Dharma: Moral Law of the Hindu Religion
According to Gita, the path of devotion is the easiest path to finding God. With worship and meditation people can find God. Along with worship action is required. Action is the way of surviving but it should not bind the person, instead this action must free the person. Therefore action and work must be treated like worship and must be done in the most perfect way and to the best of one’s ability. Yet, one must work and offer the fruits of this work to God. The Gita teaches that we should live a detached life, whatever we do is only God’s work done through us. This detachment does not mean we run away from the responsibility, instead it means that we do our best and be free from our objects of desire. We should reject all worldly things in order to achieve spirituality. Therefore, our work should not contain selfish interest, as it should be offered as a service to others and its fruits to God. This is the main theme of the teachings of Gita that apply to every aspect of life.
According to this view, a student should look for knowledge and perform the academic tasks not to earn grades or a degree hoping for a better life or a good salary. A student doing that is acting with selfish interest for the purpose of a reward. Instead, a student should be detached from such benefit when performing academic duties. These duties should be performed with God in mind and to be useful in life through action, also they are performed to benefit the society and humanity. Following the Dharma of a student will make that student detached from worldly desires in addition it will eliminate stress from a student’s life. This attitude will help students overcome anxiety before tests and eliminate the pressure of academic work. The general attitude will be that a student does the work because of “wanting to do it” rather than “having to do it.” This will make students attend classes with enthusiasm and homework will not be a burden anymore. This should not be interpreted as laziness. A person must still perform the work and to his/her best ability, only the fruit is rejected but the work itself is welcomed. We find some of these teachings applied already in classes such as the group-assignments that promote cooperation and the rejection of selfishness. Students cooperate and perform the assignment together as they share the knowledge and help each other.
This student dharma will also promote growth of the group rather than the selfish individual. Envy and tension between peers will be replaced by cooperation and harmony. The teachings of Gita and the use of the Dharma in the academic life will enhance the academic experience. In addition, it will enhance each student’s abilities, as it will give more freedom to pursue the knowledge instead of worrying about the grades. I think that students will have a better academic experience if they follow the Dharma and apply it to their student life.
