I had an occasion to read Message from Parliament House in which Justice Dr. Rama Jois had compiled the inscriptions as on the walls of our Parliament House. Some of the shlokas tell us profound wisdom providing us an insight into Dharma essential to the art of the management of the public affairs to.
| Text of the inscriptions | English rendering of the text | The place where the inscriptions exist |
| धर्मचक्र–प्रवर्तनाय (Lalit Vistara Ch, 26) | For moving the Wheel of Dharma. | Overlooking the Speaker’s Chair in the Lok Sabha. |
| सत्यं वद धर्मं चर (The Taittreeyopanishad Shikshavalli) | Speak Truth; Follow Dharma | On the top of the entry gate to the Rajya Sabha. |
| एकं सद्विप्रा बहुधा वदन्ति (The Rigveda I-164-466) | ‘One alone exists, the learned call Him in many names. | On the top of the entry gate to the Rajya Sabha. |
| इनलाहो ला यूगय यरो मा _बकौ _मनह_ता युगय यरो वा _बन _तसे हुम “Almighty God will not change the condition of any people unless they bring about a change in themselves.” | “Almighty God will not change the condition of any people unless they bring about a change in themselves”
(as translated in Message) |
Inscribed in the arc-shaped outer-lobby of the Lok Sabha. |
The quotes on the rocks have been carefully chosen to show those canons of practical ethics which inhere in Dharma, and always govern the discharge of the Kartavy-karma. ‘Dharma’ has no doctrinal bias, no sectarian bias, and no sectoral underpinnings. They are the profound instructions for right actions to all our Arjunas present in Parliament how to act in discharge of their duties.
The most fundamental concept that we know is of Dharma. This word cannot be translated in any other language of the world because nowhere else the very grammar of existence was discerned with greater profundity and clarity. At the cosmic level, Dharma sustains everything so that it can run its course in accordance with its own existential grammar
The concept of Dharma has great practical relevance. Dharma, as Medhatithi says, means kartavya which is generally translated as ‘duties’ (Dharmasbdad kartavyata vachanah) . An expert has explained it as a set of norms followed by those learned in the Vedas, and are “approved by the conscience of the virtuous who are exempt from hatred and inordinate affection.” The Vaishesik philosophy defines its objective as the promotion of welfare ( yatobhhudayani). Bhishma tells King Yudhisthira that the core of Dharma is: to love others (‘Shantiparva’ Ch. 260). Dharma sustains everything, human and non-human, and controls and regulates their nature and their acts. The Mahabharata has emphasised, at several places, that victory always goes with dharma : ‘Yato Dharmahstato Jayah’ [reiterated by Karna (‘Ydyogaparva’ Ch. 142; by Drona (‘Ydyogaparva’ Ch.148); by Arjuna (‘Bhishmaparva’ Ch.21); by Sanjaya (‘Bhishmaparva’ Ch.65) ; and by Bhishma (‘Bhishmaparva’ Ch. 66)].
On The Loom Of Time 