Righteousness Dictionary

grihastha dharma: (Sanskrit) "Householder law."

The virtues and ideals of family life. This dharma includes all nonmonastics, whether married, single or gay. In general, grihastha dharma begins with the completion of the period of studentship and extends throughout the period of raising a family (called the grihastha ashrama).

Specific scriptures, called Dharma Shastras and Grihya Shastras, outline the duties and obligations of family life.

In Hinduism, family life is one of serving, learning and striving within a close-knit community of many relatives forming a joint family and its broader connections as an extended family under the aegis of a spiritual guru. Each is expected to work harmoniously to further the wealth and happiness of the family and the society, to practice religious disciplines and raise children of strong moral fiber to carry on the tradition.

Life is called a jivayajna, "self-sacrifice," for each incarnation is understood as an opportunity for spiritual advancement through fulfilling one's dharma of birth, which is the pattern one chose before entering this world, a pattern considered by many as bestowed by God.

In the majority of cases, sons follow in the footsteps of their father, and daughters in those of their mother. All interrelate with love and kindness. Respect for all older than oneself is a keynote. Marriages are arranged and the culture is maintained.

The householder strives to fulfill the four purusharthas, "human goals" of righteousness, wealth, pleasure and liberation. While taking care of one's own family is most central, it is only part of this dharma's expectations.

Grihasthas must support the religion by building and maintaining temples, monasteries and other religious institutions, supporting the monastics and disseminating the teachings.

They must care for the elderly and feed the poor and homeless. Of course, the duties of husband and wife are different. The Tirukural describes the householder's central duties as serving these five: ancestors, God, guests, kindred and himself. The Dharma Shastras, similarly, enjoin daily sacrifice to rishis, ancestors, Gods, creatures and men.

See: ashrama dharma, extended family, joint family, yajna.

(See also: Grihastha dharma , Hinduism, Body Mind and Soul)

A Christian theological definition of Kingdom of God according to CARM - The Christian Apologetics & Research Ministry:

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Kingdom of God

See also: Kingdom of God , Christianity, Body Mind and Soul

ashrama dharma: "Duties of life's stages."

Human or developmental dharma. The natural process of maturing from childhood to old age through fulfillment of the duties of each of the four stages of life- brahmachari (student), grihastha (householder), vanaprastha (elder advisor) and sannyasa (religious solitaire)- in pursuit of the four human goals: dharma (righteousness), artha (wealth), kama (pleasure) and moksha (liberation).

See: ashrama dharma.

(See also: Ashrama dharma , Hinduism, Body Mind and Soul)

Shang (Chinese) In the I Ching, the constant virtues -- benevolence, laws, and rites of social life, righteousness, and correctness -- constituting the tao of man. "If the man of eminent virtue cultivates those four virtues, he is first and principal, all-pervading, beneficent, and immutably correct" (Wen yen 1).

(See also: Shang , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary)

A Christian theological definition of The Word of God according to CARM - The Christian Apologetics & Research Ministry:

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The Word of God:

See also: The Word of God , Christianity, Body Mind and Soul

Righteousness: God's Chariot Shows the Path

The wheel was, without doubt, a great technological breakthrough. It made quick motion possible. And when the wheel was integrated with the domesticated horse, it redefined mobility and did wonders for tactics and strategy of warfare. It also gave the charioteer a commanding view of life. Nagasena used the chariot as a metaphor to explain profound truths:

Read more here: » Righteousness: God's Chariot Shows the Path

Lebanon (Hebrew) A mountain range in Syria and Palestine of two principal chains, Lebanon or Libanus on the west and Antilibanus on the east. In this region dwell the brotherhood of the Druzes and likewise the Nabatheans.

Lebanon is most often associated with its cedars; however, the phrase cedars of Lebanon also meant initiants who "were called the 'trees of Righteousness,' and the cedars of Lebanon, as also were come kings of Israel" (SD 2:494). In India too adepts of the right- and left-hand path were often called trees. It depended upon the tree which was selected as being beneficent or maleficent as, for instance, the upas tree of the left-hand, or the bodhi tree of the right-hand.

