What does dharma mean?
Dharma comes from a Sanskrit root that means “to hold” or “to support”; the Mahabharata says that dharma is so called “because it upholds all creatures”. It names what holds a life and a society together: right conduct, duty, law and the order of things. No single English word fits it. The texts speak of duties shared by everyone, such as non-harm and truthfulness, and of duties that belong to a person's own role and stage of life, called svadharma (Gita 2.31). Today the word is also used for “religion”, as in Hindu Dharma. The schools agree that dharma matters. They differ on how dharma is known, and on its place beside the goal of liberation.
Written for Pujadeep and checked against the sources listed.
What the schools say
Purva Mimamsa (Jaimini)
For the Mimamsa school, dharma is what the Veda commands. Jaimini's sutras open with “the desire of knowing Dharma or duty”, and the next sutra defines dharma as what is made known by a command of the Veda. Here dharma means, above all, the prescribed rites. On this view the Veda is the one sure means of knowing dharma.
Sources for this reading
- Mimamsa Sutra 1.1.1–2, as given in F. Max Müller, The Six Systems of Indian Philosophy (London and New York: Longmans, Green, 1899). Müller died 1900: public domain. The first sutra is quoted in Müller's words. (pp. 261–262 and 266–267 (leaves n296–n297, n301–n302); p. 261 and p. 267 checked on the page images)
Dharmashastra (Manu)
The law books name the sources of dharma. The Laws of Manu say: “The whole Veda is the (first) source of the sacred law, next the tradition and the virtuous conduct of those who know the (Veda further), also the customs of holy men, and (finally) self-satisfaction” (2.6). They set out duties by varna and by stage of life (ashrama). They also give one short list for all four varnas: non-harm, truthfulness, not stealing, purity and self-control (10.63).
Sources for this reading
- G. Bühler (tr.), The Laws of Manu (Sacred Books of the East, vol. 25, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1886), 2.6 and 10.63. Bühler died 1898: public domain. Quoted verbatim. (2.6 (p. 30, leaf n175); 10.63 (p. 416, leaf n561); checked on the page images)
Itihasa (Mahabharata)
The Mahabharata often says that dharma is hard to know. When Draupadi asks a question of law in the assembly hall, Bhishma begins: “morality is subtle”. In the Yaksha's questions, Yudhishthira answers that argument settles nothing, the scriptures differ and no one sage's opinion is final: “the truth about religion and duty is hid in caves: therefore, that alone is the path along which the great have trod”. Later Bhishma teaches: “Abstention from injury is the highest religion”.
Sources for this reading
- Kisari Mohan Ganguli (tr.), The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa (Calcutta, 1883–1896), Project Gutenberg transcription, vol. 1 (Adi, Sabha and Vana Parvas). Ganguli died 1908: public domain in the US; India status not yet confirmed. Quoted verbatim. (Sabha Parva, section LXVI, and Vana Parva, section CCCXI (the Yaksha's questions), in the Gutenberg numbering)
- The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, translated into English prose (K. M. Ganguli), published by Protap Chandra Roy: Sabha Parva and Vana Parva (Calcutta: Bharata Press, 1884) (the same passages in the printed Sabha and Vana Parva volume (Calcutta, 1884); the Yaksha passage closes with the colophon “the three hundred and twelfth Section” (Gutenberg CCCXI) and prints “accepted as infallible” where the Gutenberg text has “accepted by all” (the quoted words are the same in both); the Sabha section numeral was not confirmed in print)
- Ganguli (tr.), The Mahabharata, Project Gutenberg transcription, vol. 4, Anusasana Parva. Public domain in the US; India status not yet confirmed. (Anusasana Parva, section CXV)
Advaita (Shankara)
Shankara opens his Gita commentary by saying that the dharma of the Veda is twofold, and that the two together keep order in the world. The dharma of works (pravritti) brings worldly well-being. The dharma of renunciation (nivritti), marked by knowledge and detachment, leads to liberation. Works done for the Lord, without seeking their results, make the mind pure. A pure mind is ready for knowledge, and knowledge brings liberation.
Sources for this reading
- The Bhagavad-Gita, with the commentary of Sri Sankaracharya, translated by A. Mahadeva Sastri (2nd ed., Mysore: G. T. A. Printing Works, 1901) (Introduction (pp. 1–6, leaves n28–n33): “The twofold Vedic Religion”, p. 2; “Jnana-Yoga is the means to the Supreme Bliss”, p. 5; “How Karma-Yoga is a means to the Supreme Bliss”, p. 6; checked on the page images)
Vishishtadvaita (Ramanuja)
Ramanuja reads the duties of each station as worship of the Lord. Done without desire for their fruit and offered to him, the same works that bind a person become a means to liberation. Dharma and devotion are not two paths here: dharma well done is devotion in action.
Sources for this reading
- Sri Bhagavad-Gita with Sri Ramanujacharya's Visishtadvaita commentary, translated by A. Govindacharya (Madras, 1898) (commentary on 2.47, pp. 69–70: works done without desire for fruit, as worship of the Lord, become a means to moksha)
Sources
- Bhagavad Gita, 2.31
- Bhagavad Gita, 2.33
- Bhagavad Gita, 3.35
- Ganguli (tr.), The Mahabharata, Project Gutenberg transcription, vol. 3, Santi Parva: “Righteousness (Dharma) is so called because it upholds all creatures.” Public domain in the US; India status not yet confirmed. Quoted verbatim. (Santi Parva, section CIX, in the Gutenberg numbering)
- G. Bühler (tr.), The Laws of Manu (SBE 25, 1886), 10.63: the short list of duties for all four varnas. Public domain. (10.63 (p. 416, leaf n561), checked on the page image)
More questions
Source and licence
- Our explanation
- Written for this site from the sources listed here, and checked against them. Free to quote with credit.
- Checked
- Checked against the sources listed, October 13, 2026.
- Updated
- October 25, 2026