Dharma
Dharma
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This article is about the concept found in Indian religions. For other uses, see Dharma (disambiguation).
Dharma
Rituals and rites of passage[1]
Yoga, personal behaviours[2]
Virtues such as Ahimsa (non-violence)[3]
Law and justice[4]
Sannyasa and stages of life[5]
Duties, such as learning from teachers[6]
Dharma (/ˈdɑːrmə/;[7] Sanskrit: धर्म, romanized: dharma, pronounced [dʱɐɽmɐ] (listen); Pali: धम्म, romanized: dhamma, translit. dhamma) is a key concept with multiple meanings in Indian religions, such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism and others.[8] There is no single-word translation for dharma in Western languages.[9]
In Hinduism, dharma signifies behaviors that are considered to be in accord with Ṛta, the order that makes life and universe possible,[10][note 1] and includes duties, rights, laws, conduct, virtues and "right way of living".[11] In Buddhism, dharma means "cosmic law and order",[10] and is also applied to the teachings of Buddha.[10] In Buddhist philosophy, dhamma/dharma is also the term for "phenomena".[12][note 2] Dharma in Jainism refers to the teachings of tirthankara (Jina)[10] and the body of doctrine pertaining to the purification and moral transformation of human beings. For Sikhs, the word dharm means the path of righteousness and proper religious practice.[13]
The word dharma was already in use in the historical Vedic religion, and its meaning and conceptual scope has evolved over several millennia.[14] The ancient Tamil moral text of Tirukkural is solely based on aṟam, the Tamil term for dharma[citation needed]. The antonym of dharma is adharma.