That Game

This post is about Dharma (pronounced duh-r-m) and Karma (pronounced kuh-r-m). Dharma is the foundation on which Hinduism stands. It is what makes up all of our beliefs. It is the morals and principles that we go by. Without dharma, the history of India will be completely changed and the religion itself would crumble down to nothingness.

Unlike other religions, Hinduism does not revolve around the Gods. In our holy books nothing is written as ‘God has said’. All that is written is that as a human and a living creature put on this world you must respect it and do what you feel is right. That is called dharma. All the holy books just write what your job as a human is in this world. The whole idea of starting a religion based on morals is a very unique idea and I think that is how Hinduism has lasted so long.

The way that Hindus are motivated to abide by the sensation of dharma is the idea of karma. Karma is the idea of payback. If you do something bad then something of equal atrocity will happen to you. If you do something good then something of equal integrity will happen to you. Karma is an idea that uses fear and greed to make you do what is seen as right and just. We are too afraid to do anything wrong but we are also so greedy that we do what is fair. It is a very simple yet complicated idea that shows how just the world will be to criminals by incorporating the idea of God as little as possible.

The idea of Dharma and Karma has been proven true in some cases. All past powers that have used their might for evil have been defeated before. Nazi Germany, The Soviet Union, and many others have proved that if you disobey the laws of nature you will have her crushing down on you. All those powers had tried to do villainous things such as prosecuting other cultures just for not doing as told. Because of those thoughts and actions the powers had gotten severely bad Karma and it proved to be for the worst. They should never have disobeyed Dharma and now they have no chance to be as powerful as they were.

The most frustrating thing about being a Hindu is being asked if you worship cows. Just because we are not allowed to eat cows doesn’t mean that we worship them. We respect them, but they are not our Gods. It is like going up to a Christian and asking him if he worships nuns, or asking a Jew if he worships a rabbi. When we go down a street and see a cow we do not immediately get on our knees and start bowing and praising them. Cows are just not allowed to be eaten!

The reasons that we cannot eat cows have nothing to do with religious beliefs either. Just because Hindus are not allowed to eat them does not mean it has anything to do with Hinduism. In Ancient Indian times, everyone was Hindu. We used buffalo, bulls, and ox to help us farm and transport us. We milked them for drink and we used them for labor. Then the British came to India and started killing these beasts for food. They only used the cows for food, and after they killed the cows the animals had no use to us, of course. Why kill them for just one use that lasts for a couple of days when you could get a dozen other uses from them for fifty days? That is one of the main reasons that we can’t eat cows.

The second reason is because Hindus have this thing called dharma (pronounced duh-r-m). Dharma is our morals. It is our duties as a human being. If you follow your dharma then you get good karma (pronounced kuh-r-m). Like I said, in Ancient India everyone used cows to help them. It is not right to kill the creatures that had aided us the most in our everyday lives. Our morals were not to use an animal for a few days to help us plow fields and transport goods and then just backstab it by chopping its head off and cook its meat. That would give us very bad karma and it was just not right. That is why Hindus do not eat cow meat.