Normally, Swadharma is entangled with desires and ambitions, so we can’t easily make it out. By the time you get a job, you may have forgotten it. However, if you observe children as they are growing up, one of the things to focus on is making them aware of their Swadharma. Some children are naturally born leaders and they express this in various ways. Very often, standardizing them results in the loss of their unique traits, as depicted in the famous song “We Don’t Need No Education,” where the child becomes a standardized product. They sit in class and get marks, but a born leader will still lead the other naughty children. It is his Swadharma, the Kshatriya type, who will always seek justice. Then, there is another child who constantly asks, “How? How? Why?”
Swadharma is a very important aspect, and it should be integrated into child education. It’s a huge subject, but if you observe children from a young age, you will know their Swadharma.
In ancient India, there was a very interesting method of determining Swadharma, not by surname, but through a custom where a few objects were placed in front of a crawling child. The object the child was naturally drawn to would indicate their Swadharma. This is similar to how the Dalai Lama is chosen using the relics of Buddha. This method might work if done in the right occult atmosphere, but I am not sure. However, from childhood, a child will show signs of their Swadharma, and whatever they choose should be encouraged. Some children are born for the military or are Kshatriyas by their Swadharma, and they will fight for what is right in any sphere.
The problem is that we become job-oriented, then ambition-oriented, then desire-oriented, and finally money-oriented, forgetting that the most important thing is knowing one’s Swadharma. And after that comes the Divine will. The Divine will comes after you surrender even your Swadharma – “sarva dharman parityajya.” It may start difficult, but we must begin. A difficulty will be solved by starting. There is a famous Latin phrase, “Solvitur ambulando,” which means, “It is solved by walking.”
If you think, “What should I do?” Do it. Do what you are impelled to do. You will see that the path will open as you walk. I can’t know all the paths. Sitting here, I cannot plan the whole path and how it will shape, but fix your mind on the goal. That is all that is required. That’s how Sri Aurobindo put it. Swami Vivekananda says, “Take up one idea, let it be your life. Let it flow into your veins and blood.” Fix your mind on the goal, and then the goal will emerge from inside, not from what society and others say. Our files may be corrupted, but it doesn’t matter. You need to start. We can start. We can say, “Maybe I haven’t looked at it like this before, but now I want to.” So, as we proceed, maybe we will find our way.
There are two approaches: some people say, “Now I am 40-50, what can I do about it?” If we take that approach, we will remain the same for the next 30 years, or we can take another approach and say, “Alright, let me start now.” Even if I cannot fulfill it in this life, I have lives ahead of me. That’s what Krishna tells Arjuna, “Even a little bit of this yoga liberates you.” So, wherever we are, whatever our aim may be, if we feel this is the path, then let’s start. Let’s start walking a few infant steps. We will fall, we will stumble, but it doesn’t matter. Every child stumbles hundreds of times before learning to walk and run, but if they are afraid of falling and making mistakes, they become the perfection of the paralyzed child.
Affectionately,
Alok Da
