Q1.
This is the logo of the Supreme Court of India. What are the elements familiar to you? Notice the Sanskrit motto, ‘yato dharmastato jayah’ — ‘Where there is dharma, there is victory.’ (You might recall this motto from your Grade 6 textbook.)
Answer
Look at the logo printed on page 130 and you will find that almost every element is one you have already met — it is assembled from the national symbols of India.
| Element in the logo | Where you already know it from | What it stands for here |
|---|---|---|
| The 24-spoked wheel at the top | The Ashoka Chakra — the wheel at the centre of the national flag, the dharmachakra | The wheel of dharma, of law in motion — the idea that law must keep turning and applying to everyone |
| The lion capital below the wheel | The State Emblem of India, adapted from the Lion Capital of Sarnath | The authority of the Indian State, of which this Court is one organ |
| The scroll under the emblem | Devanagari script — ॥ यतो धर्मस्ततो जयः ॥, ‘yato dharmastato jayah’ | ‘Where there is dharma, there is victory’ — the Court’s motto |
| The words around the base | Roman script — SUPREME COURT OF INDIA | Names the institution |
You would have met the motto yato dharmastato jayah in your Grade 6 textbook. It is worth pausing on what the Court is claiming by choosing it. The line does not say that whoever wins is right. It says the opposite — that victory belongs to the side that has dharma, that is, right conduct and duty, on it. Put on a courtroom, this becomes a promise: the Court is not there to help the more powerful party or the better-connected one, but to find where dharma lies and let that side win.
Why the elements fit together: the emblem says this is the authority of the State; the chakra says that authority runs through law, not through will; and the motto says the point of the law is dharma, not power. Read from top to bottom, the logo is a compressed statement of exactly what the chapter says the judiciary is for.
Try this: compare the Supreme Court’s motto with the national motto Satyameva Jayate — ‘Truth alone triumphs’ — printed under the State Emblem. Both put the claim of truth and dharma above the claim of strength. Ask your teacher to show you the emblem of your own State’s High Court and see which elements it shares.