‘Dharma is a Sanskrit expression of the widest import. There is no corresponding word in any other language. It would also be futile to attempt to give any definition of the word. It can only be explained. It has a wide variety of meanings. For instance, the word ‘Dharma’ is used to mean Justice (Nyaya), what is right in a given circumstance, moral values of life, pious obligations of individuals, righteous conduct in every sphere of activity, being helpful to other living beings, giving charity to individuals in need of it or to a public cause or alms to the needy, natural qualities or characteristics or properties of living beings and things, duty and law as also constitutional law.

What is Justice?

In All India Judges Association v. Union of India, AIR 1992 SC 165 at P. 177, Renganath Mira CJ said that any Government will have a strong basis for its survival, if it is founded on liberty and justice.

The word ‘Justice’ comes from the Latin word ‘jus’, meaning right or law. The Oxford English Dictionary defines the “just” person as one who typically “does what is morally right” and is disposed to “giving everyone his or her due,” The idol of Justice blindfolded with balance in hand gives the expression of balancing, weighing and impartial judging which applies to disputes and conflicts. For this purpose justice becomes the referee to give decision of victory or defeat to parties. It seems that Justice has more utility for a conflict situation. Whatever is considered as ‘just’, according to a reasonable man is considered as ‘justice’.

• According to H. L. A Hart, ‘Justice’ is moral rightness, just, rational, fair, equality, and varies from place to place, time to time, and person to person.
• According to Plato, ‘justice’ as a virtue which occurs within the state. He considered that justice as a political virtue.
• According to Salmond, law   is   the   body   of   principles   recognized   and   applied   by   the   states   in   the administration of justice.
• According to Roscoe pound, Law is the body of principles recognized or enforced by public and regular court in the administration justice.

What is Dharma?

Dharma is derived from the root ‘Dhri’ meaning to hold. It is said that Dharma holds, upholds, supports, sustains, retains, conserves, preserves observes and promotes human good, human happiness, human dignity and develops relationship between law and morality and law and nature. Thus dharma is to be understood as universal in nature as it aspires the human good, human happiness, human dignity, human flourishing of the mankind. Dharma is perceived as righteous conduct in every sphere of human activity.

The Indian conception of law unlike the western legal thought, owes its origin to Rita. The Vedic concept of Rita, which literally meant, ‘the straight   line’.  Rita refers to the Law of Nature. The nature of law in the Vedic ages was described as Rita for universal order and harmony. Rita signifies   moral laws, and based   on righteousness. When something is Rita it simply meant that thing is true, right and nothing more. Dharma signifies natural law. Anything is right, just and moral is Dharma. Dharma is a duty based legal system that is every individual owed a duty towards other member of the society. Dharma constitutes the foundation of all affairs in the world. People respect those who adhere to Dharma. Dharma insulates (man) against sinful thoughts. Everything in this world is founded on Dharma. Dharma therefore, is considered supreme. If we observe “Puranas” people of that time was guided by their Karma. They believed their Karma is their Dharma. That is Why Yudhishtir from Mahabharata was known as “Dharma Raj”. It is to be noted that Dharma in contradiction to general opinion does not mean religion nor supports any, but it is a whole body of rules and believes including in itself the religious rights, rules of conduct and duties.

Unlike other schools of jurisprudence, Hindu jurisprudence gives more emphasis to duties over rights. This is because Dharma, in its various connotations, prescribes the ultimate duties of every person. The nature of these duties might change from individual to individual, but it always remains a central theme. For example, a king’s Dharma is to uphold religious law, while that of a farmer is to provide sustenance.

Five Fundamental Rules of Dharma:

To secure peace and happiness and to avoid   causing   civil   or   criminal   injury   to   others   the   five   rules   of   dharma   are   of   utmost importance and to   be followed by all. These are the five eternal values and the life principles are to be followed by the  people. 

• Non-violence (Ahimsa) – Not indulging in violence against any one. Not inflicting mental or physical injury on fellow human beings
• Truthfulness (Satyam) – Truthful and honest in speech and action
• Non stealing (Asteyam) – not to acquire money and wealth by illegal means and immoral methods
• Cleanliness (Soucham) – Cleanliness of thought in mind, words spoken and action performed or conformity of thought word and deed
• Control of senses (Indriyanigraha) – Control of senses by restraining them from indulging in wrongful actions.

