PATRICK OLIVELLE. ‘THE SEMANTIC HISTORY OF DHARMA. ‘THE MIDDLE AND LATE VEDIC PERIODS ‘The studies of the tert dharma in the eatly vedic period by Pau Horsch and Joe! Brereton inthis volume! have shown that the term i ‘sed with relative Frequency in the Rg Veco (67 times) with a some ‘what broad semantic range including the cosmological, ritual, anc ethical spheres. The Frequency drops drastically inthe other text from this period, the Acharra Vea (13 times), although maintaining « semantic minge similar tothe Rg Veda, Given the centrality of hare in later eligious iterate of fndia, both Brahmanical and Buddhist fone would expect that the term gradually began to assume a centra role inthe religious vocabulary of the middle and late vedie period represented by the Bellamapas, Aranyakas, te Upaniseds, and th: Srauta- and Grhya-stras, which together constitute a vast body © literature both i extent and in the varity of their topics and con ‘A-close study of the use of daria in these texts, however, dem onstrates the opposite: dharma was at best a marginal term anc concept within Use vocabulary of these txts, and it did not play centr role in the religious world depicted in them. On the one hand the frequency of its usage drops rather dramatically and, on the bther, its semantic range becomes narrower, being resiricied fo the most part to Varupa and his earthly counterpart, the king Inthe ‘concluding postscript I will attempt to show how this specinlzec fncaning of chorma may have contributed <0 its further semantic ‘development in its adoption and adaptation by Buddhism, by Asoka tnd in the later Brahmanical literature “THE VALURVEDA SAMITAS ‘The Yajurveda Samphitis are the oldest texts we ave after the Re Veda and the atharva Veda, 1 have examined all four exian Semhitis: Meitniyan, Kathaa, Taittotye, and Vajasaney. Tae study fof dharma! in these texts is complicated by two factors rst, they ond of Ion Phiarphy 33: $-S11, 2008.42 PATRICK OLIVELLE. often cite verses from the Rg Veda; and second, because they are parallel ecensions ofthe save ritual material, they frequently present the same passages, To determine the Frequency of darma in the YYajurvedic vocebulary, therefore, I have discounted citations from the fg Veda and counted only once the passages that are repeated almost verbatim in several of these Samlitis. In the four Yejurveda Sambitis the term dharma is found in 22 paseages.? Even this may be an overestimate Because several of these fecutences are in stock phrases and epithets. Many of chese refer to Varuna or Mitra-Varuna. ‘Thus we bave the recurrent phrase irusina dhdronnd ("with Rerafenduting dharma”) with reference (0 Mitea-Varuna: dyutands inf manu minotw mivrbvdrenayor diana dikdrmana ~ "May Dyutiaa Marata establish you in accordance with the enduring dharma of Mitra and Varuna” (at the planting of the sacrificial post; TS.13.1.2; MS 12.11; VS S.27) The same phase is repeated in a diferent context? vdrupas 1d diytérato dhipayats Inltdvrusandiravéna demon ~ “May Varuna, whose com fmandment is upheld, perfume you with ineease, may Mitea and \Varupa in accordance wit their enduring dharma’ (atthe perfuming of the pan; MS 49.1) And agsin: mirénérunau evottratah pri hata diravéna dhérmana ~ “Moy Mitca and Varuna lay you a round in the north in socordance with ther enduring dara” (atthe laying ofthe enclosing sticks [paridh, KS I-11; 78 11.112; ¥S2.3;, ‘S#1.3.44), The use of dharman tere closely agrees with its principal tosge in the Re Veda; dharman isthe institute or commandment of YVarua, an institute thats here sai tobe druva, frm and enduring ‘The MS (3.8) provides a commentary on the phrase: ndvrwon ani ehémandt | rd ean dir, reno aly itr een ez panay Kya en oie. eda vl denon ‘Bendre, ai ea ca hr “Nate and Varun sconce wih ther enrng dre. Mir, nda, os ints and Varo eras Forte uphelling of thee eet and for het Tealsent ist ps Kilo Varens are sualy te ons ho phd ‘Berm amons te gots Tiny fave upheld hr