Ethical reflection has occupied human thought since the earliest civilisations. Beneath everyday moral judgments about what we ought or ought not to do lies a deeper philosophical question, “What is the nature of morality itself?”. This inquiry belongs to the domain of metaethics.

Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that deals with the first principles of reality, including existence, identity, time, space, causation, and the fundamental nature of mind and matter.

Metaethics draws heavily from metaphysics by using its accounts of reality, causation, necessity, and universality to explain what moral truths are, whether they exist, and how they fit into the structure of the world.

Rather than prescribing specific moral duties, metaethics examines the nature, origin, objectivity, and meaning of moral claims themselves. It investigates questions such as:

• Are moral values objective or subjective?
• Do moral truths exist independently of human beliefs and social constructs?
• Are moral properties, such as goodness or justice, real features of reality?
• What does it mean to say that something is ‘good’, ‘bad’, ‘right’, or ‘wrong’?
• How do free will and moral responsibility relate to human agency and causation?

Within Western philosophy, metaethical positions are often polarised:

• Moral realism asserts that objective moral facts exist independently of what anyone believes, feels, or reasons.
• Moral relativism treats moral principles as relative to cultural or social contexts.
• Moral emotivism interprets moral judgments as expressions of emotion.
• Moral rationalism holds that morality is universal and grounded in reason.

While philosophically rigorous, these approaches often struggle to reconcile moral objectivity with contextual flexibility. Sanātana Dharma, by contrast, offers a metaethical vision that preserves objectivity without collapsing into rigidity, and contextual sensitivity without moral arbitrariness.

The Sanātana Metaethical Framework

Ontology, a central domain of metaphysics, investigates existence itself: the meaning of being, the categories of beings, and their interrelations. Sanātana metaethics situates morality within this ontological framework, conceiving it as arising from the structure of reality and expressed across three levels of existence.

• Ādhidaivika – the cosmic or divine level, governing natural law, cosmic forces, and the sustaining intelligence of the universe
• Ādhibhautika – the social and material level, governing relationships among beings, society, and the environment
• Ādhyātmika – the individual or spiritual level, governing the inner life, consciousness, and moral agency

The Sanātana metaethical framework is founded upon the premise that harmony and order permeate all levels of existence. From this perspective, morality is not an arbitrary human construct but an expression of universal reality itself. Consequently, ethical disorder manifests simultaneously as cosmic imbalance, social disharmony, and inner fragmentation.

1. Ādhidaivika Morality

Normativity refers to the standards, rules, or ideals that dictate what ought to be done, believed, or valued. Ādhidaivika morality concerns the divine and cosmic level of normativity.

At this level, moral order is grounded in Ṛta, the objective metaphysical structure of reality sustained by Īśvara, understood as the supremely intelligent and conscious principle governing the cosmos. Īśvara guarantees a rational, law-governed, purposive, and intelligible Ṛta. Thus, reality is morally normative, not morally indifferent.

Ṛta functions as the ultimate truth-maker for moral facts. Just as natural laws describe how phenomena necessarily behave, moral laws describe how beings ought to function in accordance with their nature. Moral truths are therefore mind-independent: they do not arise from human attitudes, agreements, or sentiments, but from the intrinsic order of reality itself.

In this sense, Sanātana morality is realist at the Ādhidaivika level. Moral facts exist whether or not they are recognised, much as cosmic order persists regardless of human awareness. Īśvara does not arbitrarily command morality; rather, divine intelligence sustains an ordered reality in which moral truths are embedded.

Thus, the Ādhidaivika level provides the ontological foundation of Sanātana metaethics.

2. Ādhibhautika Morality

Ādhibhautika morality concerns how Ṛta is expressed within the empirical world — nature, society, and embodied life. Here, Ṛta takes the form of Dharma, the concrete moral order governing human conduct, institutions, and roles.

Dharma is not a mere social convention. It reflects the way moral order manifests in:

• biological regularities
• social interdependence
• role-based responsibilities

The concept of Svadharma illustrates this clearly. Just as natural entities function according to their capacities — fire burns, rivers flow — human beings flourish by fulfilling duties appropriate to their abilities, social positions, and stages of life. Moral obligation is thus intelligible through analogy with natural order, not imposed externally or irrationally.

