Vishishta Dharma Or Vishesha Dharma – Beginners Intro
The most pivotal element of Hinduism is the term ‘Dharma,” which highlights the various principles and duties that have to be followed by people. The “Dharma” is again divided into two major categories: Samanya Dharma and Vishesha Dharma or Vishishta Dharma. Vishesh dharma and vishista dharma are synonyms and mean the same.
Samanya Dharma vs Vishista Dharma
Samanya Dharma lists out the duties that apply to one and all; everyone needs to adhere to them. Monitoring senses and limbs, emotional control, respect for knowledge, avoiding unnecessary aggression, forbearance, contentment, moderation, and self-restraint are a few examples of samanya dharma.
Vishishta Dharma is centered on the principles and obligations that are unique to an individual; this Dharma is not common for all persons. It would now be worthwhile to briefly elaborate upon the important points of Vishesha Dharma.
Understanding Vishishta Dharma by considering Varna Dharma and Svadharma
Vishishta Dharma is something that differs from one person to another based on their role in society. Now that we understood what is vishista dharma, let us understand it at higher level by considering ‘varna dharma’ and ‘svadharma’ Vishesha Dharma also includes “Varna Dharma” and “Svadharma.” “Varna Dharma” refers to the set of duties that are related to a given social group. Performance of rites and rituals, imparting vedic and non-vedic education are all parts of a Brahmin’s Vishesha Dharma. Likewise, ruling a state justly and protecting the lives and properties of the subjects is the Vishishta Dharma of Kshatriyas. Vysyas job is to do economic value addition despite many challenges without violating samanya dharmas.
Resolving perceived false conflict on Vishesha Dharma vs Samanya Dharma and Svadharma
Sometimes, it appears that the Vishesha Dharma of an individual grossly violates the Samanya Dharma, which everyone is expected to follow. But this is so only when the issue is viewed in isolation or with limited knowledge. For example, a Kshatriya taking part in a battle has to injure/kill the warriors of the opposing side. Here, he is in no way violating the precept of non-violence as doing a dharmik war without personal benefit is considered ahimsa; he is only fulfilling his Vishesha dharma, Svadharma or Varna Dharma.
Similarly, there are situations where a doctor has to lie to their patient about the diagnosis. This is necessary to make sure that the ailing person is not shocked or to avoid them from becoming overly fearful, which could only deteriorate their health condition. Here again, we need to understand that the doctor has not deviated from “truthfulness,” which is a principle of Samanya Dharma. The physician has only rendered justice to their Vishesha Dharma of safeguarding the well-being of their patients.
Understanding Svadharma or customized personal dharma of specific individual
Whereas, “Svadharma” means duties specific to an individual. Here, we have to note that there is no general “Svadharma” common for all individuals. The “Svadharma” is firstly based on the stage of life of the person and also on the circumstances of a specific person’s life. Since fate is not common to all and since everyone is not in the same age group – the svadharma will vary from individual to individual.
Even those having same roles in society will have different “Svadharma”. In order to understand this we need to understand the four Ashramas or stages of life as per Sanathana dharma (the original name for Hinduism). An ashrama means the stage or phase of life.
Understanding the Ashramas or stages of life to understand svadharma
The four ashramas are Brahmacharya, Grihastha, Vanaprastha and Sanyasa. From time a person is born till they complete education and get married they are in Brahmacharya ashrama. When person gets married they enter Grihastha ashrama. When they have achieve excellence in their profession, have kids, educate them, taken care of parents and earned substantially. Then, they get ready to handover the responsibilities to the next generation by mentoring and preparing the next generation to take over. Sanyasa is the last phase of life in Hindu philosophy wherein, a person detaches from material possessions and bondings to get ready to join his atma with paramatma on their demise. So this phase is about moving to higher orbit of atmic purification and giving up on worldly desires, attachments and possessions.
So coming back to svadharma, what is appropriate keeps changing based on the ashrama or stage in which the person is living. As an example, sticking to celibacy is a Vishishta Dharma for a person in the “Brahmacharya” Ashram. But that is not the case for the people at the “Grihastha’ Ashram.
The Vishishta Dharma of the same person will invariably change depending on their age and the precise ashrama of life in which they are. The Vishesha Dharma for an individual at the age of fifteen is different from the Vishishta Dharma they need to abide by, at the age of fifty.
Dharma framework is not rigid but flexible to adopt to any situation
It has been observed that over the past several centuries, the concept of “Dharma” is continuously adapting to the changing environment, and rightly so. The scriptures say that dharma changes based on time, region, and role of the person. It’s this aspect of adaptability to changing situations that makes dharma relevant to the various situations and circumstances even in the modern world.
More than knowledge the sadhana of atmikta is needed to understand dharma
In order to understand dharma properly, it is not knowledge but atmikta that is essential to make right choices on dharma. Atmikta is to look beyond material motivations to connect with higher purpose of life that is being in sync with the atma. Atma is not materialistic enjoyments or pleasures but connects with wider society. So sadhanas that enhance the atmikta in the person lead to objectivity and removal of bias that helps to understand dharma correctly.
Read our Dharma Related Articles including Samanya Dharma, Apad Dharma, Vishesha Dharma and Sanathan Dharma.