While the range of mountains in Syria and Palestine is called Lebanon (white), nevertheless there is a direct ancient mystical reference here to the moon or lunar influence; as a meaning of this range as envisaged by the ancient inhabitants would be the lunar range of mountains, points directly to esoteric observances connected with the moon and its malignant and unwholesome influences.

(See also: Lebanon , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

Golden Rule In the West, applied to the moral teaching as voiced by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount, and stated by him to be all the law and the prophets:

• "All things whatsoever ye would that man should do to you, do ye even so to them" (Matt 7:12):
• "As ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise" (Luke 6:31).

This teaching is in all the religions of the world, expressing the law of our higher nature, which is love and harmony, as contrasted with the law of our lower nature, which makes for personal separateness and sets the individual at variance with his neighbor. Its realization in thought and conduct is an indispensable requisite to attainment on the path of wisdom and liberation.

The following are selected from many similar teachings:

Hillel, Jewish Rabbi (b. 50 B.C.):

"Do not to others what you would not like others to do to you."

Aristotle, Greek (385B.C.):

"We should conduct ourselves towards others as we would have them act towards us."

Pittacus, Greek (650 B.C.):

"Do not to your neighbor what you would take ill from him."

Zoroaster, Persian:

"Hold it not meet to do unto others what thou wouldst not desire done unto thyself; do that unto the people, which when done to thyself, is not disagreeable unto these."

Confucius, China:

"Do unto another what you would have him do unto you, and do not unto another what you would not have him do unto you."

The Mahabharata, India:

"This is the sum of all true righteousness -- treat others as thou wouldst thyself be treated. Do nothing to thy neighbor which hereafter thou wouldst not have thy neighbor do to thee."

(See also: Golden Fleece , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

Dvapara Yuga (Sanskrit) (from dvapara twain, double + yuga age)

The third of the four great yugas which constitute a mahayuga (great age). Its duration is 864,000 human years. The Mahabharata gives a description of the dvapara yuga:

"In the Dwapara Yuga righteousness was diminished by a half. The Veda became fourfold. Some men studied four Vedas, other three, others two, others one, and some none at all. Ceremonies were celebrated in a great variety of ways. From the decline of goodness only few men adhered to truth.

When men had fallen away from goodness, many diseases, desires, and calamities, caused by destiny, assailed them, by which they were severely afflicted and driven to practise austerities. Others desiring heavenly bliss offered sacrifices. Thus men declined through unrighteousness" (abridged by Muir, 1:144)

(See also: Dvapara Yuga , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

Kama:

Kama: Endeavour, moral desire; one of the Four Goals of Human Life together with Dharma, Artha, Moksha (Righteousness, Welfare and Liberation), (RRV-5), (Leela Kaivalya Vahini).

(See also: Kama , Hinduism, Hinduism Dictionary, Sanskrit Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

Golden Rule In the West, applied to the moral teaching as voiced by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount, and stated by him to be all the law and the prophets:

• "All things whatsoever ye would that man should do to you, do ye even so to them" (Matt 7:12):
• "As ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise" (Luke 6:31).

This teaching is in all the religions of the world, expressing the law of our higher nature, which is love and harmony, as contrasted with the law of our lower nature, which makes for personal separateness and sets the individual at variance with his neighbor. Its realization in thought and conduct is an indispensable requisite to attainment on the path of wisdom and liberation.

The following are selected from many similar teachings:

Hillel, Jewish Rabbi (b. 50 B.C.):

"Do not to others what you would not like others to do to you."

Aristotle, Greek (385B.C.):

"We should conduct ourselves towards others as we would have them act towards us."

Pittacus, Greek (650 B.C.):

"Do not to your neighbor what you would take ill from him."

Zoroaster, Persian:

"Hold it not meet to do unto others what thou wouldst not desire done unto thyself; do that unto the people, which when done to thyself, is not disagreeable unto these."

Confucius, China:

"Do unto another what you would have him do unto you, and do not unto another what you would not have him do unto you."

The Mahabharata, India:

"This is the sum of all true righteousness -- treat others as thou wouldst thyself be treated. Do nothing to thy neighbor which hereafter thou wouldst not have thy neighbor do to thee."

