Dharma and Changing Concepts of Justice

8/9/2019 Dharma and Changing Concepts of Justice

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DHARMA ANDCHANGING

CONCEPTS OF JUSTICE

Made By- Rahul chopraPranjal Jain

&

Rishab Kumar



Meaning Of

DharmaHinduism describes dharma as the natural universal laws whoseobservance enables humans to be contented and happy, and to savhimself from degradation and suffering.

Dharma is a path to righteousness and living one’s live according t

code of conduct as described by Hindu scriptures.Dharma is the moral law combined with spiritual discipline that guone's life. Dharma is the “law of being” without which things cannexist. Dharma has multiple meanings. ome examples are annayastages of life, Duties such as learning from teacher, !aw and "ust#irtues such as $himsa, rituals and rites of passage, %oga andpersonal behaviors.



Dharma …

• Dharma is the nature of things and the gods are on

guardians &though notably the ayamuni’s ointerpretation excluded the bit about the gods(.

• Dharma is conceived as the course of action which if foby any person would lead to both physical and spiritual this world and the next and the failure to follow whichresult in “$dharma” or a spiritual fall and therefore a

was obligated to follow the norms of Dharma &therefotendency to e)uate Dharma incorrectly with duty * oblto the exclusion of all else (.

• +he Dharma is therefore an ideal which is to be followphysical and spiritual benefit of each person and every sthrough its entire life cycle under various circumstances.



Dharma and related words are found in the oldest #edic literature oHinduism, in later #edas, panishads, -uranas, and the pics/ the wodharma also plays a central role in the literature of other 0ndianreligions founded later, such as 1uddhism and "ainism.

$ccording to 1rereton, Dharman occurs 23 times in 4ig5veda/ inaddition, words related to Dharman also appear in 4ig5veda, for exa

once as dharmart, 2 times as satyadharman , and once as dharmavatimes as dharman and twice as dhariman . 0n other texts, three sourand means to discover Dharma in Hinduism are described. +hese,according to -aul Hacer, are7 8irst, learning historical nowledge sas #edas, panishads, the pics and other ansrit literature with help of one’s teacher. econd, observing the behavior and example ogood

-eople. +he third source applies when neither one’s education norexample exemplary conduct is nown.

SOURCE OF DHAR



THE ROLE OF “DANDA” IN DHARM

• “Danda” is the methodology whereby a sovereign inculcates Dhasub9ect*s and assists them in the path of Dharma by exercisingcontrol.

• Danda means “scepter * mace” that is pure force to be usepersons on the path of Dharma through a method of assisted se

•

0n other words it assists the sovereign to discharge his Dharmhis sub9ects on the path of Dharma.

• Danda if applied properly protects the sovereign and if applieturns against him. +his is more so since the sovereign is nsub9ect to Dharma and in9ustice would be a failure of the sofollow it’s Dharma.



THE SUBJECTIVITY OF DHARMA : SVADH

• +he Dharmic system is predicated on a world view of the “#arna5$shrama” sy

decides the Dharma of every person that is each person’s “vadharma”.

• +he entire Dharmic society is divided into the chatur varna system consistin

brahmana, the shatriya &the wariors(, the vaisya &the commoners : business

community( and the shudra &the servers( based on their actions or day to day

• very person is situated somewhere in the above matrix and therefore has adharma dependant upon the position which he holds in the varna matrix. +her

;hsatriya commits “$dharma” by not fighting a “Dharmayuddha” &a war for D

while a #aisya and hudra does not



DHARMA RELATED TO DUTIES OF

PERSON

• The life of a person in a Dharmic society is also divided into four stages,

• the first is the “Brahmacharya” (the student life), the second is the “ Grihasta” (th

the third is the “Vanaprastha” (the forest dweller or to e independent of the soc

fourth is the “!anyas” (the world renouncer to attain mo"sha or salvation)# The

person in every stage is different and what is the Dharma for one is not the Dharma

• The interaction of these matrices and wes create the Dharma of the individual with

“!vadharma”# The !vadharma is the asis of each person$s Dharmic ideal in society



DHARMA AND SOCIETAL NORMS AND

SOCIAL WEB

• Dharma is sometimes compared to the Greco%&oman conception of “'atural aw” th

conception they are fundamentally different#

• Dharma though universal is estalished through customary and societal practice and

the Dharmashastras (the treatises on Dharma )

• Dharma is completely unli"e an oective lac" letter code of law in that it represent

ideali*ed compendium of tradition and sadachara ( good customs) and sila ( estalish

which must e tested on the touchstone of +prudence$#

• Dharma is clearly an evolving system o norms! changing all the tim

retaining it"s essence permanently.



