RBSE VU Dharma Shastra key terms

The body of eternally authoritative revealed scripture, chiefly the four Vedas, regarded as directly heard or cognized by ancient seers rather than composed by human authors.

Human-composed authoritative tradition remembered and transmitted by sages, encompassing law codes, epics, and Puranas; it ranks below Shruti and must not contradict it.

The fourfold corpus of Rik, Saman, Yajur, and Atharva collections, considered the foundational revelation of the tradition and the highest source of dharma.

A seer or sage credited with cognizing and transmitting Vedic hymns; the tradition treats them as recipients of revelation rather than authors of new doctrine.

A sacred formula or verse recited in ritual and meditation, drawn mainly from the Samhita portions of the Vedas and valued for its precise sound and meaning.

The collected hymn portion of each Veda, as distinct from the later ritual explanations and philosophical teachings attached to the same tradition.

Prose Vedic texts explaining the performance and meaning of sacrificial ritual, including procedural detail, eulogy, and etiological narratives about rites.

Texts composed for forest-dwelling ritual specialists, bridging the Brahmanas and Upanishads by presenting esoteric interpretations of sacrifice, often using symbolism and meditation.

Speculative Vedic texts teaching the nature of ultimate reality and the self, forming the philosophical conclusion of the Vedic corpus and a principal source of later thought.

A structured Vedic sacrifice performed by trained priests, often with fire offerings, aimed at maintaining cosmic and social order and producing merit for the patron.

A priest engaged to officiate at a Vedic sacrifice, with specialized roles such as reciting, chanting, and supervising the ritual procedure.

Early aphoristic manuals on dharma, composed in concise prose and covering ritual, social duties, and legal topics; they precede the versified Dharma Shastras.

A class of Sanskrit treatises expounding religious and social duty, including law, penance, and kingship, of which the Manusmriti is the most cited example.

A major versified Dharma Shastra attributed to Manu, treating creation, duties of social classes and life stages, kingship, and law in twelve chapters.

A compact versified Dharma Shastra attributed to Yajnavalkya, organized into sections on proper conduct, legal procedure, and expiation, and widely used in later commentary.

A Dharma Shastra notable for its detailed treatment of legal procedure and substantive disputes, arranged by categories of litigation rather than by social duty.

An early author of a Dharma Sutra and related ritual manual, known for precise rules of conduct and procedure within a particular Vedic school.

The scheme of duties assigned by social class and by life stage, understood as the framework within which individual conduct is judged.

One of four broad social categories, each associated with a traditional set of occupations and duties and with differing ritual obligations.

One of four successive life stages, namely student, householder, forest dweller, and renouncer, each with its own prescribed duties and mode of living.

The student stage of life, marked by disciplined study, service to a teacher, and restraint, including sexual continence as a central element.

The final renouncer stage, in which a person abandons household ties and ritual possessions to pursue liberation through detachment and contemplation.

The particular duty incumbent on an individual by virtue of personal station and circumstance; the tradition treats its performance as morally superior to imitating others' duties.

A consecratory rite of passage that marks and purifies a transition in life, from conception and birth through study, marriage, and finally death rites.

The initiation rite in which a young person is formally introduced to Vedic study, traditionally marked by investiture with a sacred thread.

The marriage rite, treated as a religiously significant union with obligations for both partners, and classified in the texts into several recognized forms.

The final rite of passage, comprising funeral and cremation rites performed for the deceased, with obligations falling chiefly on surviving kin.

Ancestral offerings made at prescribed times, especially after a death and at annual observances, intended to sustain the departed through offerings and ritual remembrance.

The body of duties specific to a king, covering protection of subjects, maintenance of order, impartial justice, and restraint in taxation and punishment.

Punishment or coercive force wielded by the ruler; the texts treat it as necessary for social order while insisting that it be proportionate and impartial.

A judge or judicial officer who decides disputes in the king's court, ideally learned in scripture and custom and required to be impartial between parties.

Legal dispute or litigation, and the branch of learning governing its procedure, including pleadings, evidence, and the categories of actionable wrongs.

Expiation or atonement prescribed for a transgression, often involving fasting, recitation, gifts, or penance, intended to restore the offender's ritual and moral standing.

Action and its moral residue; the tradition holds that intentional deeds leave traces that shape future experience, whether in this life or in later births.

Rebirth, the doctrine that a being is born again after death in circumstances conditioned by prior action, continuing until liberation is attained.

The ongoing cycle of birth, death, and rebirth, characterized in the texts as unsatisfactory and as the condition that spiritual practice aims to transcend.

One of the four recognized aims of human life, namely duty, material prosperity, legitimate pleasure, and liberation, which together structure classical ethical thought.

Liberation from the cycle of rebirth, regarded as the highest of the human aims and pursued through knowledge, discipline, and detachment from worldly attachment.

Non-injury or refraining from harming living beings, emphasized in Jain, Buddhist, and Sikh teaching and present in classical discussions of duty and penance.

The code of conduct and discipline for Sikhs, setting out personal obligations, community norms, and prescribed forms of devotion and service.