Eternal India Encyclopedia

Eternal India encyclopedia

Ancient Concepts, Sciences & Systems

D HARM A

dharme sarva prathishtitham

tasmaadharmam paramam vadanthi

dharmena papamapanudathi

Dharma constitutes the foundation of all affairs in the world. People respect one who adheres to Dharma. Everything in this world is founded on Dharma. Dharma, therefore is considered Supreme.

Hindu jurisprudence or the legal system (Vyavahara Dhar- masastra) is embedded in Dharma as propounded in the Vedas, Puranas, Smritis and other works on the topic. Dharma is a Sanskrit expression of the widest importance. There is no corre- sponding word in any other language. It would be also futile to attempt to give any definition of the word. It can only be explained. It has wide varieties of meaning. A few of them would enable us to understand the width of the expression. For instance, the word Dharma is used to mean Justice ( Nyaya ), what is right in a given circumstance, moral, religion, pious or righteous conduct, being helpful to living beings, giving charity or alms, natural qualities or characteristics or properties of living beings and things, duty, law and usage or custom having the force of law, and also a valid Rajashasana (royal edict). The Mahabharata contains a discussion on Dharma. On being questioned by Yudhistira about the meaning and scope of Dharma, Bhishma states:

After degp study and meditation, the great seers declared that unless kama (the desire) to have all earthly i.e. material pleasure (artha) and those proceeding from anger, greed, passion, infatu- ation and enmity of every individual is controlled by rules and not the strength or weakness of the individual human beings, incessant conflict, fight and consequential loss of happiness, peace as also the loss of material pleasure itself would be the inevitable conse- quence. It is for this purpose that the rules of Dharma were expanded to cover all aspects of life. It is thus that the whole body of rules, which declared as to what were the proper desires which one should entertain and also what were the proper ways and means to acquire the material pleasure properly desired, came to be known collectively as Dharma. DEFINITION OF LAW Having evolved the concept of enforceability of law through the institution of kingship, ancient Hindu jurists proceeded to define the law. Law was recognised as a mighty instrument necessary for the protection of individual rights and liberties. Whenever the right or liberty of an individual was encroached by another, the injured indi- vidual could seek the protection of the law with the assistance of the king, however powerful the opponent (wrongdoer) might be. The power of the king (State) to enforce the law or to punish the wrongdoer was recognised as the force (sanction) behind the law which could compel implicit obedience to the law. After declaring that Kshatra power i.e. the king, was created by the creator the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad proceeds to state, finding that the mere creation of kingship was not enough, the most excellent Dharma (law), a power superior to that of the king, was created to enable the king to protect the people and gives the definition of law as follows: Law is the king of kings. Nothing is superior to law. The law aided by the power of the king enables the weak to prevail over the strong. Commenting on the above provisions Dr. S. Radhakrishnan ob- serves: “Even kings are subordinate to Dharma, to the rule of law.” Therefore declaration of law by a political superior or sovereign (the king) and the availability of the power of the State machinery for enforcement of that law are stated to be the essential requisites of an imperative law. The law as defined in Hindu jurisprudence also meant that it was enforceable against individuals with the aid of the physical power of the king. The power of the king constituted the instrument of coercion. This aspect is forcefully put by Manu

s ; It is most difficult to define Dharma. Dharma has been explained to be that which helps the upliftment of living beings. Therefore that which ensures welfare (of living beings) is surely Dharma The learned rishis have declared that which sustains is Dharma. ________________________________________________ Manu states that the force behind every action of a human being is his desire ( kama). The next question is what are the natural desires of man. The natural desire of man was found to be the desire to have sexual and emotional enjoyment and wealth i.e. material pleasure and ( artha ). Artha is explained by Vatsayana as connoting material pleasure such as gold, com, including education or knowledge necessary to earn wealth. The source of all evil actions of human beings was traced to the desire for material pleasure which in turn gave rise to conflict of interests among individuals. Further it was found that the desire {kama) of human beings could also be influenced by other impulses inherent in human beings such as anger ( krodha ), passion ( moha ), greed ( lobha ), infatuation ( mada ), and enmity ( matsarya)