Thus, Dharma in the ethical moral- social sense is the foundation of order, stability and regularity to which human beings abide by.

Sources of Dharma:

Dharma as a concept emerged and was refined from many religious Hindu texts. Its meaning and scope expanded with time until it came to be associated with the ideals of law and justice. This is exactly how we understand Dharma today.

• The earliest mention of “Dharma” occurs in Vedic texts like the Rig Veda to mean the foundation of the universe. These religious texts claimed that God created life using by inculcating principles of Dharma into all living creatures. Therefore, salvation (or “moksha”) is the eternal Dharma for humans according to Hinduism. Vedas which are shruti approximately accepted to be 4000-1000 B.C. There are four Vedas namely: Rig Veda, Yajur Veda, Sama Veda, and Atharva Veda.
• Development of Law through custom continued till we come to the Smritis. With the Smritisushered in the era of the systematic exposition of the rule and principle of law. Later Upanishads greatly refined the concept of Dharma and made it more moralistic. Hindu legal codes like Manusmriti used Dharma to mean religious and legal duties of people. Thus, Dharma became a prescriptive concept as it described what people should or should not do. This interpretation of Dharma continued and its traces exist even in modern Hindu laws.
• The Puranas which are eighteen in number and contains information about the creation and dynasties of god, sages and kings and detailed description of yugas. All the sources are on the same footstep and no one has supremacy over the other.
• Hindu epics like Ramayan and Mahabharat say that performing one’s Dharma is the ultimate aim of every individual. Since the main function of a king is to uphold Dharma.

Role of Manusmriti:

Manu is the giver of law, in the form of Dharma was accepted as the final authority. The description of civil and criminal rights and their remedies suited to the needs of the time are dealt with in his Code. The Manusmriti is encyclopedic in scope, covering subjects such as the social obligations and duties of the various castes and of individuals in different stages of life, the suitable social and sexual relations of men and women of different castes, on taxes, the rules for kingship, on maintaining marital harmony and the procedures for settling everyday disputes. Manu gave 18 titles of rights and remedies. These remedies show that even during early societies there were adequate provisions of the law for the protection of rights and liabilities of people.

According to Manu, law is an order of human behaviour. This ordering of human relations is absolutely valid and just, as it emanated from the will of God, and it has regulated the behaviour of men in a way satisfactory to all. The rights and duties of man, established by this law are innate and inborn in him because they are implanted by nature and not imposed from outside.

By the early centuries of the Common Era, Manu had become, and remained, the standard source of authority in the orthodox tradition for that centrepiece of Hinduism, varnasrama-dharma (social and religious duties tied to class and stage of life).

Concept of Justice and Dharma in Different Periods:

 Vedic Perception of Justice and Dharma:

In Ramayana the sage Valmiki says: In this universe truth alone is God. Dharma lies in truth. Truth is root of all virtues. There is nothing greater than truth‘. Likewise, in Mahabharata Lord Krishna says, “Whenever there is a decay of righteousness and there is exaltation of unrighteousness, then I myself come forth, for the protection of good, for the destruction of evil doers, for the sake of firmly establishing righteousness, I am born from age to age.” The Immortal epics the Ramayana and the Mahabharata record and reflect the spirit and those of Hindu thought and life in the tales  of Rama versus Ravana and Pandavas versus  Kauravas,  which portray   the  moral   supremacy  and   victory  of   good   over   evil,   or   justice   over injustice and  of   dharma  over adharma

Buddhist Notion of Justice and Dharma:

In Buddhism ‘Dharma’ is refereed as ‘Dhamma’. There was transgression and deviation from Vedic philosophy it was Lord Buddha who once again re-adopted the philosophy of middle path (Madhyam Marga) as a way out to seek justice for the humanity. He declared to us the eight-fold path of morality as a necessary basis for a good life and a just society namely: Right Views, Right aspiration, Right speech, Right conduct, Right livelihood, Right effort, Right mind-fullness, and Right contemplation. Lord Buddha‘s message of Cease to do evil, Learn to do good, and Cleanse your own heart had been given a practical shape by the great King Ashoka who promulgated Buddhist morality in the administration of justice.

