Why Dharma Takes Time to Triumph

Allies must be found. Choices must be made. For dharma to act decisively, it must be an appropriate time too.

- DR SHASHIKIRAN UMAKANTH

The question of why dharma, or righteousness, often seems slow to prevail has echoed through civilizations. For many, this delay feels perplexing or even unjust. People suffer, wrongdoers appear to thrive, and justice remains out of reach. Is delayed justice, then, a form of denied justice? Hindu philosophy, and similar reflections in other traditions, suggest otherwise. What appears as delay is often a precise and necessary process of moral rebalancing.

DHARMA OBEYS THE LAWS OF TIME AND CAUSALITY In the Bhagavad Gita (4.7-8), Sri Krishna declares: "Whenever there is a decline in dharma and a rise in adharma, O Bharata, I then manifest myself. I appear age after age, to protect the righteous, to destroy the wrongdoers and to establish dharma." However, this promise is not one of immediate action. Like any system governed by cause and effect, the response unfolds within the boundaries of time and readiness. In the Ramayana, Rama does not confront Ravana immediately after Sita's abduction. Instead, events must mature. Allies must be found. Choices must be made. For dharma to act decisively, it must be an appropriate time too. Similarly, in the Mahabharata, the prolonged exile, humiliation and moral trials of the Pandavas precede the great war. These are not delays, they are part of the preparation that dharma requires before it can act decisively.

Comparable patterns exist in other traditions. The Israelites in the Bible endured generations of bondage before liberation. Their prayers were heard, but their release was timed to coincide with the emergence of a leader, Moses, and the readiness of the people.

From a broader perspective, such timing is not a delay, but precise timing.