Yato Dharma Tato Jaya

Yato Dharmastato Jaya is a Sanskrit shloka, which occurs a total of eleven times in the epic Mahabharata, and means "Where there is Dharma, there will be Victory".[1][2]

The emblem of the Supreme Court of India bearing the inscription, which it has adopted as its official motto.

Meaning

The phrase comes from Sanskrit: यतः कृष्णस्ततो धर्मो यतो धर्मस्ततो जयः on the battlefield of Kurukshetra War when Arjuna is trying to shake the despondency of Yudhisthira.[3] He says that "victory is ensured for the side standing with Dharma, where Krishna is, there is victory".[4] It occurs again when Gandhari, the mother of Kauravas, having lost all her sons in the war, utters it with the intent: "Where there is Lord Krishna there is Dharma, and where there is Dharma there is Victory".[5]

Reference in Indian scriptures

The phrase is often complemented with another shloka in the Mahabharata which conveys, "Where there is Dharma, there is Krishna".[6] Dhritarashtra is warned using this phrase by Vyasa to discourage the unrighteous ways of his sons.[7] It again occurs in the Stri Parva of Hindu Itihasa Mahabharata.[8] It is also told by Bhisma to Duryodhana in Bhagavad Gita Parva. Yato Dharma Tato Jaya occurs a total of eleven times in the Mahabharata.[3]

In Vidura Niti, when Dhritarashtra is interacting with Vidura, he uses this phrase. He says, "though I know that victory lies on the path of Dharma, even then I cannot forsake my son Duryodhana".[9]

Dharma Viveka, a Sanskrit poem composed by Halayudhvi, ends with this phrase.[10]

In studies

In Bala Vihar, an educational activity for children, Chinmaya Mission uses this message to supplement the concept of Karma.[11] Scholar Alf Hiltebeitel takes this up in detail in his study of Dharma and Bhagwat Gita.[3] Before Alf, the scholar Sylvain Lévi is known to have studied this phrase in detail with varying interpretations.[3][12] In an article of the Indian Defence Review journal, it is characterized as "best sums up the Indian thought", here meaning, "If we are righteous, then victory will be ours [Indias]".[13] In the study of ethics, it is taken to convey that "ultimate victory is that of righteousness".[14]

See also

References
  1. "Why Justices Broke the Code of Silence - Mumbai Mirror -". Mumbai Mirror. Retrieved 24 May 2018.
  2. Joseph, Kurian (2017). "यतो धर्मस्ततो जयः". Nyayapravah. XVI (63): 7.
  3. Hiltebeitel, Alf (2011). Dharma: Its Early History in Law, Religion, and Narrative. Oxford University Press, USA. p. 545547. ISBN 9780195394238.
  4. Sharma, Rambilas (1999). Bhāratīya saṃskr̥ti aura Hindī-pradeśa (in Hindi). Kitabghar Prakashan. p. 352. ISBN 9788170164388.
  5. "Mahabharata and the message it conveys to Protect Dharma". www.speakingtree.in.
  6. Sharma, Arvind (2007). Essays on the Mahābhārata. Motilal Banarsidass. p. 409. ISBN 9788120827387.
  7. Pandey, Kali Charan (2011). Ethics and Epics: Reflections on Indian Ethos. Readworthy. p. 20. ISBN 9789350180334.
  8. The Mahábhárata: an epic poem (in Hindi). Education Committee's Press. 1837. p. 349.
  9. Satyaketu. Vidur Neeti (in Hindi). Prabhat Prakashan. p. 108. ISBN 9789350481615.
  10. Haeberlin, John (1847). Kavya-Sangraha: a sanscrit anthology (in Sanskrit). p. 506.
  11. Yato Dharmah Tato Jayah. http://chinmayahouston.org/pdfs/bvbooks/Yato-Dharmah-tato-Jayah-Grade-8-Lesson-1.pdf: Chinmaya Mission. pp. Chapter 1.CS1 maint: location (link)
  12. Lévi, Sylvain (1996). Mémorial Sylvain Lévi (in French). Motilal Banarsidass. p. 295. ISBN 9788120813434.
  13. Verma, Bharat (15 January 2013). "Indian Defence Review: Jul-Sep 2010". Lancer Publishers: 32. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  14. Pandey, Kali Charan (2011). Ethics and Epics: Reflections on Indian Ethos. Readworthy. p. 19. ISBN 9789350180334.
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