(See also: Golden Rule , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

yuga: (Sanskrit) "Period, age."

One of four ages which chart the duration of the world according to Hindu thought. They are:

-       Satya Yuga (or Krita),

-       Treta Yuga,

-       Dvapara Yuga

-       Kali Yuga

In the first period, dharma reigns supreme, but as the ages revolve, virtue diminishes and ignorance and injustice increases. At the end of the Kali Yuga, which we are in now, the cycle begins again with a new Satya Yuga.

-       It is said in the Mahabharata that during the Satya Yuga all are brahmins, and the color of this yuga is white.

-       In the Treta Yuga, righteousness decreases by one-fourth and men seek reward for their rites and gifts; the color is red and the consciousness of the kshatriya, sovereignty, prevails.

-       In the Dvapara Yuga, the four varnas come fully into existence. The color is yellow.

-       In the Kali Yuga, the color is black. Righteousness is one-tenth that of the Satya Yuga. True worship and sacrifice cease, and base, or shudra, consciousness is prominent. Calamities, disease, fatigue and faults such as anger and fear prevail. People decline and their motives grow weak.

See: cosmic cycle, mahapralaya, pralaya.

(See also: Yuga , Hinduism, Body Mind and Soul)

Mencius (390-305 BCE): Latinized name for Meng-tzu, the most important Confucian writer after Confucius; Mencius emphisized the importance of humanity (jen) and righteousness (i), and argued that human nature is essentially good. His writings, the Mencius, are one of the Four Books (shu) of Confucianism.

 (See also: Mencius , Eastern Philosophy, Body Mind and Soul)

Treta Yuga (Sanskrit) [from treta triad, triple + yuga age]

The second of the four great yugas which constitute a mahayuga (great age). It is said that during this age three parts of truth prevail; its duration is 1,296,000 years.

In the Mahabharata Hanuman, the learned monkey chief, gives a description of the treta yuga: "In the Treta Yuga sacrifice commenced, righteousness decreased by one-fourth; men adhered to truth, and were devoted to a righteousness dependent on ceremonies. Sacrifices prevailed with holy acts and a variety of rites. Men acted with an object in view, seeking after reward for their rites and their gifts, and were no longer disposed to austerities and to liberality from a simple feeling of duty" (abridgment by Muir 1:144).

See also SATYA YUGA

(See also: Treta Yuga , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Body mind and Soul)

Kali Yuga (Sanskrit) Iron age or black age; the fourth and last of the four great yugas constituting a mahayuga (great age), the other three being the krita or satya yuga, treta yuga, and dvapara yuga. The kali yuga is the most material phase of a being's or group's evolutionary cycle. The fifth root-race is at present in its kali yuga, which is stated to have commenced at the moment of Krishna's death, usually given as 3102 BC.

The Hindus also assert that at the first moment of kali yuga there was a conjunction of all the planets. Although the kali yuga is our present profoundly materialistic age, in which only one fourth of truth prevails among humanity, making a period often called an age black with horrors, its swift momentum permits one to do more with his energies, good or bad, in a shorter time than in any other yuga. This period will be followed by the krita yuga of the next root-race.

The Vishnu-Purana says of the kali yuga that the barbarians will be masters of the banks of the Indus, of Chandrabhaga and Kasmira, that "there will be contemporary monarchs, reigning over the earth -- kings of churlish spirit, violent temper, and ever addicted to falsehood and wickedness. They will inflict death on women, children, and cows; they will seize upon the property of their subjects, and be intent upon the wives of others; they will be of unlimited power, their lives will be short, their desires insatiable. . . .

People of various countries intermingling with them, will follow their example; and the barbarians being powerful (in India) in the patronage of the princes, while purer tribes are neglected, the people will perish (or, as the Commentator has it, 'The Mlechchhas will be in the centre and the Aryas in the end.') Wealth and piety will decrease until the world will be wholly depraved. Property alone will confer rank; wealth will be the only source of devotion; passion will be the sole bond of union between the sexes; falsehood will be the only means of success in litigations; and women will be objects merely of sensual gratification. . . . a man if rich will be reputed pure; dishonesty (anyaya) will be the universal means of subsistence, weakness the cause of dependence, menace and presumption will be substituted for learning; liberality will be devotion; mutual assent, marriage; fine clothes, dignity.

