greek and then with the Judo-Christian and
Islamic influences in Indian cultures, because the current portray of Dharm Raj
or Yam Raj is very much similar to the picture of devil in Christianity or
Satan in Islam.
Should we wait for a frightening, scary
Dharm Raj to show up at the end of our
life?
Or,
should we, like Nachiketa, go right now to a kindhearted loving Dharm Raj (Sat-Guru), who would take our consciousness to
the “other world” of everlasting peace and bliss?
Very enlightening story on the progression of religious views over time. One cannot help but wonder what these views will look like 100 or 200 years from now. How will our image of Dharam Raj and Satguru be in the future?
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