Editing Dharma (section)

==History==
According to [[Pandurang Vaman Kane]], author of the book ''[[History of Dharmaśāstra]]'', the word ''dharma'' appears at least fifty-six times in the hymns of the [[Rigveda]], as an adjective or noun. According to Paul Horsch, the word ''dharma'' has its origin in Vedic Hinduism.{{sfn|Horsch|2004}} The hymns of the [[Rigveda]] claim [[Brahman]] created the universe from chaos, they hold (dhar-) the earth and sun and stars apart, they support (dhar-) the sky away and distinct from earth, and they stabilise (dhar-) the quaking mountains and plains.{{sfn|Horsch|2004}}<ref>RgVeda 6.70.1, 8.41.10, 10.44.8, for secondary source see [[Karl Friedrich Geldner]], Der Rigveda in Auswahl (2 vols.), Stuttgart; and [[Harvard Oriental Series]], 33–36, Bd. 1–3: 1951.</ref> 

The [[Hindu deities|Deities]], mainly [[Indra]], then deliver and hold order from disorder, harmony from chaos, stability from instability – actions recited in the Veda with the root of word dharma.<ref name=phph/> In hymns composed after the mythological verses, the word dharma takes expanded meaning as a [[Buddhist cosmology|cosmic]] principle and appears in verses independent of [[Hindu deities|deities]]. It evolves into a concept, claims Paul Horsch, that has a dynamic functional sense in [[Atharvaveda]] for example, where it becomes the cosmic law that links cause and effect through a subject.{{sfn|Horsch|2004}} Dharma, in these ancient texts, also takes a ritual meaning. The ritual is connected to the cosmic, and "dharmani" is equated to ceremonial devotion to the principles that deities used to create order from disorder, the world from chaos.{{sfn|Horsch|2004|pp=430–431}}

Past the ritual and cosmic sense of dharma that link the current world to mythical universe, the concept extends to an ethical-social sense that links human beings to each other and to other life forms. It is here that dharma as a concept of law emerges in Hinduism.{{sfn|Horsch|2004|pp=430–432}}<ref>P. Thieme, Gedichte aus dem Rig-Veda, Reclam Universal-Bibliothek Nr. 8930, p. 52.</ref>

Dharma and related words are found in the oldest Vedic literature of [[Hinduism]], in later Vedas, Upanishads, Puranas, and the Epics; the word dharma also plays a central role in the literature of other Indian religions founded later, such as Buddhism and Jainism.<ref name="phph"/> According to Brereton, ''Dharman'' occurs 63 times in [[Rigveda|Rig-veda]]; in addition, words related to Dharman also appear in Rig-veda, for example once as dharmakrt, 6 times as ''satyadharman'', and once as ''dharmavant'', 4 times as ''dharman'' and twice as ''dhariman''.<ref name="jbrereton" />

[[Indo-European studies|Indo-European]] parallels for "dharma" are known, but the only Iranian equivalent is Old Persian ''darmān'', meaning "remedy". This meaning is different from the [[Indo-Aryan languages|Indo-Aryan]] ''dhárman'', suggesting that the word "dharma" did not play a major role in the [[Indo-Iranians|Indo-Iranian]] period. Instead, it was primarily developed more recently under the Vedic tradition.<ref name=jbrereton>{{harvp|Brereton|2004}}; "There are Indo-European parallels to ''dhárman'' (cf. Wennerberg 1981: 95f.), but the only Iranian equivalent is Old Persian ''darmān'', 'remedy', which has little bearing on Indo-Aryan ''dhárman''. There is thus no evidence that IIr. *dharman was a significant culture word during the Indo-Iranian period." (p. 449) "The origin of the concept of dharman rests in its formation. It is a Vedic, rather than an Indo-Iranian word, and a more recent coinage than many other key religious terms of the Vedic tradition. Its meaning derives directly from dhr 'support, uphold, give foundation to' and therefore 'foundation' is a reasonable gloss in most of its attestations." (p. 485).</ref> 

