Shishtachara

The “practice of learned [people],”
which was one of the traditional sources
for determining religious duty (dharma)
for matters not discussed in the dharma
literature, or for cases in which the literature itself gave conflicting opinions.
Although Shishtachara was the least
authoritative source of dharma, after the
Vedic scriptures and the dharma literature, making it an authority 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 knowledgeable people. Another term to designate this sort of authority was sadachara,
the “practice of good [people].”
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Shishtachara