"DHARMA AND EXISTENTIAL CHOICE: RECONSTRUCTING HINDU ETHICS THROUGH AN EXISTENTIALIST LENS"

Abstract

This paper explores the category of dharma within the Hindu philosophical tradition, showing that an existentialist perspective can broaden dharma beyond being cosmic law or social obligation to an existential field of choice. Basing themselves on historically classical Hindu literature, especially the Bhagavad Gita and Dharmashastra literature, as well as existential thinkers such as Sartre, Kierkegaard, and Jaspers, a convergence between Hindu ethics and existentialist thought is revealed here that can be astounding. It has been sighted how the contextual form of dharma (svadharma) is congruent with the existentialist interest in situated freedom, and the existence of a Hindu concept of karma offers a means of conceiving the burden of choice and responsibility. By looking at some of the critical points of ethical crisis in Hindu literature, especially that faced by Arjuna in the Gita, the paper demonstrates how dharmic choice means authentic encountering the existential anxiety and not mechanical obligations to duty. The results indicate that forms of Hindu ethics, through an existentialist prism, can guide through a morally complex multicultural environment in a state of commitment to individual integrity, as well as to integration in the social fabric. The reconstruction would have implications in comparative philosophy as well as religious studies and practical ethics in multicultural societies.