Decay of Dharma and Rise of Adharma

The Untold Story of The Bhagavad Gita

Revealing the True Intent and Spirit of the Bhagavad Gita in its Historical Context

By K.P.S. Kamath

Pkamath001@gmail.com

4. Decay of Dharma and Rise of Adharma

No matter how admirable their original intentions might have been, all organizations, without any exception, sooner or later decay and die due to evil people who infiltrate them and abuse them for personal gains. Current state of affairs with Hinduism amply attests to this universal rule.     

1. Brāhmanism’s decay begins: In this article we will study how Brāhmins and Kshatriyas, puffed-up by high status granted to them by their superior Gunas of Prakriti, corrupted the Wheel of Yajna and abused Varna Dharma resulting in decay of orthodox Brāhmanism and rise of Buddhism, Jainism, Ajīvika and Lokāyata (materialism). Brāhmanism considered these heterodox Dharmas as Adharma (irreligion), as they were all “godless, rite-less and classless.” Regardless, Brāhmanism’s steady decay reached a point of no return.

All Upanishadic and Bhāgavata shlokas in the Bhagavad Gita are dedicated to overthrowing decadent Brāhmanism, and we will study some of them in this article as evidence. When the Upanishadic poet said in 4:7, “Whenever there is decay of Dharma and rise of Adharma” he was referring to this serious development over several centuries. 

Not knowing this historical context of the Bhagavad Gita-Upanishad, every single commentator over the past 12,00 years interpreted both the Upanishadic and the Bhāgavata shlokas in the Mahābhārata epic context, and misapplied them to Arjuna, and to all Kshatriyas by extension, on the battlefield resulting in disastrous consequences for India. We will discuss this issue in a later article.  

2. Ārya tribal chiefs become kings: As the semi-nomadic Ārya tribes settled down and became civilized (1500-1000 B.C.), tribal chiefs carved out territories and became powerful and wealthy kings (Rājā).[1] In contrast, Brāhmins made their humble living by officiating Yajnas sponsored by them as per the Wheel of Yajna. For their priestly service all that the austere Brāhmins got as fee (DakshiNa) were a good meal, and a paltry gift (Dāna) in the form of grain, garments, and other simple stuff. Lord Buddha (563-483 B. C.) describes the Spartan and puritanical life of Brāhmins and the great respect they commanded in the society before their gradual downfall[2]:

Suttanipāta (SN): 283-287: [Kulavagga: Brāhmanadhammikasutta: 2:7:1-4]: The old sages were self-restrained, penitent, having abandoned the objects of the five senses (money, gold, food, power, etc.), they studied their own welfare (scriptures)…Inviolable were the Brāhmanas, invincible, protected by Dhamma, no one opposed them (while standing) at the doors of houses anywhere.

In other words, these poor Brāhmins made their humble living by eating the crumbs fallen from the gold plates of their wealthy Kshatriya patrons.   

3. Desire sprouts: Now desire for wealth sprouted in the heart of Brāhmins. Lord Buddha explains: 

SN: 2:7:16-18: Then came their ruin. Seeing bit by bit their king expand (prosper), with his finely decked women, his well-wrought chariots yoked with thoroughbreds, his colorful stitching, his palaces and well-laid-out chambers, thriving with herds of cows, waited on by bevies of comely women, those Brāhmins began to covet that vast human luxury.

4. Brāhmins hatch a scheme: Begging for money was too demeaning to Brāhmins, for they enjoyed high status in the society. If they were to become wealthy and enjoy life, they must induce Kshatriya royals to perform grandiose Yajnas with the Sankalpa (intention, goal, design, BG: 6:2) of gaining heaven hereafter, and pleasure, wealth and power here on earth in this and their next birth. For officiating such increasingly complex, ostentatious and exacting Yajnas, they could charge the royals hefty fees (DakshiNa).

5. Abuse of the Law of Karma: In hatching this scheme, the Law of Karma came rather handy for Brāhmins. This Law, as we read earlier, held that when one performed “good deeds” (Sukritam) one earned good Karmaphalam (merit, Punyam). After death, one’s Jīva would carry with it the accumulated Karmaphalam into one’s next life. The new body into which Jīva enters would now enjoy the good fruits of its deeds performed in its previous births.

