GENERAL / INTRODUCTION
1. Why does a school focused on logic and matter, like Vaisesika, give importance
to dharma?
→ Vaisesika believes that understanding the world logically includes understanding
how to live rightly. Dharma gives structure to human life, just like laws give structure
to the physical world.
2. How is Vaisesika’s idea of dharma different from that of other schools like
Mimamsa or Vedanta?
→ Mimamsa focuses on ritual duties, and Vedanta links dharma with realizing
Brahman. Vaisesika sees dharma as moral action and right conduct, which leads to
moksha.
3. Is dharma in Vaisesika the same as religious law?
→ No, it's broader. It includes right actions, kindness, truth, and discipline. While the
Vedas are a source, logic and experience also help define dharma.
1. NATURE OF DHARMA
4. How does right conduct lead to liberation in Vaisesika?
→ Right conduct purifies the soul. When the soul becomes free from negative karma
and ignorance, it can attain moksha.
5. Is dharma universal or individual in Vaisesika?
→ It’s both. Some values like truth and kindness are universal, but duties also depend
on age, role, and situation (dharmavisesa).
2. SPECIAL DHARMA (DHARMAVISESA)
6. Can someone's dharma change over time?
→ Yes. Dharma changes with age, occupation, and life stage. A student’s duty is to
study, but later in life, it may be to serve family or society.
7. What if individual dharma clashes with universal values?
→ Vaisesika would advise using reason and the Vedas to balance both. Dharma is
about harmony, so decisions should not cause harm.
8. What happens if someone fails in their dharma?
→ It creates negative karma and delays spiritual progress. However, effort to correct
oneself can bring positive change.
3. DHARMA AS AN ATTRIBUTE OF THE SOUL (PURUSAGUNA)
9. If dharma is in the soul, do bad people also have it?
→ Yes, but it may be covered by ignorance or bad karma. Just like clouds hide the
sun, wrong actions hide dharma in the soul.
10. Can dharma be lost?
→ No, but it can be weakened by wrong choices. Practicing good deeds brings it back
into expression.
11. How is this different from Western views on conscience?
→ Western views often see conscience as psychological. Vaisesika sees dharma as a
metaphysical part of the soul itself.
4. DHARMA AS A MORAL DUTY
12. Who decides moral duty in Vaisesika—society or scripture?
→ Mainly the Vedas, but also personal reasoning and experience help when Vedic
rules are unclear.
13. Is dharma fixed or flexible?
→ It has fixed principles like truth and compassion, but how we apply them changes
with context.
14. What about dilemmas like lying to save a life?
→ Vaisesika would accept that intention matters. If the action is done with
compassion and for good, it can still be dharma.
5. DHARMA IN OBJECTS (PADARTHADHARMA)
15. What does it mean that fire has dharma?
→ It means everything has its natural behavior. Fire burns, water flows. This idea
connects ethics to nature—humans should also act according to their nature, which is
to do good.
16. Does this apply to machines?
→ Vaisesika mainly refers to natural objects. Machines may have function but not
dharma in the same spiritual sense.
17. Is this determinism?
→ No, humans have free will. While objects behave by nature, humans can choose to
follow or ignore their dharma.
6. SOURCE OF DHARMA
18. What if Vedas and logic contradict each other?
→ Vaisesika tries to harmonize them. If something is unclear in the Vedas, logic
helps interpret it properly.
19. Why are Vedas the authority?
→ Because they are considered revealed knowledge (śruti) and provide moral
guidance that reason alone may miss.
20. Can experience alone teach dharma?
→ It can give insight, but full understanding often needs both experience and
scriptural knowledge.
CONCLUSION / APPLICATION
21. Is this view of dharma relevant today?
→ Yes, because it teaches moral living, respect, and purpose—values still needed in
modern life.
22. Can one follow dharma without belief in moksha or the Vedas?
→ Yes. Even without religious belief, living truthfully and kindly benefits both self
and society.
23. Do other schools agree that dharma is part of the soul?
→ Some do, like Nyaya, while others like Mimamsa focus more on action than on the
soul's attributes.
24. How does this help with modern issues like injustice?
→ It reminds us that each action matters. Practicing justice, truth, and compassion is
the way to build a better society.
