Theory of Government in Ancient India (Post-Vedic) c5.30

c5.30

The notion of Dharma is thus extraordinarily wide and extraordinarily vague. But it is best summarised as the ruling force, the harmonising principle, the foundation of the social order. "There are three branches of the law; sacrifice, study and charity are the first, austerity the second, and to dwell as a Brahmachārī in the house of a tutor, is the third," says the Chhāndogya Upaniṣad. There is a passage in the Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa, in which, after a sacrifice "Varuṇa, the lord of the Law" makes the king "lord of the law; and that truly is the supreme state, when one is lord of the law; for whoever attains to that supreme state, to him they come in law......." But the lordship of the law here means the lordship of justice.²