the Sine hor [Note thatthe explanation clearly connects dharma with is rot dh, t0 bear, to support, uphold. The connection between diruya and dharma is evident also in a passage of the XS (35.7): dia dyaur dkrav probit diruvary visa idan Jagat {deve ha dharani aicunt ‘yolandnah padubhir dirwwoh ~ “The sky is enduring; the earth is ‘Snduring; this whole worldisenduring, The godsare enduring through ‘dharma, and the sctificerisenduring through thesecrifcil enimals"? ‘THE SEMANTIC HISTORY OF DHARMA, 493, ‘The close connection between dharma and Varuna within the Ya- jurveda Sambi is most evident within the context of two rituals ‘associated with kingship, tae royal consecration (rajasya) and the horse sacrifice (afvamedha) performed by a king 10 enhance and ‘proclaim his sovereignty.* At the royal consecration the kings placed Jn close relationship ta bath Varwpa and dharma, Several cakes (cor) are offered to deities who are identified with various characteristics (7818.10): Agnis the lord of the house (grhapa), Soma is the ford (of the forest (vaaspat), Rudra isthe lord of eatde (paspat), and Brhaspati isthe lord of speech (rdcaspei). The last two are Mitra, ‘characterized a5 satya, and Varuna, who is dharmapat, the lord, of ‘tharma, In the parallel passage at MS 26.6 the wording is mioréya sniyisyn pdiaye ..sdrundya dhdrmasya pdaye ~ "To Mitra the lord ‘of truth; to Varuna the lord of diarma’* Within the same cootext we havea mantra asking Savity and other gods to simulate the new king (savté 1a. swan). Once gan the deities are given their distinctive characteristics (TS 1.8.10.2): mitrah srynins véruo dhdrmapatinam (or in AS dirmandm)* Alte this the new king is presented with the words era vo bharaid raja ~ “This, O Bharais, is your king” In the [MS 2.68; 442), gods are invoked to make the new king an upholder ff dharma: sid Indo véruno med agnis 16 dent aharmadhyio ddsdemars dharayanty ~ “Soma, Indes, Varuna, Mitra, Agni ~ may these gods, the upholders of charma, uphold dharma”: The TS (8.16.2) addresses the king, identifying him with Varupa: viruno si satyadidema ~ “You are Varuna, whose dharma is trefreal.”Here ‘again we have the implicit statement that the epithet of Varuna as satyadharma is applicable fo the king as well. Within the ASvamedha rite also the same epithet is uted with reference to the reins of Mitra and Varuna’s chariot. y6 vin rétha straint sétyadharod mix ‘ucdranam upayhit dasdyan ~ “You, whose chariot with straight reins and true/teal dharma draws near, frustrating him wlao acts fal- sely” (MS 3.16.5; KS 22.15; TS 47.152. In these and in other pas- sages we will examine i the Brshmanas and the Upanisads, the kingly power or keira is intimately connected with dharma. [n the same Way as Varuya, the heavenly sovereign, his earthly counterpart is also harmapat the two are lords and upholds of dharma inthe cosmos ‘and within society ‘The connection of dharma to the royal and judicial sphere i neely iastrated by one ritual detail. In the Purusamnedha, the real or sym bolic human secrifice, diferent types of men are sacrificed to various cites, The kinds of men sacrifced to dharma and ils opposite494 PATRICK OUVELLE dharma are instructive: to dharma, a sabidgn (presumably, a man ‘who participates atthe royal audience hall where juicial proceedings fare carried out), and to adharma,? @ deaf man (badhira), quite the ‘opposite ofthe debater in the assembly hall (VS 30.6, 10, TH 34.1). ‘Tae weANMANAS “The corpus of the Brabumapas is even more vast than the Yajurved, Sayphitgs. For this study 1 have chosen three: Aitreya, Taltriy, and Setaparha, Altnough paralleling the Atareya tne Kausttaki does ‘pot use the term dharma at al Inthe dee Bradmapas that are the focus ofthis stad, the term dharma occurs independently a total of 1 tise.” This i striking, especially because the Bratman, unlike the Sambitis, contsin 2 wide spectrum of material and address ‘nuinerous issues, including ritual and ethical ones, pertaining (0 Brahmanical life’ One would assume, « prior, that if dharma was key concept that defined the Bralianical view of the world aud of thuman lif, ie would have been used more frequently and within a variety of contexts “The term it used only once in the Aitareya Bramago, and, sige rifiaatly, here also it accurs within the context ofthe royal couse ‘ration (rdjasiya), At AB 812-14 there isa description of the great farointing (mahdbhieka) of Indra as king by the gods, which is immediately followed at 42 8.15-23 by the anointing of the king. Clearly the anointing of Indra provides the model forthe anointing fof the king In both we have the following public proclamation ofthe Sovereignty of Indra and the king, the former proclaimed by the Vigvedevas and the latter by the “king-makers”. (diakertra). ‘The wording is identical in the two contexts withthe exception ofthe audience adessed, gods (dev) in the ease of Indra and men (jan) Jn the ease of the king: na jan [est bate sees xvas non parsed neripamstdian aca poranephin pares sno rfeptara ‘Bort jn stent Sere bayer ao! sa ajay tri ‘sn ann gop crap goidt. (02713, 1). Sage prosnim him, Omen [0 gods overord nd ovesorsip, a paruount rier on fara pane rye sal er sis ae a sovereign god ‘Seriya ape lo std spree op, ab King a ithe of ins, Te ‘Bae onl pow) fas bon born fe dare bas bear bor, te ea fa ‘Seton fa oe bry fe eater fhe aman ri) hs be bor, he ayer of flee been bore the gutdan of Samear as been oct the guaran of ‘hana ies bea bor” (Tr. Rett wih modenson) "THESEMANTIC HISTORY OF OHARAA as ‘The proclamation reaches its climax with the announcement thal Indrajking has been bora through the ripit of consecration as the oardian of dharma, Here Indra has replaced Varuna, but the con nection ofthe king to dharme is brought to the forefront In the Taitthiye Brakmapa dharma occurs four times. In three 0! these dharma is closely associated with Varupa and with the overlore (adhipat). AU TB 39.16.2, which is © commentary on TS 7.4.16 dealing with the horse sacrifice, the mantra ofthe TS nam dhparaye (Homage to the overlord”) is interpreted by the TB as: dldrmo v6 ‘dhipaih, dhdrmam evévarundhe ("The overlords dharma, He does indeed, obtain diarma”). The person who is here identified with ‘adhipatya and with dharma isthe king performing the horse sacrifice In the 7S, significantly, the mantra commeated on by the TB comes at the end aud climax of a longer mantee: “Homage to the Homage to Varuna! Homage to Prajapati! Homage to the overlord! Here dharma asthe adhipat is place last asthe highes. "AUTB 3.11.41 we have the common designation of Varuna as “Lord of dliarma”. Indeed the justaposition of indrapatat and dar. imapaint (wife of Indra” and “wife of dharma”) at TB 3.11.20 takes it likely that dharma here stands for Varuna, whose epithet i stharmapais . In the voluminous Satapatia Brafmapa, if we exclude the last section consisting of the Bphadaranyaka Upanisad, the term diarme, ‘curs in jut six passages ln one of the most significant statements Fegueding the relation between dharma, Varupa, and the king, the Sotapatia (53.39), within the context of the royal consecration (ay), states: ha sty hdrmapaene/ ani yaya cor rapa den wie re aharmapa dharma tar pot a 2 abrir od ‘port eohe ti hiv pay nad ae dmapatae f “fen to Vara te lore of doom be flr cake page wth toe. Thereby ‘Vaart ins he ld tare, ase he Hn] te or of drm, Th ‘Sin te high sate nhen one somes fhe od of sharma, For when someone sting fhe bigest stats {geone) cone To (a mates tig) to alarm ‘Therefore to Varna, th ard of dara Here we gota clearer picture as fo what the author of the Satapatha scans by dharma, certainly clearer than the texts we have examined ‘hus fae I bas to do with matters regarding which people come to the king and must refer principally co legal disputes. Dharma is thus placed squerely witin the public realm of law ané social norms that ‘rust be overseen by the king. We ean now understand why the king