There are six types of wealth that give us the energy to push the mind to the highest strata of realisation of the self. They are called the Shat Sampattih. We have seen Shama or quietude of mind and Dama or the control of the sense organs. The third wealth is called Uparama or withdrawal from the happenings, people and sense objects of the world and focusing on one’s own duty or business.
These are essential qualities not just for spiritual realisation, but also for success in achievement in the whole world. For Uparama to happen, the first two steps of Shama and Dama are essential. Once you achieve them, Uparama or withdrawal of the mind naturally happens. A withdrawn mind is not a boring mind.
Mind is knowledge. When we are engaging in the world, there is only knowledge of one object, situation or person. However, when the mind is withdrawn from the few attachments to knowledge in the world, it is available in its immense strength for any particular thing that it needs to achieve.
However, Adi Shankaracharyaji in the Tatwa Bodha does not say that Uparama is just withdrawal of the mind. Withdraw the mind from the world and do what? Focus on the work that needs to be done. The duty that has to be discharged by every individual is called that person’s dharma. Dharma is a very deep word, but if one sincerely analyses their status in life and their responsibilities, then one’s own dharma is not easy to arrive at. The dharma of a student is to study.
The dharma of a householder is to take care of the people, objects and situations at home and serve the society too. The dharma of a person, who has withdrawn from the world and is still searching for a meaning in life, is to worship God and prepare the mind for the final plunge into the realisation of the truth. The dharma of a sanyasi, who has taken the last leap into one’s own self on the path of self-realisation, is to completely withdraw from all activities and transactions in the world through body, mind or intellect, and meditate upon the end of all realisation—the self. In brief, Swadharma is to worship the ultimate truth that is the substratum of this universe and seek one’s own true essential nature within.
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