Yato Dharmastato Jayah

Yato Dharmastato Jayah (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".

Meaning
The phrase comes from the Mahabharata verse 13.153.39. On the battlefield of Kurukshetra, during the Kurukshetra War, when Arjuna tries to shake the despondency of Yudhisthira; he states "victory is ensured for the side standing with Dharma". 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 scriptures
The phrase is often complemented with another shloka in the Mahabharata. Dhritarashtra is warned using this phrase by Vyasa to discourage the unrighteous ways of his sons. It again occurs in the Stri Parva of Hindu Itihasa Mahabharata. It is also told by Bhishma to Duryodhana in Bhagavad Gita Parva. Yato Dharmastato Jayah occurs a total of eleven times in the Mahabharata.

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".

Dharma Viveka, a Sanskrit poem composed by Halayudhvi, ends with this phrase.

In studies
In Bala Vihar, an educational activity for children, Chinmaya Mission uses this message to supplement the concept of Karma. Scholar Alf Hiltebeitel takes this up in detail in his study of Dharma and Bhagwat Gita. Before Alf, the scholar Sylvain Lévi is known to have studied this phrase in detail with varying interpretations. 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]". In the study of ethics, it is taken to convey that "ultimate victory is that of righteousness".