Dharma is a term that evolved out of Hinduism and Buddhism. Webster's calls it "an individual's duty fulfilled by observance of custom or law" and "conformity to one's duty and nature." In traditional Hindu society, dharma is composed of two things. First, it covers good and righteous behavior according to one's role in society. Second, dharma also includes the correct performance of one's role in society in any given situation. The theory is that if you follow your dharma, you will consistently make the right decision and act in accordance with your duties in every situation. If you don't act within your dharma, then you will consistently make the wrong decision.

The concept of Dharma is explored regularly in Indian epic poems. For example, consider the epic Ramayana. In the poem, Rama is a heroic character while Ravana is an evil character. Rama always follows dharma and therefore, always makes the right choices. However, Ravana fails to follow dharma and consistently makes the wrong choices.

This is a dynamic that you can find repeated through many different Indian epics. Because of that, you can think of Indian epic poems as a teaching tool. Through them, the reader sees the benefits of following dharma and the harms that result from avoiding it. They learn intuitively the importance of dharma, which reinforces its prevalence in traditional Hindu society.