6. Converting selfless Yajnas into selfish ones: So now Brāhmins declared Yajna (Karma) as Sukritam, “good works,” which earned a lot of Punyam (good Karmaphalam) for its Kshatriya sponsor. These selfish Yajnas were called Kāmya Karma (desire-driven Yajna, BG: 18:2), and were blatantly against the ordinances of scriptures. The more the sponsor burned materials in these Yajnas, the more Karmaphalam he would gain, and more power, prestige, riches and enjoyment for him in his present and next life. The more ostentatious, vulgar and complicated a Yajna, more the DakshiNa the priests could demand. When skeptical kings asked, “What if we earned more Karmaphalam than we could use in our next life?” Brāhmins reassured them, “Well, you can spend it in heaven in the company of gods, and after exhausting your excess Karmaphalam you can return to the earth to enjoy the remaining Karmaphalam!” (BG: 9:21).  

[Whereas Brāhmins called these selfish Yajnas Sukritam (good works), puritanical Upanishadists declared them as Dushkrite (evil deeds, BG: 2:50) as they were performed against the ordinances of scriptures, and they called the ritualists as Dushkritām -doers of evil deeds, (BG: 4:8).]

7. Animal sacrifice begins: Blinded by their unbridled lust for wealth, fame and higher status in this as well as their next life, not to mention a quick visit to heaven, kings fell prey to this scheme. Lord Buddha explains:

SN: 2:7:19-21: They (Brāhmins) composed mantras then and there, approached Okkāka (king Ikshvāku) and said, 'Your riches are abundant. Sacrifice. You have much wealth. Sacrifice. You have much money!' Thus prompted by the Brāhmins, that king, a bull among warriors, sacrificed up horses, humans, and animals and offered Ashvamedha, Purisameda, Sammāpāsa and Vājapeya in unbridled fashion; and he gave riches to the Brāhmins: cows, beds, clothes, finely decked women, etc."

Playing the role of Upanishadic Guru,[3] Lord Krishna scolds these greedy ritualists:

BG: 2:42-43: These ignorant ones (ritualists) delighting in the flowery words (Mantras) of the Vedic doctrines proclaim, “There is nothing else!” Full of desires, intent on heaven, they offer rebirth as the Karmaphalam, and are addicted to many specific sacrificial rites (such as Ashvamedha, Rājasūya, Vājapeya), with the goal of enjoyment and power (in their next birth).

8. Kshatriya sponsors become thieves: Lord Krishna, playing the role of Upanishadic Lord of beings, blasts these ritualists who perverted the Wheel of Yajna as thieves:

BG: 3:12-13, 16: A thief verily is he who enjoys what is gods have given them without returning them anything. The good (ritualists) who eat the remnants of Yajna (after burning the most of it for gods) is freed from all sins (bad Karmaphalam); but the sinful ones (greedy ritualists) who cook food only for themselves (to gain Karmaphalam for themselves), they verily eat sin (gain Pāpam). He who does not follow on earth the Wheel of Yajna thus revolving (Brahma- Karma-Yajna-rain-food-people-Yajna), sinful of life and rejoicing in the senses (pleasures), he lives in vain.

9. Cow sacrifice begins: Before their downfall, Brāhmins treated cows as if they were their family members, and never allowed their slaughter. Lord Buddha explains:

SN: 2:7:13-14: Like unto a mother, a father, a brother, and other relatives the cows are our best friends, in which medicines are produced. They give food, and they give strength, they likewise give a good complexion and happiness: knowing the real state of this, Brāhmins did not kill cows.

However, a time came when, driven by their greed to earn more DakshiNa, Brāhmins urged Kshatriyas to sacrifice even cows in grandiose Yajnas in order for them to gain more Karmaphalam. Lord Buddha expresses his horror over cow sacrifice:

Suttanipāta: 2:7:23-26: But largesse (of the king) fired their (Brāhmins’) passions more to get; their craving grew. Once more they sought Okkāka (king Ikshvāku); with these verses newly framed: “As earth and water, gold and silver, so are cows a primal requisite of man. Great store, great wealth is thine; make (cow) sacrifice!”