At this level, reason plays a central role. Rational reflection allows us to:

• recognise patterns of order
• understand functional roles
• evaluate whether actions sustain or disrupt harmony

Therefore, Ādhibhautika morality grounds ethics in rational realism: moral norms are objective, yet accessible through empirical observation, social reasoning, and practical deliberation. Moral disagreement arises not because morality is subjective, but because discernment is imperfect.

Thus, the Ādhibhautika level provides the practical and social articulation of ethics.

3. Ādhyātmika Morality

While moral truths exist independently of the individual, their realisation requires inner clarity. Ādhyātmika morality is grounded in awareness rather than external enforcement, shaping ethical life through conscience, self-understanding, and moral insight.

Teleology examines phenomena in terms of the purposes or ends they serve. Conscious teleology, in particular, holds that human action is intentional and goal-oriented, guided by reasons and aims. Accordingly, individual morality concerns:

• the purification of intention
• the alignment of action with Dharma
• the recognition of one’s place within the cosmic order

Through disciplines such as self-reflection, meditation, and the cultivation of virtue, moral truth becomes progressively clearer. Avidyā (ignorance) distorts moral perception, giving rise to ego-driven or preference-based judgments, whereas Vidyā (knowledge) restores moral vision by revealing the harmony between self, society, and cosmos, and by clarifying the individual’s purpose within the larger order.

Importantly, Ādhyātmika morality does not reduce ethics to subjectivity. Inner realisation does not create moral truth but reveals it. Moral law remains objective, but its apprehension deepens as the self becomes ordered.

Thus, the Ādhyātmika level provides the cognitive and teleological completion of ethics.

Unified Metaethical Picture

The triadic framework of Sanātana metaethics forms a coherent metaethical system:

• Ādhidaivika answers why moral truths exist (grounding in Ṛta).
• Ādhibhautika explains how moral truths operate in the world (Dharma, Svadharma, rational order).
• Ādhyātmika shows how moral truths are known and lived (inner clarity and realisation).

This integrated structure supports a rational-realist metaethics of Sanātana Dharma:

• Moral truths are objective.
• Morality is grounded in cosmic order.
• Morality is rationally intelligible.
• Morality is inwardly realisable.

This framework is especially important because it shows that morality is not unidimensional; ethical failure or success in one domain inevitably affects the others.

Key Dimensions Of Moral Discernment

Understanding the subtle moral nuances of Sanātana metaethics is important so that morality may become lived wisdom rather than an imposition.

1. ‘Good And Bad’ Versus ‘Right And Wrong’

Sanātana metaethics makes a subtle but crucial distinction between Śubha (good) and Aśubha (bad) on the one hand, and Dharma (right) and Adharma (wrong) on the other.

• Good and bad typically refer to psychological or social consequences: what leads to pleasure, suffering, peace, or unrest.
• Right and wrong, by contrast, pertain to situational ethical truth: what is demanded by one’s duty in a given context.

An action may be emotionally painful, socially condemned, or materially disadvantageous, yet remain ethically right if it accords with one’s Svadharma. Arjuna’s moral paralysis in the Bhagavad Gītā arises from conflating anticipated suffering and social disapproval with moral wrongness. Śrī Kṛṣṇa resolves this confusion by affirming:

“It is better to perform one’s own dharma, even imperfectly, than to perform another’s dharma perfectly; for acting in accordance with one’s innate nature does not incur moral fault.” (Bhagavad Gītā 18.47)

Moral evaluation is purpose-relative, reflecting a teleological view of morality in which ethical truth is measured not by pleasure, pain, or approval, but by alignment with one’s Svabhāva (nature) and orientation toward Mokṣa (liberation).

2. Is Morality Subjective Or Socially Conditioned?

Sanātana metaethics openly acknowledges that many moral norms are socially conditioned and historically variable. Customs, legal codes, and institutional duties evolve with time, place, and circumstance. However, this acknowledgment does not amount to moral subjectivism.

