The Great Indian Political Debate - 3

[Bodhi]

Husky, for example, here is one aphorism from chANakya-nIti-darpaNa:

tyajet dharmaM-dayA-hInaM vidyA-hInaM-guruM tyajet |
tyajet krodha-mukhIm bhAryAM niHsnehAn bAndhavAMsa tyajet ||
(CND 4.16)

should abandon a merciless religion, and a guru lacking in vidyA
should abandon the anger-face wives, and friends lacking in affection

In above, 'dharma' might probably not mean dharma of old sense. Since it is said in conjunction with Guru, it here means a sect or mata, sampradAya.

Now that I am trying to recall, I have also seen the word 'Dharma' used in pa~nchatantra/hitopadesha in that sense as well (a particular way of religious practice).

{Now, something to ponder about... which one does chANakya refer to by a 'merciless religion'! We are talking about early maurya period, when buddhism and jainism were making an impact all around, and main blame from these two on Astika mata-s was that of being cruel}