The book provides an overview of the Hindu Philosophy of Dharma. The notion of Dharma is extraordinarily vast. It is best summarised as the ruling force, the harmonising principle and the foundation of social order in India. It has been conceptualised as a normative frame to conduct day to day life. It is both the goal of life and the core value for organising one's behaviour.
The book offers a synoptic view of the sacred literature that constitutes the foundation of Dharma (or the law as we know it in the contemporary context) and the seers who have shaped this corpus. The word Dharma has passed through several transitions of meaning. The most prominent among them comes in the form of privileges, duties and obligations of a man, his standard of conduct as an individual belonging to a certain caste and as a person at a particular stage of life. Dharma includes law and morals, service and sacrifice to Gods, obedience to state, love towards family and the purity of social life. It has been the crown of the social structure under divine dispensation and is identical with the abstract principle of truth. The book deals with various aspects of Dharma including its meaning, foundational principles as well as goals, relationship between Dharma and Dandaniti and the manner in which it worked in and through Vidyasthana (abode of knowledge) and Dharmasthana (abode of Dharma).The second half of the book catalogues a wide range of authorities and their works that have shaped the tradition of knowledge on Dharma since the time of Vedas.