Dharma (; , ) is a key concept in various Indian-origin religions. The term dharma does not have a single, clear translation and conveys a multifaceted idea. Etymologically, it comes from the Sanskrit dhr-, meaning to hold or to support, thus referring to the law that sustains things—from one's life to society, and to the universe at large. Most commonly, dharma refers to an individual's moral responsibilities or duties; the dharma of a farmer differs from the dharma of a soldier, thus making the concept a dynamic one. The antonym of dharma is adharma.
In Hinduism, dharma denotes behaviours that are considered to be in accord with Ṛta—the "order and custom" that makes life and the universe possible. This includes duties, rights, laws, conduct, virtues, and ethics, forming the "righteous way of living", which differs depending on one's identity, gender, and stage of life. The concept of dharma appears in the earliest Vedic texts, and its meaning and conceptual scope has evolved over several millennia. Dharma is believed to have a transtemporal validity, and is one of the puruṣārthas.
In Buddhism, dharma () refers to the teachings of the Buddha and to the true nature of reality (which the teachings point to). In Buddhist philosophy, dhamma/dharma is also the term for specific "phenomena" and for the ultimate truth.
In Jainism, dharma refers to the teachings of Tirthankara (Jina) and the body of doctrine pertaining to purification and moral transformation.
In Sikhism, dharma indicates the path of righteousness, proper religious practices, and performing moral duties.
Etymology
The word dharma () has roots in the Sanskrit dhr-, which means to hold or to support, and is related to Latin firmus (firm, stable).Barnhart, R. K. (ed.) (1998) Chambers Dictionary of Etymology. From this, it takes the meaning of "what is established or firm", and hence "law". It is derived from an older Vedic Sanskrit n-stem dharman-, with a literal meaning of "bearer, supporter", in a religious sense conceived as an aspect of Rta.
In the Rigveda, the word appears as an n-stem, , with a range of meanings encompassing "something established or firm" (in the literal sense of prods or poles). Figuratively, it means "sustainer" and "supporter" (of deities). It is semantically similar to the Greek themis ("fixed decree, statute, law").
In Classical Sanskrit, and in the Vedic Sanskrit of the Atharvaveda, the stem is thematic: (Devanagari: धर्म). In Prakrit and Pali, it is rendered dhamma. In some contemporary Indian languages and dialects it alternatively occurs as dharm.
In the 3rd century BCE the Mauryan Emperor Ashoka translated dharma into Greek and Aramaic and he used the Greek word eusebeia (εὐσέβεια, piety, spiritual maturity, or godliness) in the Kandahar Bilingual Rock Inscription and the Kandahar Greek Edicts, and the aramaic word (; truth, rectitude).
Definition
Dharma is a concept of central importance in Indian philosophy and Indian religions. It has multiple meanings in Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism and Jainism. It is difficult to provide a single concise definition for dharma, as the word has a long and varied history and straddles a complex set of meanings and interpretations. There is no direct single-word synonym for dharma in western languages.
There have been numerous attempts to translate ancient Sanskrit literature with the word dharma into German, English and French. The concept, according to Paul Horsch, has caused exceptional difficulties for modern commentators and translators. For example, while Grassmann's translation of Rig-Veda identifies seven different meanings of dharma,Hermann Grassmann, Worterbuch zum Rig-veda (German Edition), Motilal Banarsidass, Karl Friedrich Geldner in his translation of the Rig-Veda employs 20 different translations for dharma, including meanings such as "law", "justice", "righteousness", "order", "duty", "custom", "quality", and "model", among others. However, the word dharma has become a widely accepted loanword in English, and is included in many modern unabridged English dictionaries.
Steven Rosen notes that dharma is the principle "that regulates the course of change by not participating in change - by remaining constant. Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary offerssee: "Dharma" Monier Monier-Williams, Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (2008 revision), pp. 543–544; Carl Cappeller (1999), Monier-Williams: A Sanskrit-English Dictionary, Etymological and Philologically Arranged with Special Reference to Cognate Indo-European Languages, Asian Educational Services, , pp. 510–512. numerous definitions of the word dharma, such as that which is established or firm, steadfast decree, statute, law, practice, custom, duty, right, justice, virtue, morality, ethics, religion, religious merit, good works, nature, character, quality, property. Yet, each of these definitions is incomplete, while the combination of these translations does not convey the total sense of the word. In common parlance, dharma means "right way of living" and "path of rightness". Dharma also has connotations of order, and when combined with the word sanātana, it can also be described as eternal truth.
