[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Studies](https://indike.org/pramana/ins) › [Polity, law and society](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity) › [History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India)](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.kane-1930) › v1.c5.2 # History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v1.c5.2 History of Dharmaśāstra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v1.c5.2 - **Language:** English ### [v1.c5.2](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.kane-1930.v1.c5.2) Defies exact rendering in English - In the Ṛgveda, used as adjective or noun - means 'upholder or supporter' in some Ṛgvedic passages - in most Ṛgveda passages means 'religious ordinances or rites' and in rare cases 'fixed principles or rules of conduct' -- in Aitareya-brāhmaṇa dharma means 'whole body of religious duties-' in Chāndogya-Upaniṣad \*dharma\* means 'peculiar duties of āśramas-' \*dharma\* came to mean 'duties and privileges of a person as a member of the Āryan community, as member of one of the varṇas or as in a particular stage of life' - the same meaning in Taittirīya Upaniṣad (I. 11), Bhagavadgītā, Manusmṛti and other smṛtis - according to Medhātithi, dharma five-fold viz., varṇadharma, āśramadharma, varṇāśramadharma, naimittikadharma, guṇadharma - this meaning of dharma taken in this work - definitions of dharma according to Jaimini, Vaiśeṣikasūtra, Hārīta, Mahābhārata and Buddhist works - subjects treated in this work, viz. sources of dharma, contents of works on dharma, their chronology. - [Previous: v1.c5.1](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.kane-1930.v1.c5.1) - [Next: v1.c5.3](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.kane-1930.v1.c5.3) - [Up: v1.c5](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.kane-1930.v1.c5) ## Cites (8) - [Taittirīyopaniṣad](https://indike.org/pramana/in.veda.upanisad.mukhya.taittiriya.1.11) — Sanskrit - [Mānava Dharmaśāstra](https://indike.org/pramana/in.niti.dharma.manu) — Manu & Bhṛgu, Sanskrit - [Chāndogyopaniṣad](https://indike.org/pramana/in.veda.upanisad.mukhya.chandogya) — Sanskrit - [Aitareyabrāhmaṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/in.veda.brahmana.aitreya) — Mahidāsa Aitareya, Sanskrit - [Mahābhārata](https://indike.org/pramana/in.lit.mahabharata.vyasa) — Vyāsa, Sanskrit - [Vaiśeṣikasūtra](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darsana.vaisesika.vaisesikasutra) — Kaṇāda, Sanskrit - [Ṛgvedasaṃhitā](https://indike.org/pramana/in.veda.samhita.rg) — Sanskrit - [Bhagavadgītā](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darsana.all.gita) — Vyāsa, Sanskrit --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.kane-1930.v1.c5.2](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.kane-1930.v1.c5.2) · Pramāṇa