He who is the strongest will reign; the people, unable to bear the heavy burthen, Khara bhara (the load of taxes) will take refuge among the valleys. . . . Thus, in the Kali age will decay constantly proceed, until the human race approaches its annihilation (pralaya). . . . When the close of the Kali age shall be nigh, a portion of that divine being which exists, of its own spiritual nature . . . shall descend on Earth . . . (Kalki Avatar) endowed with the eight superhuman faculties. . . . He will re-establish righteousness on earth, and the minds of those who live at the end of Kali Yuga shall be awakened and become as pellucid as crystal. The men who are thus changed . . . shall be the seeds of human beings, and shall give birth to a race who shall follow the laws of the Krita age, the age of purity. As it is said, 'When the sun and moon and the lunar asterism Tishya and the planet Jupiter are in one mansion, the Krita (or Satya) age shall return' " (SD 1:377-8).

See also YUGA.

(See also: Kali Yuga , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

Dharmakshethra:

Dharmakshethra: See Kurukshetra. 'An arena of righteousness' (SSS-IV)

(See also: Dharmakshethra , Hinduism, Hinduism Dictionary, Sanskrit Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

saddharma:

saddharma. True dharma or righteousness.

(See also: saddharma , Hinduism, Hinduism Dictionary, Sanskrit Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

Chakravartin cakravartin (Sanskrit) (from chakra wheel, cycle + vartin turning, one who governs)

Sovereign of the world, universal ruler; a title applied to several Hindu emperors, but referring particularly to Vishnu, who in the treta yuga in the form of a universal monarch protected the three worlds.

At the end of kali yuga, legend states that Vishnu will appear again under his form of the Kalki-avatara, or Maitreya as the Buddhists say, reforming or doing away with the wicked and inaugurating a realm of spirituality and righteousness. Equivalent to the Hebrew Enduring King (Enoch 36:3).

(See also: Chakravartin, cakravartin , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

Dharma:

Religion; duty; righteousness. The highest dharma is to recognize the Truth in one's own heart.

(See also: Dharma , Kundalini, Kundalini Yoga, Kundalini Dictionary)

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V X Y Z

Melchizedek malchi-tsedeq (Hebrew) [from melech king + tsedeq righteousness]

My king of righteousness; the king-priest of Salem, who met Abraham and blessed him (Genesis 14:18), alluding to the ancient king-initiates, the founders of races as well as the eponyms of cycles and the representatives of spiritual powers.

The name afterwards became generic (Psalms 110:4 and Hebrew 7 where a Messianic theory is hinted at), and Jesus is described as a high priest after the order of Melchisedek, which corresponds in mystical Judaism to the Order of Wisdom and Compassion in the theosophic philosophy. The term may signify the Maha-chohan, of the brotherhood of mahatmas, and also can stand for this Order itself or anyone who has reached a high degree of initiation therein.

Melchizedek is identified with Kronos or Saturn and with Noah (SD 2:391-2), the variant spellings Sadik, Sydik, and Zedec being given. As a type-figure he is connected with the sun and moon and the story of Jesus Christ (Lucifer 1:493, Feb 1888).

(See also: Melchizedek, malchi-tsedeq , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary)

Cedar Throughout Asia Minor initiates were called the trees of righteousness, hence the mystical meaning of "the cedars of Lebanon," in which category belong also some kings of Israel; and the same term was applied in India, but mostly to adepts of the left-hand path (SD 2:494-5).

(See also: Cedar , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

Moksha:

Moksha: Ultimate release (BV-10), liberation from the cycle of birth and dead, (BV-33), Liberation; one of the Four Goals of Human Life together with Dharma, Artha, Kama (Righteousness, Welfare and Endeavour) (RRV-5), (BV-36).

(See also: Moksha , Hinduism, Hinduism Dictionary, Sanskrit Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)