on dharma

i had understood dharma to be that path of life necessary for one's spiritual advancement, which involves progress towards one's true self and the annihilation of individualistic pride. i now (very briefly) summarize the 'bottom-up' notion of dharma that the gita presents. i find it helps to think of dharma as the basic nature of an entity, its inherent path of duty. the dharma of a complex entity is then realized by the smooth intermingling of the dharma of each of its components. so:

the dharma of the mind is to think, to imagine, cogitate, accept, believe, value.

the dharma of the organs of perception is to imbibe the knowledge of sense objects.

the dharma of the intellect is to discern, comprehend, judge impartially, take decisions.

and the dharma of the jivatma then is to ensure that the mind, intellect and sense organs perform their dharma without hindrance and in perfect freedom so as to establish an equanimous intellect, enable the being to transcend individualistic confines, and allow the dharma of the individual to be realized, which is to be established in sat chit anand.