Then the king, the lord of chariots, persuaded by these Brāhmins, killed hundreds of thousands of cows in sacrifice. Cows sweet as lamb, filling pails with milk, never hurting anyone with foot or horn -the king had them seized by the horns and slaughtered by the sword.

10. Lord Buddha expresses his outrage:

SN: 2:7:27-30: Then the gods, the Pitrus (ancestral spirits), Indra, the Asuras, the Rākshasas cried out as the weapon fell on the cows, “Lo! This is injustice!” Of old there were only three diseases –desire, want of food, and decay. Owing to the killing of the cattle, there sprang ninety-eight diseases. This old sin of injury to living beings has come down (to this day). Innocent cows are killed. Priests have fallen off their virtues.

This is how, Kshatriyas and self-styled Brāhmins and others protected by rank destroyed the repute of their caste and fell prey to desires.

11. Lord Krishna’s rage: Playing the role of Parameshwara of Bhāgavatism, an outraged Lord Krishna blasts these Kshatriya ritualists in the Bhagavad Gita:

BG: 16:10-17: Filled with insatiable desires, full of hypocrisy, pride and arrogance, holding evil ideas through delusion, they work with impure resolve. Beset with immense cares ending only with death, regarding gratification of lust as the highest, and feeling sure that that (gaining sense objects by Kāmya Karma) is all. Bound by a hundred ties of hope, given over to Kāma (lust for wealth and power) and Krodha (jealous rage against other kings), they strive to secure by unjust means (killing cows) hoards of wealth for sensual enjoyment.

“This today has been gained by me; this desire I shall fulfill; this is mine, and this wealth also shall be mine in the future. That enemy has been slain by me, and others also I shall slay. I am lord, I enjoy, I am successful, powerful and happy. I am rich and well-born. Who else is equal to me? I will sacrifice, I will give alms, I will rejoice!” Thus deluded by ignorance (engendered by their obsession with sense objects), bewildered by many a fancy, enmeshed in the snare of delusion, addicted to the gratification of lust, they fall into foul hell. Self-conceited, stubborn, filled with the pride and intoxication of wealth, they perform sacrifice in name for ostentation, disregarding ordinance of scriptures.

12. Lord Krishna scolds Brāhmins: Referring to lust, rage and greed rooted in the Gunas as three gates of hell, Lord Krishna blasts corrupt Brāhmins who performed Kāmya Karma against the ordinances of scriptures:

16:21-24: Triple are the gates of hell –lust, rage, and greed -destructive of the self. One should abandon these three (for they arise from the Gunas, 3:37). The man who is liberated from these three gates of darkness practices what is good for him (Bhaktiyoga) and thus goes to Supreme good (Moksha). He who casting aside the ordinances of scriptures, performs Yajna on the impulse of desire, neither attains perfection (Siddhi), nor happiness (Sukham), nor the Supreme Goal (Moksha). Therefore, let the scriptures (Upanishads) be your authority in deciding what ought to be done and what ought not to be done. Having known what is said in the scriptures you should act here.  

13. Two shlokas: Now you know the correct meaning of the famous Upanishadic shloka addressed to greedy Kshatriyas ritualists 2:47:

Your Adhikāra (entitlement, right) is only to perform Karma (Yajna as per the Wheel of Yajna), and never to its fruits (Karmaphalam); never be the cause of Karmaphalam (when you perform Yajna); and never become attached to inaction (perform your Kshatriya Duty). 

And this one uttered by Lord Krishna born to defend Upanishadists from attacks of ritualists:

4:7-8: Whenever there is decay of Dharma (Brāhmanism) and rise of Adharma (various heterodox Dharmas as well as decadent Brāhmanism), I embody Myself. I am born age after age for the protection of the good (puritanical Upanishadists) and destruction of doers of evil deeds (ritualists performing corrupt Yajnas against ordinances of scriptures), and for the establishment of (Upanishadic) Dharma (based on doctrines of Brahman the Supreme and Yoga of detachment and selfless Karma).

