Dharma in Religion
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Dharma
Dharma (Sanskrit धर्म) or Dhamma (Pāli) means Natural Law or Reality, and with respect to its significance for spirituality and religion might be considered the Way of the Higher Truths. Dharma forms the basis for philosophies, beliefs and practices originating in India. The four main ones are Hinduism (Sanatana Dharma), Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism all retain the centrality of Dharma. In these traditions, beings that live in harmony with Dharma proceed more quickly toward Dharma Yukam, Moksha, Nirvana (personal liberation). Dharma also refers to the teachings and doctrines of the various founders of the traditions, such as Gautama Buddha in Buddhism and Mahavira in Jainism. As the religious and moral doctrine of the rights and duties of each individual, Dharma can refer generally to religious duty, and also mean social order, right conduct, or simply virtue.
Meanings and origins of the word Dharma
In the Rigveda, the word appears as an n-stem, dhДЎrman-, with a range of meanings encompassing “something established or firm” (in the literal sense of prods or poles), figuratively “sustainer, supporter” (of deities), and in the abstract, similar to the semantics of Greek ethos, “fixed decree, statute, law”,
The word is from a root common Indo-Iranian root dhar “to fasten, to support, to hold”, continuing PIE *dher, in the IEW connected with Latin frēnum “rein, horse tack”, Germanic words for “hidden, held back” (OHG tarni “latens”), and extended to dher-gh, with OCS drъÐÑ›ǫ, drъÐÑ›ati “to hold, possess”. Etymological identity of dharma with Latin firmus (whence English firm) has been suggested, but remains uncertain.
From the Atharvaveda and in Classical Sanskrit, the stem is thematic, dhДЎrma- (धर्म in the Devanagari script), and in Pāli, it takes the form dhamma. Monier-Williams attempts to gesture at the semantic field of the spiritual and religious meanings of the term with “virtue, morality, religion, religious merit”. It being used in most or all philosophies and religions of Indian origin, the “dharmic faiths” including Hinduism (Sanatana Dharma), Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism, it is difficult to provide a single concise definition for Dharma. The word has a long and varied history and straddles a complex set of meanings and interpretations. Dharma also is practiced in the Surat Shabda Yoga traditions.
Rene Guenon, father of the 20th century school of perennial philosophy, said:
It [dharma] is, so to speak, the essential nature of a being, comprising the sum of its particular qualities or characteristics, and determining, by virtue of the tendencies or dispositions it implies, the manner in which this being will conduct itself, either in a general way or in relation to each particular circumstance. The same idea may be applied, not only to a single being, but also to an organized collectivity, to a species, to all the beings included in a cosmic cycle or state of existence, or even to the whole order of the Universe; it then, at one level or another, signifies conformity with the essential nature of beingsÐ (from Guenons “Introduction to the Study of Hindu Doctrines”)
David Frawley, an expert on Hindu philosophy and religion, comments on Dharma as follows:
A universal tradition has room for all faiths and all religious and spiritual practices regardless of the time or country of their origin. Yet it places religious and spiritual teachings in their appropriate place relative to the ultimate goal of Self-realization, to which secondary practices are subordinated. Sanatan Dharma also recognizes that the greater portion of human religious aspirations has always been unknown, undefined and outside of any institutionalized belief. Sanatan Dharma thereby gives reverence to individual spiritual experience over any formal religious doctrine. Wherever the Universal Truth is manifest; there is Sanatan DharmaЖwhether it is in a field of religion, art or science, or in the life of a person or community. Wherever the Universal Truth is not recognized, or is scaled down or limited to a particular group, book or person, even if done so in the name of God, there Sanatan Dharma ceases to function, whatever the activity is called.
According to the Natchintanai Scripture:
By the laws of Dharma that govern body and mind, you must fear sin and act righteously. Wise men by thinking and behaving in this way become worthy to gain bliss both here and hereafter.
Yama, the lord of death, is also known as Dharma, since he works within the laws of karma and morality, regulated by divine principles. More familiar is the embodiment of Dharma in Lord Rama, an avatar of Vishnu. The eldest Pandava, Yudhishthira was referred to as DharmaRaj (Most pious One) owing to his steadfastness to Truth & Dharma.
In ancient Vedic tradition, the Dharma was decided by the holy Kings or Dharma Raja. Dharma rajas include Manu who by tradition saves the Vedas before the flood, Rama, Yudhisthira, and Buddha.
The teachings, doctrines, philosophies and practices associated with furthering Dharma are also referred to as such. Sometimes, specific qualifiers are used – viz. Buddha-Dharma and Jain-Dharma to distinguish them from Hindu Dharma.
For many Buddhists, the Dharma most often means the body of teachings expounded by the Buddha. The word is also used in Buddhist phenomenology as a term roughly equivalent to phenomenon, a basic unit of existence and/or experience.
In scripture translations dharma is often best left untranslated, as it has acquired a lively life of its own in English that is more expressive than any simplistic translation. Common translations and glosses include “right way of living,” Divine Law, Path of Righteousness, order, faith, “natural harmony,” rule, fundamental teachings, and duty. Dharma may be used to refer to rules of the operation of the mind or universe in a metaphysical system, or to rules of comportment in an ethical system.
In Hindu Philosophy
Within Indian philosophy “dharma” also means “property” and “dharmin” means “property-bearer”. In a Sanskrit sentence like “shabdo nityaH” (Sanskrit transliterated according to the Kyoto-Harvard