The Dharma of life always unfolds with the ultimate victory of Good over Evil. But good takes a long time to destroy the evil, and that period is what creates the story of life and leads to the self-realisation of humanity.
This fight of good and evil can be seen from the conflict between countries over economic, ideological and power, to social, economic and religious differences between communities. It is also visible in disparities across states in a country to differences within a company, society, home, or between two people. So, what is the essential thing that the Good has within itself, for it to realise or do to achieve this victory?
It is an oft-asked question where seekers want to know how good can overcome evil. However, to answer this in totality, we first need to understand what is good and evil.
Every religion talks about a universal truth, the good or Dharma. The tenets say where there is God; there is Truth or Satya. Satya resides in the heart of all of us, by design. However, this Truth differs from person to person.
Your perception of what is right stems from your understanding, experiences and beliefs, and it would be different from what the other believes. And two rights can co-exist; however, Truth is the only one middle higher path that applies to both of you. It is what is the higher good called Satya or Dharma, which is mentioned in myriad ways in our scriptures.
In the Ramayana, Lord Ram underwent a 14-year exile because of the higher Truth of his father’s promise to his stepmother. As a Suryavanshi, he was bound to honour a promise, no matter the odds. When Sita was abducted in the forest, he battled Ravana for his Dharma as a husband. When they got back, he made her go through a purifying fire for his Dharma as a man. On returning to Ayodhya, Lord Ram sent Sita to the forest to fulfil the Dharma of a king. Thus, the higher Truth always prevails.
Remember, Dharma protects you when you protect Dharma. If you don’t do that, Dharma will destroy you. However, this is where many people fail to understand what they must righteously do and instead turn fanatical. They forget that no religion advocates violence in their scriptures.
We say good people suffer, and that’s true because they are trained in their mindset not to raise their hands when wronged. Hence they find it difficult to stand up and fight. But to uphold and protect Dharma, then if needed, the good has to raise arms, and that is most difficult for him as he has become good with the idea that he should not harm or destroy. He needs to realise that any action that takes place to establish righteousness is not violence that comes from hatred or negativity. It is an essential act done at the command of the higher Truth.
In the Mahabharata, Lord Krishna had to explain the Geeta to Arjun on why he must raise arms against his loved ones. Dronacharya and Jayadratha were killed with the help of lies and illusions as upholding the victory of Dharma was a higher Truth.
A good person would have many virtues of kindness, hard work, dedication, sincerity, responsibility, forgiveness, compassion and honesty, to name a few. However, the one crucial thing that a good person finds most difficult is to fight. What he needs to imbibe in him is the power to establish righteousness or Dharma by overcoming evil. And for that, he needs additional weapons for taming or destroying the evil using detachment, purity of thoughts, intellect and immense power. It is how eternal or Sanatana Dharma is established, and that is why all Hindu Gods are depicted with weapons on them.
