Dharma means that which is to be held fast or kept, law, usage, custom, religion, piety, right, equity, duty, good works, and morality. It is, in short, the eternal and immutable (sanatana) principles which hold together the universe in its parts and in its whole, whether organic or inorganic matter. "That which supports and holds together the peoples (of the universe) is dharma." "It was declared for well-being and bringeth well-being. It upholds and preserves. Because it supports and holds together, it is called Dharma. By Dharma are the people upheld." It is, in short, not an artificial rule, but the principle of right living. The mark of dharma and of the good is achara (good conduct), from which dharma is born and fair fame is acquired here and hereafter. The sages embraced achara as the root of all tapas. Dharma is not only the principle of right living, but also its application. That course of meritorious action by which man fits himself for this world, heaven, and liberation. Dharma is also the result of good action . that is, the merit acquired thereby. The basis of the sanatana dharma is revelation

(shruti) as presented in the various Shastra.. Smriti, Purana, and Tantra. In the Devi Bhagavata it is said that in the Kaliyuga Vishnu in the form of Vyasa divides the one Veda into many parts, with the desire to benefit men, and with the knowledge that they are short-lived and of small intelligence, and hence unable to master the whole. This dharma is the first of the four leading arms (chaturvarga) of all being.