Faith anchored in dharma – The Hindu

Faith, trust, and confidence are as essential as the air we breathe. Only when mutual trust and confidence prevail, can relationships and friendships endure. Friendships founded on unrighteousness cannot last. Associating with unsocial and undesirable individuals often leads only to difficulties and distress. Valluvar advises that when enemies seek friendship, one may maintain a courteous exterior but should wisely refrain from forming close ties (Kural 830). Where dharma is absent, peace of mind and inner tranquillity can never exist.

Thanneerpalli Sri Krishnan Swami, in a discourse, emphasised that people should place their faith and confidence not only in God but also in the various forms of dharma established by Him. Avvaiyar, in Aathichudi, urges us to cultivate a longing to do good (Aram Seyya Virumbu). Righteous deeds have the power to erase our sins. Sage Veda Vyasa declares that those who protect dharma will, in turn, be protected by dharma itself. Lord Krishna affirms this eternal truth in the Bhagavad Gita, proclaiming that whenever dharma declines, and adharma rises, He incarnates to restore righteousness (Chapter 4 —Verse 7).

Stealing or taking others’ property or belongings without their knowledge constitutes theft and may even involve claiming or celebrating ownership. Likewise, the soul that resides within us is the absolute property of God, and all beings are His subjects. Forgetting this fundamental truth and imagining oneself to be independent is also a form of theft. This is known as atma apahara chauryam — the theft of the self.

Dharma, in its true sense, does not signify whatever actions we choose to perform. Only those actions that are sanctioned and permitted by the sastras can rightly be called Dharma.

We must restore the soul to its rightful owner, God, and the simplest and most effective means to do so is through complete surrender (Saranagati), performed under the guidance of an Acharya.