It is thought that the ''[[Daena]]'' of [[Zoroastrianism]], also meaning the "eternal Law" or "religion", is related to Sanskrit "dharma".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Morreall |first1=John |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aM461tmUDe4C&pg=PT324 |title=The Religion Toolkit: A Complete Guide to Religious Studies |last2=Sonn |first2=Tamara |date=2011 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-1-4443-4371-7 |page=324 |language=en}}</ref> Ideas in parts overlapping to ''Dharma'' are found in other ancient cultures: such as Chinese [[Tao]], Egyptian [[Maat]], Sumerian [[Me (mythology)|Me]].{{sfn|Rosen|2006|pp=34–45}}

===Eusebeia and dharma===
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[[File:AsokaKandahar.jpg|thumb|The [[Kandahar Bilingual Rock Inscription]] is from Indian [[Emperor Asoka]] in 258 BCE, and found in [[Afghanistan]]. The inscription renders the word ''dharma'' in Sanskrit as ''[[eusebeia]]'' in Greek, suggesting ''dharma'' in ancient India meant spiritual maturity, devotion, piety, duty towards and reverence for human community.{{sfn|Hacker|2006}}]]
In the mid-20th century, an inscription of the Indian [[Emperor Asoka]] from the year 258 BCE was discovered in Afghanistan, the [[Kandahar Bilingual Rock Inscription]]. This rock inscription contains [[Greek language|Greek]] and [[Aramaic language|Aramaic]] text. According to [[Paul_Hacker_(Indologist)|Paul Hacker]],{{sfn|Hacker|2006}} on the rock appears a Greek rendering for the Sanskrit word dharma: the word [[eusebeia]].{{sfn|Hacker|2006}}

Scholars of Hellenistic Greece explain eusebeia as a complex concept. Eusebia means not only to venerate [[Hindu deities|deities]], but also spiritual maturity, a reverential attitude toward life, and includes the right conduct toward one's parents, siblings and children, the right conduct between husband and wife, and the conduct between biologically unrelated people. This rock inscription, concludes Paul Hacker, suggests dharma in India, about 2300 years ago, was a central concept and meant not only religious ideas, but ideas of right, of good, of one's duty toward the human community.{{sfn|Hacker|2006}}<ref>[[Etienne Lamotte]], Bibliothèque du Museon 43, Louvain, 1958, p. 249.</ref>

===Rta, maya and dharma===
The evolving literature of Hinduism linked ''dharma'' to two other important concepts: ''Ṛta'' and ''Māyā''. [[Ṛta]] in Vedas is the truth and [[Buddhist cosmology|cosmic]] principle which regulates and coordinates the operation of the universe and everything within it.{{sfn|Koller|1972|pp=136–142}}<ref>Holdrege, Barbara (2004), "Dharma" in: Mittal & Thursby (eds.) ''The Hindu World'', New York: Routledge, {{ISBN|0-415-21527-7}}, pp. 213–248.</ref> [[Māyā]] in Rig-veda and later literature means illusion, fraud, deception, magic that misleads and creates disorder,<ref>[http://www.ibiblio.org/sripedia/ebooks/mw/0800/mw__0844.html "Māyā"] ''Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary'', {{ISBN|978-81-206-0369-1}}</ref> thus is contrary to reality, laws and rules that establish order, predictability and harmony. Paul Horsch suggests Ṛta and ''dharma'' are parallel concepts, the former being a cosmic principle, the latter being of moral social sphere;{{sfn|Horsch|2004}} while Māyā and ''dharma'' are also correlative concepts, the former being that which corrupts law and moral life, the later being that which strengthens law and moral life.{{sfn|Koller|1972|pp=136–142}}<ref>Northrop, F. S. C. (1949), "Naturalistic and cultural foundations for a more effective international law", ''Yale Law Journal'', 59, pp. 1430–1441.</ref>

Day proposes ''dharma'' is a manifestation of Ṛta, but suggests Ṛta may have been subsumed into a more complex concept of ''dharma'', as the idea developed in ancient India over time in a nonlinear manner.{{sfn|Day|1982|pp=42–44}} The following verse from the [[Rigveda]] is an example where ''rta'' and ''dharma'' are linked:
{{quote|O Indra, lead us on the path of Rta, on the right path over all evils...|[[Mandala 10|RV 10]].133.6}}