The meaning of the word dharma depends on the context, and its meaning has evolved over time. In the earliest texts and ancient myths of Hinduism, dharma referred to cosmic law, the rules that created the universe from chaos, as well as rituals; in Vedas, Upanishads, Puranas and the Epics, its meanings became refined, richer, and more complex, and were applied to diverse contexts.see: English translated version by Jarrod Whitaker: Horsch, Paul, (December 2004) "From Creation Myth to World Law: the Early History of Dharma", Journal of Indian Philosophy, Volume 32, Issue 5–6, pp. 423–448; Original peer-reviewed publication in German: Horsch, Paul, (1967) "Vom Schoepfungsmythos zum Weltgesetz", Asiatische Studien: Zeitschrift der Schweizerischen Gesellschaft für Asiankunde, Volume 21, pp. 31–61; English translated version by Donald R. Davis: Paul Hacker, (2006) "Dharma in Hinduism", Journal of Indian Philosophy, Volume 34, Issue 5, pp. 479–496; Original peer-reviewed publication in German: Paul Hacker, (1965) "Dharma im Hinduismus" Zeitschrift für Missionswissenschaft und Religionswissenschaft Volume 49, pp. 93–106. In certain contexts, dharma designates human behaviours considered necessary for order in the universe, principles that prevent chaos, behaviours and actions necessary to all life in nature, society, family, and the individual.see: ; "...the order and custom which make life and a universe possible, and thus to the behaviours appropriate to the maintenance of that order". Britannica Concise Encyclopedia, 2007. Dharma encompasses ideas such as duty, rights, character, vocation, religion, customs and all behaviour considered appropriate, correct or morally upright.see: Albrecht Wezler, "Dharma in the Veda and the Dharmaśāstras", Journal of Indian Philosophy, December 2004, Volume 32, Issue 5–6, pp. 629–654 Johannes Heesterman (1978). "Veda and Dharma", in W. D. O'Flaherty (ed.), The Concept of Duty in South Asia, New Delhi: Vikas, , pp. 80–95 K. L. Seshagiri Rao (1997), "Practitioners of Hindu Law: Ancient and Modern", Fordham Law Review, Volume 66, pp. 1185–1199. The term varnasrama dharma is used to describe duties specifically related to the stage of life one is in. The concept of Dharma is believed to have a transtemporal validity.
The antonym of dharma is adharma (Sanskrit: अधर्म),see अधर्मा "adharma", Sanskrit-English Dictionary, Germany (2011) "adharma" Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary, University of Koeln, Germany (2009). meaning that which is "not dharma". As with dharma, the word adharma includes and implies many ideas; in common parlance, adharma means that which is against nature, immoral, unethical, wrong or unlawful.
In Buddhism, dharma incorporates the teachings and doctrines of the founder of Buddhism, the Buddha.
History According to Pandurang Vaman Kane, author of the book History of Dharmaśāstra, the word dharma appears at least fifty-six times in the hymns of the Rigveda, as an adjective or noun. According to Paul Horsch, the word dharma has its origin in Vedic Hinduism. The hymns of the Rigveda claim Brahman created the universe from chaos, they hold (dhar-) the earth and sun and stars apart, they support (dhar-) the sky away and distinct from earth, and they stabilise (dhar-) the quaking mountains and plains.RgVeda 6.70.1, 8.41.10, 10.44.8, for secondary source see Karl Friedrich Geldner, Der Rigveda in Auswahl (2 vols.), Stuttgart; and Harvard Oriental Series, 33–36, Bd. 1–3: 1951.
The deities, mainly Indra, then deliver and hold order from disorder, harmony from chaos, stability from instability – actions recited in the Veda with the root of word dharma. In hymns composed after the mythological verses, the word dharma takes expanded meaning as a cosmic principle and appears in verses independent of deities. It evolves into a concept, claims Paul Horsch, that has a dynamic functional sense in Atharvaveda for example, where it becomes the cosmic law that links cause and effect through a subject. Dharma, in these ancient texts, also takes a ritual meaning. The ritual is connected to the cosmic, and "dharmani" is equated to ceremonial devotion to the principles that deities used to create order from disorder, the world from chaos.
Past the ritual and cosmic sense of dharma that link the current world to mythical universe, the concept extends to an ethical-social sense that links human beings to each other and to other life forms. It is here that dharma as a concept of law emerges in Hinduism.P. Thieme, Gedichte aus dem Rig-Veda, Reclam Universal-Bibliothek Nr. 8930, p. 52.
Dharma and related words are found in the oldest Vedic literature of Hinduism, in later Vedas, Upanishads, Puranas, and the Epics; the word dharma also plays a central role in the literature of other Indian religions founded later, such as Buddhism and Jainism. According to Brereton, Dharman occurs 63 times in Rig-veda; in addition, words related to Dharman also appear in Rig-veda, for example once as dharmakrt, 6 times as satyadharman, and once as dharmavant, 4 times as dharman and twice as dhariman.
Indo-European parallels for "dharma" are known, but the only Iranian equivalent is Old Persian darmān, meaning "remedy". This meaning is different from the Indo-Aryan dhárman, suggesting that the word "dharma" did not play a major role in the Indo-Iranian period. Instead, it was primarily developed more recently under the Vedic tradition.; "There are Indo-European parallels to dhárman (cf. Wennerberg 1981: 95f.), but the only Iranian equivalent is Old Persian darmān, 'remedy', which has little bearing on Indo-Aryan dhárman. There is thus no evidence that IIr. *dharman was a significant culture word during the Indo-Iranian period." (p. 449) "The origin of the concept of dharman rests in its formation. It is a Vedic, rather than an Indo-Iranian word, and a more recent coinage than many other key religious terms of the Vedic tradition. Its meaning derives directly from dhr 'support, uphold, give foundation to' and therefore 'foundation' is a reasonable gloss in most of its attestations." (p. 485).
It is thought that the Daena of Zoroastrianism, also meaning the "eternal Law" or "religion", is related to Sanskrit "dharma". Ideas in parts overlapping to Dharma are found in other ancient cultures: such as Chinese Tao, Egyptian Maat, Sumerian Me.
Eusebeia and dharma
In the mid-20th century, an inscription of the Indian Emperor Asoka from the year 258 BCE was discovered in Afghanistan, the Kandahar Bilingual Rock Inscription. This rock inscription contains Greek and Aramaic text. According to Paul Hacker, on the rock appears a Greek rendering for the Sanskrit word dharma: the word eusebeia.