14. Abuse of Varna Dharma based on Guna/Karma: As the upper classes became more powerful and wealthy, they became increasingly haughty toward the lower classes. Conflicts between classes arose and society descended into chaos. Lord Buddha laments:

SN: 2:7:30-33: So this old and mean Dhamma (Brāhmanism) is blamed by the wise; where people see such a one, they blame the sacrificing priest (Brāhmins). So Dhamma being lost, the Sudras and the Vaishyas disagreed, the Kshatriyas disagreed in manifold ways; and the wife despised her husband. The Kshatriyas and the Brāhmins and those others who had been protected by their castes, after doing away with their disputes on descent (pedigree), fell into the power of sensual pleasures.

  

15. Fall of Brāhmanism: Gradually the society began to perceive the once sacred Sanātana Dharma as despicable “old and mean Dhamma,” as Lord Buddha put it. Brāhmanism lost its sanctity and Brāhmins lost their integrity, and their reputation was seriously damaged. Brāhmins were no longer considered holy. Ashoka the Great laments in one of his Edicts[4] issued in 257 B. C. Rock Edict # 4:

In the past, for many hundreds of years, killing or harming living beings and improper behavior towards relatives, and improper behavior towards Brāhmins and ascetics has increased.

16. Epithets of decadent Brāhmanism: Soon epithets such as Kāma (lust for sense objects), Krodha (wrath against other kings), Mada (haughtiness born out of power and wealth), Moha (delusion of grandeur arising from wealth), Lobha (greed for wealth, heaven), Mātsarya (jealousy of other kings), and Sankalpa (design for Karmaphalam in Yajna) came to be associated with the upper classes of Brāhmanism. 

17. Scolding galore: Throughout the Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna condemns these selfish ritualists who caused the decay of once-noble Dharma as infirm-in-mind (2:41), unwise (2:42), desire-ridden (2:43), fickle-minded (2:44), despicable (2:49), thieves (3:12), sinful (3:13), vain (3:16), ignorant (3:26, 4:40), wicked (4:8), most sinful of all sinners (4:36), deluded, lowest of men (7:15), stupid (7:20, 24), idiots (7:23), fools (9:11), of vain hope, action and knowledge, devoid of discrimination (9:12), men who fall or perish (9:24), demoniacal (9:12), hypocritical, proud and arrogant (16:10), self-conceited, stubborn and ostentatious (16:17), insolent and egoistic (16:18); worst among men (16:19), so on and so forth.

18. Three great maladies appear: Decadence of Brāhmanism resulted in the appearance of three great maladies of mankind in the ancient Indian society, which have persisted in India to this day: Shokam (grief over loss of innocence), Dwandwam (loss of wisdom arising from attachment to sense objects) and obsession with gaining Karmaphalam by means of Yajna (Pūja).

 When Lord Krishna said in the Charama (Ultimate) shloka of the Bhagavad Gita 18:66, “Abandon all Dharmas and surrender unto Me alone, I shall deliver your from all evil, do not grieve!” He was referring to these three evils of mankind arising from abuse of the two Brāhmanic doctrines: The Gunas of Prakriti and the Law of Karma.

Suffice it to say that by 600 B.C. north India was in a great deal of turmoil. The Dharma that was invented to bring Law and Order in the chaotic society itself became the cause of lawlessness and disorder across the land.[5] Amazing how little India has changed in 3000 years!

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[1] These kingdoms were known as Mahājanapāda (Great Realms, or footholds of people, kingdoms).

[2] Buddha's teachings: Suttanipāta or Discourse-Collection. By Lord Chalmers

[3] In the Bhagavad Gita Lord Krishna plays five different roles: Prince Achyuta playing the role of Arjuna’s charioteer (1:21) in the Mahābhārata epic; Upanishadic Guru (2:7); Lord of beings of Upanishadism (4:6-7); resurgent Brāhmanic Purushotthama (14:1-2), and finally Bhāgavata Parameshwara (11:3).

[4] Buddhist Publication Society, Sri Lanka; Wikipedia.

[5] Lawlessness like this is widespread in India today due to crooked politicians, corrupt bureaucrats, hypocritical religious leaders, and idiotic religious extremists.