What is Dharma?

DHARMA There is nothing higher than dharma. Verily, that which is dharma is Truth. —Yajur Veda, Br. Upanishad 1.4.14 Dharma is God’s di vine law prevailing on every level of existence, from the sustaining cosmic order to religious and moral laws which bind us in harmony with that order. It is piety and ethi cal practice, duty and ob ligation. Dharma is to the individual what its normal development is to a seed—the orderly fulfillment of an inherent nature and destiny. Hindu dharma is embodied in the ten yamas (restraints) and ten niyamas (observances). The yamas are noninjury, truthfulness, nonstealing, sexual purity, patience, steadfastness, compassion, straightforwardness and moderate appetite. The niyamas are purity, remorse, contentment, giving, faith, worship, scriptural study, cognition, vows, recitation and austerity. Noninjury, ahimsâ, is the cardinal virtue, the mahâvrata.