Beneath shifting conventions lies an invariant moral core, grounded in Ṛta and accessible through Viveka (discernment). Social practices may express moral truth imperfectly or even obscure it, but they do not generate it. This is why the Gītā places ethical authority not merely in external compliance but in inner clarity:

 “There is nothing so purifying here as knowledge.” (Bhagavad Gītā 4.38)

Morality, in this view, is discovered rather than invented. While society conditions moral perception, it does not constitute moral truth. Therefore, ethical progress requires critical reflection informed by self-knowledge, not mere conformity to prevailing norms.

3. Reason And Intuition In Ethical Life

Sanātana metaethics accords a vital role to Buddhi (reasoning intellect). Śrī Kṛṣṇa emphasises the importance of reasoning in making ethical choices and sticking to them through discipline.

“The intellect of those who are on this path is resolute, and their aim is one-pointed, O descendent of the Kurus.” (Bhagavad Gītā 2.41)

Yet reason alone is insufficient in complex moral contexts where rules conflict or outcomes are uncertain. Here, intuition  arising from a Sāttvika (pure and clear) mind enables direct moral insight. Such intuition is not impulsive or emotional, but the clarity that arises when inner disorder is reduced.

Thus, ethical wisdom is not merely rule-based but experiential and transformative. It arises from the integration of reason, moral resolve, and intuitive insight, and is cultivated through self-discipline and reflection.

4. Karma And Intention In Ethical Action

A defining feature of Sanātana metaethics is its emphasis on intention. The law of Karma responds not only to actions, but to the intent from which actions arise. This is articulated in the doctrine of Niṣkāma Karma, or action without attachment to outcomes:

“You have a right to perform your prescribed duty, but you are not entitled to the fruits of action.” (Bhagavad Gītā 2.47)

Moral responsibility thus arises from awareness and freedom from attachment. An action performed with clarity, selflessness, and right intention carries a different moral weight than the same action performed from ego, fear, or desire.

In this framework, ethics is inseparable from spiritual maturity, as inner purification and moral growth are the very conditions that give ethical action its meaning.

Implications For Modern Life

In a modern moral landscape marked by extremes of ethical deficiency, arbitrary relativism,or ideological rigidity, Sanātana metaethics offers a coherent and comprehensive moral framework. When inculcated through structured education from an early age, this framework helps address and correct the ethical distortions evident in contemporary society, thereby providing a stable foundation for moral clarity and responsible action.

• It reconciles moral objectivity with flexibility, and universality with particularity, making it well suited to contemporary life.
• Its emphasis on context-sensitive duty resists moral absolutism, while its grounding in cosmic order guards against arbitrariness.
• By linking social ethics to inner transformation, it affirms that justice without moral self-discipline is incomplete, since institutions depend on the integrity of those who uphold them.
• Its holistic vision naturally extends to ecological responsibility, social harmony, and sustainable governance, rooted in the interdependence of self, society, and cosmos.

Taken together, this vision remains deeply relevant in contemporary contexts marked by moral fragmentation and institutional strain. Recovering the insights of Sanātana metaethics is not a retreat into the past, but a return to a time-tested knowledge system capable of re-grounding ethical life in coherence, responsibility, and inner integrity.

Conclusion

The metaethics of Sanātana Dharma reconciles moral objectivity with contextual flexibility. It grounds moral truth in Ṛta, the objective order of reality, while its expression as Dharma adapts to circumstance, role, and stage of life across the Ādhidaivika, Ādhibhautika, and Ādhyātmika levels.

What remains constant is not a fixed moral code but the principle of harmony with the cosmic order.

By preserving objectivity at the level of truth and flexibility at the level of application, this framework integrates personal transformation, social responsibility, and cosmic order into a unified ethical vision capable of addressing diverse moral challenges.

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© Sujata Khanna. All rights reserved.

Sujata Khanna’s book, ‘The Eternal Law’, explores Sanātana Philosophy in its elemental form. Available on Amazon worldwide: India, USA, UK, Canada, Australia, Singapore, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Netherland, Poland, Sweden, Japan

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