Another definition of dharma is ध्रियते इति धर्मः - that which is sustained. The nature of any object - that which makes it what it is, and which never goes away - is its dharma. For example, the dharma of fire is to be hot. At no time and in no situation does this dharma go away. It is always sustained. Similarly, it is the dharma of a tiger to be carnivorous. We do not blame it for killing and eating other animals, because that is its dharma.
The dharma of each and every thing in this universe, which is sustained throughout time, sustains the order of the universe in turn. If, for example, fire were to lose its dharma of being hot, the universe as we know it would be in chaos. Even if a tiger lost its dharma of eating animals, the biological order in its habitat would be disrupted. So when dharma is sustained, it itself sustains everything else.
Human beings also have a dharma - that which makes them human beings. Each human being is born as a simple consumer, using all the resources available to him to pursue artha and kāma. But as we grow up, we need to become contributors to the world in order for it to be sustained. This is our dharma. Unlike nature and other organisms, however, which are completely bound by instinct or physical laws, the human being is endowed with a free will and a faculty of choice. As a result, sometimes we need an incentive to keep to our dharma. In other cultures, this incentive may come to individuals in the form of satisfaction, recognition, or personal growth. In the vaidika saṁskṛti, the result of puṇya makes dharma a pursuit common to all. Puṇya is also responsible for deciding the circumstances of future lives. In this way, the pursuit of puṇya sustains human dharma, which sustains the world. These three pursuits - dharma, artha, and kāma - encompass everything we ever do.
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