Sadachara

(“practice of good [people]”) One of the
traditional sources for determining religious duty (dharma) for matters not
treated in the dharma literature, or for
cases in which the literature itself gave
conflicting opinions. This was the least
authoritative source of dharma, after the
Vedas (the oldest Hindu scriptures) and
the dharma literature. Sadachara recognizes that life has many ambiguities and
uncertainties, and at the same time provides a resource for determining the
appropriate action, by taking as a model
the practice of established and upright
people. Another term to designate this
sort of authority was shishtachara, the
“practice of learned [people].”