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Yato Dharmastato Jayah Yato Dharmastato Jayaḥ (Sanskrit: यतो धर्मस्ततो जयः) is a Sanskrit shloka that occurs a total of 13 times in the Hindu epic the Mahabharata. It means "Where there is Dharma, there will be Victory".[1][2]
MeaningThe phrase comes from the Mahabharata verse 13.153.39.[3] On the battlefield of Kurukshetra, during the Kurukshetra War, when Arjuna tries to shake the despondency of Yudhisthira;[4] he states "victory is ensured for the side standing with Dharma".[5] 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 Dharma, there is Victory". Reference in Hindu scripturesThe phrase is often complemented with another shloka in the Mahabharata. [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 Bhishma to Duryodhana in Bhagavad Gita Parva. Yato Dharmastato Jayah occurs a total of eleven times in the Mahabharata.[4] In Karna-Upanivada Parva, Karna while accepting his mistakes in front of Krishna, also said this. 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 studiesIn 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.[4] Before Alf, the scholar Sylvain Lévi is known to have studied this phrase in detail with varying interpretations.[4][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 [India's]".[13] In the study of ethics, it is taken to convey that "ultimate victory is that of righteousness".[14] See also
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