Dharma is a word with many meanings. It is derived from the Sanskrit root dhṛ, which means "sustain". धारयतीति धर्मः - that which sustains is dharma. A very important meaning of this word is sāmānya-dharma: the universal order of right and wrong that is perceived by our conscience. Put more simply, if each of us were to make a list of all of our expectations from the world - what we want and don't want the world to do to us - the common elements in all the lists would be sāmānya-dharma. Depending on his or her level of sensitivity, a normal person automatically adheres to sāmānya-dharma. By itself, it is not a deliberate pursuit, or puruṣārtha.
In the context of puruṣārtha that we are currently trying to understand, dharma refers to the pursuit of what śāstra calls puṇya. Unlike artha and kāma, which are pursuits for immediate, visible results, puṇya is adṛṣṭa, or unseen. Because we learn about both the existence of puṇya and the means to obtain it from veda-śāstra, dharma as a distinct and deliberate pursuit really only exists in a vaidika-saṁskṛti. From the childhood, we learn that certain actions are puṇya-karma - pūjā, upavāsa, tīrtha-yātrā, and so on. We are also taught that good actions like being considerate, respectful, and helpful to others, as well as giving dāna will bring us puṇya. Even sāmānya-dharma, which in all other cultures remains a subjective and instinctive adherence to one's own conscience, is made into a puruṣārtha in our culture by associating it with puṇya. This is a very subtle point to understand and we will be discussing it in further detail. Understanding dharma as a puruṣārtha is key to understanding our culture. The purpose of puṇya-karma and how it fits the definition of dharma as "that which sustains" will also be explained.
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