Post-Vedic Concept of Justice and Dharma:

It is the various law-givers like Manu, Gautama, Yajnavalkya, Narda, Brahaspati, Katyayana and others who shed adequate light on the nature and quality of justice   of   the   ancient   Hindus. The   parameters   of   justice   of   course   were   based   on   strict conformity to observance of caste rules and their strict enforcement within the prescribed norms was justice and their violation or disregard attracted punishment.

Concept of Justice and Dharma in Muslim Era:

With the advent of Muslim rule, the place of Dharma was taken by Koranic teachings along with Gita teachings. Though the objective of both is same as Dharma but the path became different. Gradually the general perception about Dharma converted to Religion. The Muslim  rulers in India   were  fundamentalists  and despotic who forced  upon  the  Hindus   their  own  laws,   customs  and  religious  practices.   Hindus were not treated in law at par with Muslims. The latter being the conquerors and the former the Kafirs the non-believers. Special disabilities like Jezia—poll tax, were imposed on Hindus. It was only such conquered Hindus who paid Jezia and revenue legally acquired legal rights over land. Both in theory and practice there was discrimination against Hindus vis-a-vis Muslims. The essence of justice called   Kazi. The   Justice was wholly   arbitrary   inconsistent   with   principles   of   minimum morality   and   elementary   justice. The   Moghul   ruler Akbar   brought about the basic change in the style of Moghul administration. He adopted a tactical policy of tolerance and non-discrimination towards Hindus and  saw  no injustice is committed in his realm.

Concept of Justice in British Era:

With the advent of Muslim rule followed by British rule, Dharma (Hindu) started losing its gloss and roots. With the onset of British rule, and their ignorance of the Indian laws had a devastating effect on the concept of Dharma as they found no laws here to govern people and they started to fix the issue by either importing western law or say natural law with the devices of equality, justice and good conscience or imposing western laws by means of codification in fields where no law was offered by either the Hindu’s or Muslim’s Natural law, teachings and customs.

However, the impact of the British heritage on Indian political life and legal system was of far reaching significance. The development of modern democratic institutions, the notion of representative assemblies and responsible government, the secularisation of administration with independence of judiciary, the inception of the doctrine of the rule of law, of equality before law, substitution of new medium of instruction of English galvanized the forces and processes of social and political change which finally culminated in the Independence of the country in 1947.

Dharma and Constitution (Post Independence Era):

• Unlike many countries of the world, in India there is a freedom of religion which is defined under Article 25(1) of its constitution. The most important feature of this is that it provides the freedom not only to the individual but also to the groups.
• Article 15(1) of the constitution of India prevents to state from discriminating anybody on the ground of religion.
• Under the “Right to Freedom of Religion” from Article 25 to 28, various provisions can be seen which again reinforce the ideal of secularism.
• Article 25 gives all persons in the country freedom of conscience and free profession, practice and   propagation   of   religion. 
• Article   26   provides   freedom   to   all   religious   denominations   to establish   and   maintain   institutions   for   religious   purposes,   manage its   own religious   affairs, acquire and administer movable or immovable property.
• Under Article 27, no person can be compelled by the government to pay taxes for promotion of any particular religion

Conclusion:

According to Hindu jurisprudence, Dharma means duty in various contexts. This could mean either religious duties or even social, legal and spiritual duties. Some people also use the word to mean righteousness, which gives it a moralistic interpretation. In purely legal terms, some people refer to the concept of justice as Dharma. Dharma and law as seen above may seem to be in contrast, but the ideology behind them is the same.  At   large,   law   is   a   part   of   Dharma   without   disharmony   and   they   constitute   single integrated whole. Dharma on one hand is taken to be religious in recent society but in reality Dharma is duty and moral conscience. The Honourable Supreme Court in many cases defined Dharma and its relation with morality and Indian Secularism. Dharma has been and is guiding our conduct, moralities and laws in varying degree. One may not find any relation between the two on the face but on a deep analysis both  are interrelated integrated whole. May be the perception of people is changed now regarding Dharma but objective of Dharma is still the same. Only path became different.