RBSE VU Dharma Shastra flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Shruti

The "heard" corpus of the Vedas, held to be authorless (apaurusheya) and the highest authority on dharma in the Dharmashastra tradition.

Smriti

The "remembered" tradition, including Dharma Sutras, Dharma Shastras, Epics, and Puranas; it is human-authored and ranks below Shruti.

Atmatusti

The fourth source of dharma in Manu 2.6: what is pleasing to oneself, consulted only where scripture and custom are silent.

Apaurusheyatva

The doctrine that the Vedas have no human author, which grounds their claim to infallible authority in Mimamsa and Dharmashastra thought.

Rigveda Samhita

The oldest Vedic collection, with ten mandalas and 1,028 hymns addressed to deities and used by the hotri priest in sacrifice.

Brahmana texts

Prose Vedic layers that explain the origin, procedure, and meaning of sacrificial rites, such as the Shatapatha Brahmana of the Shukla Yajurveda.

Aranyaka

Vedic "forest" texts that bridge Brahmana ritual instruction and Upanishadic knowledge, studied in seclusion by advanced students.

Principal Upanishads

The twelve to thirteen early Upanishads, including Brihadaranyaka, Chandogya, Taittiriya, and Katha, which teach knowledge of Brahman.

Manusmriti

A twelve-chapter Dharmashastra of about 2,694 verses covering creation, education, marriage, royal duty, law, and penance.

Yajnavalkya Smriti

A three-chapter Dharmashastra (achara, vyavahara, prayashchitta) whose systematic law section became the base of the Mitakshara commentary.

Narada Smriti

A Dharmashastra devoted mainly to legal procedure (vyavahara), notable for its detailed treatment of plaints, evidence, and ordeals.

Mitakshara

Vijnaneshvara's influential commentary on the Yajnavalkya Smriti, the foundation of the Mitakshara school of Hindu inheritance law.

Four varnas

The classical social categories Brahmana, Kshatriya, Vaishya, and Shudra, each assigned duties of teaching, protection, trade, and service.

Four ashramas

The stages of brahmacharya, grihastha, vanaprastha, and sannyasa, which structure the ideal twice-born life from studentship to renunciation.

Svadharma

One's own duty according to varna and ashrama; the Bhagavad Gita holds that performing it imperfectly is better than another's duty well.

Upanayana

The initiation samskara that invests the twice-born with the sacred thread and marks entry into brahmacharya and Vedic study.

Sixteen samskaras

The classical list of Hindu rites of passage from conception (garbhadhana) through marriage to funeral rites (antyeshti).

Annaprashana

The samskara of first solid food, traditionally performed in the sixth month for a boy and the fifth for a girl.

Antyeshti

The final samskara, the funeral rite of cremation, followed by shraddha offerings and rites for the departed.

Rajadharma

The king's duty to protect subjects, uphold varna and ashrama, and punish the wicked, with authority conditional on dharma.

Saptanga

The seven limbs of the state in Kautilya's Arthashastra: king, minister, territory, fort, treasury, army, and ally.

Danda

Punishment or coercive authority; the Dharmashastra texts hold that just punishment maintains order while unjust punishment destroys the state.

Arthashastra

Kautilya's treatise on statecraft, taxation, diplomacy, and espionage, the main non-Dharmashastra source for ancient Indian governance.

Vyavahara

A legal dispute or civil proceeding, classified in the Dharmashastra texts under eighteen titles of law such as debt, deposit, and inheritance.

Divya

Ordeals such as fire, water, poison, and balance, used as a last resort in legal proof when documents and witnesses were insufficient.

Prayashchitta

Expiation of sin through penance such as fasting, recitation, gifts, and pilgrimage, distinct from compensation owed to an injured party.

Kricchra

A class of graded penances involving restricted or reduced food, prescribed in Manu and Yajnavalkya for various offenses.

Four purusharthas

The aims of dharma, artha, kama, and moksha, with dharma as the regulating principle of the other three.

Prarabdha karma

The portion of accumulated karma that has begun to ripen and shapes the present life, in the threefold classification of karma.

Samsara

The cycle of birth, death, and rebirth driven by karma, from which moksha is release.

Jain ahimsa

The central Jain vow of non-violence toward all living beings, one of the five vows that also include truthfulness and non-possession.

Buddhist anatta

The doctrine that there is no permanent self, distinguishing Buddhist karma and rebirth theory from Hindu atman doctrines.