The word dharma has a variety of meanings depending on the philosophical context. Below I reproduce several definitions of dharma discussed by Babaji in his commentary on Hitopadeśa 2.12, together with a few additional definitions from other sources.
From Nyāya darśana —
yatra yaḥ vartate sa tasya dharmah (Navya-byāya-bhāṣā-pradīpa 1)
Whatever exists in something is its dharma.
If a cup has water in it, then water is the dharma of the cup. Likewise, qualities of a substance are its dharma because they exist in the substance.
From Vaiśeṣika darśana —
yato’bhyudaya-niḥśreyasa-siddhiḥ sa dharma (Vaiśeṣika Sūtra 1.1.2)
that which leads to worldly prosperity and ultimate good (spiritual upliftment) is dharma.
From Sāṅkhya —
dharmeṇa gamanamūrdhvaṁ (Sāṅkhya-kārikā 44)
Through dharma one ascends to higher realms.
From Pūrva-mīmāṁsā —
codanā-lakṣaṇo’rtho dharmaḥ (Pūrva Mīmāṁsā Sūtra 1.1.2)
dharma is that which is enjoined by the Veda.
From the Manu Smṛti —
vedaḥ smṛtiḥ sadācārah svasya ca priyam ātmanaḥ etac caturvidhaṁ prāhuḥ sākṣād dharmasya lakṣanam (Manu Smṛti 2.12)
[The words of] Veda and Smṛti, conduct of saintly people, and that which is pleasing to oneself – these four are said to be the direct defining characteristic of dharma.
From the Mahābhārata
dhāraṇād dharmam ity āhur dharmo dhārayati prajāḥ | yaḥ syād dhāraṇa-saṃyuktaḥ sa dharma iti niścayaḥ || (Śānti Parva 109.11
[It is] called dharma because [it] sustains. Dharma sustains living beings. Whatever is endowed with the quality of sustaining: that indeed is certainly dharma.
From the Bhāgavata —
yato dharmād adhokṣaje bhaktis [tat-kathāśrvaṇādiṣu rūcir (gloss from Śrī Jīva Goswami)] bhavati
humanity’s supreme essential duty (para-dharma) is that by which bhakti for Adhokṣaja [Kṛṣṇa] can come into being [or in other words, that by which a taste is awakened for devotional acts, such as hearing the narrations of Bhagavān].
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