Jan 30, 2022 - Grade 9 (Sunday PM)

Hari Om Parents of 9^th Graders,

Hope this cold weather finds you all in the best of wellbeing and spirits. We are progressing quite a bit in our class and this past Sunday introduced "Swadharma" to our eager children. This was a perfect segway after learning the topics of Karma, Gunas and the Varna system. 

Swadharma, meaning one's own Dharma, is derived from the words Swa meaning for oneself and Dharma. Swadharma has been explained as the lawful conduct of oneself based on one's ability. It requires one to be aware of one's strengths, abilities and weaknesses. The idea of Swadharma is emphasized in the Bhagavad Gita. The Bhagavad Gita states that if one accepts Swadharma, the actions that one performs becomes effortless. This is because the ability to perform these actions come naturally and the complexity of the task is not an impediment. The Bhagavad Gita also says that it is better to perish while performing Swadharma rather than perform actions that should be performed by others. This is because one will perform one's Swadharma with great conviction but such conviction is not guaranteed when doing someone else's Dharma.

Swadharma is often related to Swabhava or one's innate tendencies and abilities. It is defined as one's innate nature or personality that defines one's existence. That is, one's Swabhava is one's real nature which dictates how one interacts with this universe. In the end, one Swabhava is nothing but "sat-chit-ananda" leading to moksha.

We explained this concept in a most creative way using the below diagram and asked everyone to explain their own Swabhava. Through round robin evolved their innate personalities and it was excellent to see how a lot of our kids have empathy, compassion and a need to really serve what the world needs. We even discussed how this exercise makes it so much easier to choose one's profession or interests & hobbies or even goals. Thoroughly and thoughtfully the concept was introduced with a lot of passion, discussion and purpose. Please ask your children what they learnt and send us your feedback.

Looking forward to close the discussion on Swadharma and moving on to the next enlightenment topic.

Until then, stay blessed and stay happy.

Hari Om

9^th Grade Teachers.