Param Veda

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Volume 2 · Dharma Veda · Chapter 3 · Dharma Saṃhitā - Short Hymns of Duty

मान-धर्मः

Canon Rev1 / Commentary Rev1 (25 December 2025)

Sanskrit

मानः प्रथमको नियमः, अपमानो हिंसा स्मृतः । समूह-दोषः निषिद्धः स्यात्, मानव्यं धर्म-भूषणम् ॥

IAST

mānaḥ prathamako niyamaḥ, apamāno hiṃsā smṛtaḥ | samūha-doṣaḥ niṣiddhaḥ syāt, mānavyaṃ dharma-bhūṣaṇam ||

English (literal)

Dignity is the first rule; humiliation is violence. Collective blame is forbidden; humanity adorns Dharma.

English (poetic)

Dignity first; no collective guilt.

Commentary

Bhāṣya

Dignity (māna) is declared the first rule because humiliation is a quiet form of violence. It precedes fists and weapons; it prepares them. When people are taught that another group is dirty, inferior, or collectively guilty, cruelty becomes ‘natural’. Param Veda forbids samūha-doṣa — collective blame. This is a direct antidote to communalism. Individuals are accountable; identities are not criminal codes. A civilization grows when it can punish wrongdoing without degrading entire populations. Dignity is also scientific: it is a recognition that every human mind is a bearer of reason, vulnerability, and capacity for reform. To protect dignity is to protect the conditions for dialogue, learning, and peace.

Praśna–Uttara

Student
“Is dignity earned?”
Teacher
“Respect may be earned; dignity is inherent.”
Student
“How to guard dignity in conflict?”
Teacher
“Attack the act, not the being.”

Prayoga

  1. Do not use slurs, even as ‘jokes’.
  2. In criticism, name a behavior and a remedy.
  3. Refuse group-blame in your own community first.