Concept
Dharma-yuddha
Overview
Dharma-yuddha is a Sanskrit word made up of two roots: dharma (धर्म) meaning righteousness, and yuddha (युद्ध) meaning warfare. In the Hindu Scriptures, dharma-yuddha refers to a holy war or battle that is fought while following several rules that make the war fair.
For instance, in a righteous war, equals fight equals. Chariot warriors are not supposed to attack cavalry and infantry, those on elephants are not supposed to attack infantry, and so on. The rules also forbid the usage of celestial weapons (divine weapons bestowed by the gods) on ordinary soldiers (as opposed to warriors of noble birth). The build-up of weapons and armies is done with the full knowledge of the opposing side and no surprise attacks are made.
The rules of engagement also set out how warriors were to deal with non-combatants. No one should attack an enemy who has temporarily lost or dropped their weapon. The lives of women, ascetics, prisoners of wars, and farmers were also sacred. Pillaging the land was forbidden.
Dharma-yuddha also signifies that the war is not fought for gain or selfish reasons. A dharma-yuddha is waged to uphold the principles of righteousness.
Overview adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0; see the article history for authors).
Possible passages
Found by search and not yet checked by a person; they may only mention the idea in passing.
But by sacred things one must not understand simply those personal beings which are called gods or spirits; a rock, a tree, a spring, a pebble, a piece of wood, a house, in a word, anything can be sacred. A rite can have this character; in fact, the rite does not exist which does not have it to a certain degree.
Émile Durkheim, The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life
States what Dharma-yuddha is.
That is called hard to which our flesh yields, and soft which yields to our flesh; and things are also termed hard and soft relatively to one another. That which yields has a small base; but that which rests on quadrangular bases is firmly posed and belongs to the class which offers the greatest resistance; so too does that which is the most compact and therefore…
Plato, Timaeus
States what Dharma-yuddha is.
The ancient teachers define _avyaktam_ as the “equilibrium of the three forces,” one of which is called _Sattva_, the second _Rajas_ and the third _Tamas_. _Tamas_, the lowest force, is that of attraction, a little higher is _Rajas_, that of repulsion, and the highest is the control of these two, _Sattva_, so that when the two forces, attraction and repulsion, are held in perfect control, or balance, by the…
Swami Vivekananda, Jnâna Yoga, Part II
States what Dharma-yuddha is.
Related ideas
Place in the tradition
Part of Philosophy of war.