Ch. 2 Yoga of Discernment of Reality (Part 6)
Dharma is a word not used just by the vaidikas but also employed reverently by the Buddhists and Jains. The vaidikas have employed this term in different śāstras and as part of different terminologies. Śrī Śaṅkara gives the following meaning:
jagataḥ sthiti-kāraṇam। prāṇināṃ sākṣād-abhyudaya-niḥśreyasa hetuḥ yaḥ sa dharmaḥ...
Śāṅkara-gītā-bhāṣya upodghāta
The system and set of acts that bestows
(i) Welfare upon beings in the world now and