HINDU ENCYCLOPEDIA

सनातन धर्म भूमिका

Meaning of "Dama"

Word

Dama

Sanskrit

दम

IAST

dama

In General

Dama means the quality of Self-restraint in man and women; it is one of the six virtues(shatsampati) to be cultivated by every age group. By Dama in religious text means training the external indriya and thus keeping the body and the senses under control. This can be achieved only by sadhana or spiritual exercise.

This quality consists in not letting the senses run out towards the sense objects. This is one of the Sadhana Sampathi the Advata School of thought promotes. If one were able to control the mind perfectly, dama would be unnecessary, otherwise it is a more powerful strategy to work on the mind apparatus from all sides.

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