vedaḥ smrtiḥ sadācāraḥ svasya ca priyam ātmanaḥ |

etac-catur vidhaḥ prāhuḥ sākṣād dharmasya lakṣaṇam ||

Meaning:  The Veda, tradition, the conduct or virtuous people and one’s own conscience,

This is declared to be the distinct four-fold source of Dharma. (Manu 2:12)

vidvidbhiḥ sevitaḥ sadbhir nityam adveṣa-rāgibhiḥ |

hṛdayena abhyanujñāto yo dharmas taṃ nibodhata ||

Meaning: “Dharma is that which the wise and the good, without attachment and aversion, always

Practiced, and which they acknowledged heartily (hrdayena-abhayanujñata) as dharma”.

(Manu 2:1)

na dharma adharmau carata āvaṃ sva iti |

na deva gandharvā na pitara ity ācakṣate-

‘ayaṃ dharmo- ‘ayam adharma iti ||

 yattv āryāḥ kriyamāṇaṃ praśaṃsanti sa

dharmo yad garhante so-‘adharmaḥ ||

Meaning:  For Virtue and Sin do not go about and say, ‘Here we are’; nor do gods, Gāndharvas, or Manes say

[To men], ‘This is Dharma that is Adharma.’ But that is Dharma, the practice of which the noble one’s praise; what they blame, is Adharma. (Apastamba 1:7:20: 6-7.)

Dharma is subject to conditions.

What Dharma should be practiced and when depends on a number of conditioning factors:—

1. svabhāva — the nature and temperament of an individual

2. bhūmika — the level of education and development

3. adhikāra — their capacity to judge and respond.

and

1. deśa — place

2. kāla — time

3. pātra — circumstances, and others involved.

Dharma is subject to democratic consensus

According to the Mahabharata, actions opposed by the people (loka-viruddha) are as sinful as those Condemned by the Veda (veda-viruddha).

karmaṇā manasā vācā yatnād dharmaṃ samācaret |

asvargyaṃ lokavidviṣṭaṃ dharmyam apy ācaren na tu ||

One should strive hard through body mind and speech to practice Dharma, but, a (so called)

Dharma which will not result in happiness and is disapproved of by the people

(loka-vidvista) must not be practiced”. (Yajñavalkya 1:156)

parityajed artha kāmau yau syātāṁ dharma-varjitau |

dharmaṁ ca-apy asukha udarkaṁ loka-saṅkruṣṭam eva ca ||

One should renounce Artha and Kama if they conflict with dharma and even dharma if it results in future unhappiness or arouses people’s indignation. (Manu 4:176)

Dharma must be based upon reason.

The Bhagavad Gita expressly enjoins:– buddhau śaraṇam anviccha — “Take refuge in reason”.(Gita 2:49)

Manu says:–

arṣa dharma upadeśaṃ ca veda śāstra avirodhinā |

yas tarkeṇa anusandhatte sa dharmaṃ veda netaraḥ ||

He alone, and no one else, knows Dharma, who thoroughly investigates the (teachings) of

the sages and the body of the laws, by (modes of) acceptable reasoning. (12:106)

DHARMA ENCOMPASSES THREE BROAD AREAS :

 * 1.VIRTUE

Personal virtue

 Social mores

National ethics

*2. DUTY

1. Sva-dharma – personal duties

2. Kula-dharma- familial duties

3. Jāti-dharma – professional duties

4. Samāj-dharma – social duties

5. Rāja-dharma – national duties

6. Prajā-dharma – duties of citizens

7. Yuga-dharma – duties of the age.

8. Puruṣa-dharma – duties of men

9. Strī-dharma – duties of women

10. Āpad-dharma – duties in emergencies’

*LAWS

1. Natural laws — ecology

2. Civil laws

3. Religious laws

Another division is :—

(1) samānya dharma — the common or the universal dharma and the

(2) viśeṣa dharma — specific or personal dharma.

                                                                                                        –Roshan Suvarna