DHARMA AND LAW

+he notion of Dharma as duty or propriety is found in 0ndia's ancient legal antexts. 0n Hindu philosophy, 9ustice, social harmony, and happiness re)uires thlive per dharma. +he Dharmashastra is a record of these guidelines and rulesavailable evidence suggest 0ndia once had a large collection of dharma relate&sutras, shastras(/ four of the sutras survive and these are now referred to Dharmasutras. $long with laws of <anu in Dharmasutras, exist parallel and dcompendium of laws, such as the laws of =arada and other ancient scholars. +

different and conflicting law boos are neither exclusive, nor do they superssources of Dharma in Hinduism. +hese Dharmasutras include instructions on of the young, their rites of passage, customs, religious rites and rituals, marand obligations, death and ancestral rites, laws and administration of 9usticepunishments, rules and types of evidence, duties of a ing, as well as morality



THE BRITISH AND THE DHARM

“ILLUSION”

• The British were the ones who in the name of noninterference with customary law damaged and interfered with the concept

most#

• The western conception of law necessarily elieves that any ustice system must e ased on a system of definite rules#

• The slamic rule for eight hundred years in ndia had completely superimposed the !haria on the criminal ustice system,

with the “-indu” dispute resolution systems in civil matters#

• The British in the attempt of disursing e.ual ustice instituted British udges to udge on ndian matters of civil dispute, as

0andits#

• nspite of various dissenting voices within the British administration, the attempt of the British udges was to codify the Dha

them as e1haustive and then interpret them through the methodology of +starre decicis$ something completely against the grain• This was ecause the British udge operated completely outside the social milieu which was the most crucial component for

ustice,and therefore it was not possile for him to either interpret the Dharmic norms or to decide the svadharma of any perso

• n the process the British created a ustice system which was completely alien to the Dharmic system#

• The British ended up creating a peculiar system of ustice called the 2nglo%-indu law, which was neither 2nglo nor -indu an



ransitional period of law and leg al s

>ith the passage of time and changes in the socio5political conditions of 0ninfluence of <oghul and later 1ritish rule, the ancient Hindu law which at ongoverned the entire human activity civil, criminal and miscellaneous, was modsupplemented and finally moved by various legislative enactments. During thrule in 0ndia, 0slam was used to function as a political entity rather than a le+hus the Hindu law which was at one time revealed to have a divine origin beof dharma, has now become “man5made” law and therefore has lost its divini

the religion still retains. Dharma, which is as old as humanity itself and of wproper has been only a part and parcel, has lost all its truth and glory and itbeing increasingly used as a means to accomplish the selfish ends of those wpower rather than as an instrument to secure even5handed 9ustice to the pe0ndia.



INDIAN JUDICIAL SYSTEM

• n ndia, the udiciary is very respected and is uni.uely

!ome say it is the most powerful udiciary in the world#

• t can only happen in a country where the culture

interpreters of laws to e even higher than the formulator

and those that e1ecute them#• Dharma in ndia still reigns supreme#



MODERN INDIAN LAW DIS INGUISED !ROM

AN"IEN DARMASAS RI" "ON"E# ION O!

• +he modern law does not touch the moral or religious aspect of ancient dharma.

• !aw in modern time is confined to rights, legal obligations, duties etc. 0t is in sense that la

from dharma. !aw confines itself to only such obligations as are created by the sovereign o

but dharma has much wider idea and includes religious, moral, social, and legal activities of

• $gain every improper or undesirable conduct is opposed to dharma, but not by modern law

specifically a prohibited conduct.

• +he study of evolution of ancient 0ndian law and 9urisprudential philosophy would reveal th

conception of 9ustice in the form of Dharma governed the communal life with a view to saf

common interests of the people.



• $s rightly pointed by <ax <uller the life of the people under the ancient

• 0ndian law was motivated by Dharma, $rtha, ;arma and <osha. ?f these Dharma and <osha

referred to the spiritual and moral values of life gradually lost their hold due to impact of so

of the 0ndian society due to the <ughal and the subse)uent 1ritish rule. +he $rtha, i.e., the w

;arma&action(, however, still hold the field which is clearly reflected in the people’s materiali

to life in the modern time.

• >ith the increasing role of tate, it is now re)uires to adopt measures, policies and action or

for welfare of the people. +he 1ritish rule adopted a new model of governance in 0ndia assign

functions to the !egislature, xecutive and the "udiciary for the administration of the count

their own selfish interest for retaining colonial rule rather than for the welfare of the 0ndian



CONCLUSION

• >e in 0ndia are living in the modern age. 0n ancient 0ndia the concept of Dharma was the synthesreligion and morality. 0t represented the reality it self and the whole of @4ight and +ruth of huma

the spirit of "ustice and the #ictory of good over evil. =ow we live in multi5 religious, multi lingua

+he word @Dharma’ as "ustice may seem not so representative of all the people of 0ndia due to its

meaning as @religion’ only. 1ut we need some other concept lie Dharma which can represent "ustic

• 0n ancient 0ndia Dharma was considered as the complete constitution of our ancient 0ndian ociet

Aonstitutionalism represents our Dharma and 9ustice which balances and harmoniBes parliamentar

with presidential form of Covernment, preambular declaration of liberty, e)uality and fraternity powers, and fundamental rights of individuals with economic and social goals of Directive -rinciple

-olicy. +hus 0ndian Aonstitution maes 0ndia a welfare state to enforce socio economic 9ustice pr

constitutionalism is the new idea of our old concept of Dharma which expresses our will and deter

uphold 9ustice in every wal of life of the 0ndian people.



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Dharma and Changing Concepts of Justice