Wednesday, August 02, 2017

Dharma

“Writing is my dharma.”
—Raja Rao




Dharma
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is about the term in Indian religions.
Dharma
Rituals and rites of passage[1]

Yoga, personal behaviors[2]
Ahimsa.svg
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 has multiple meanings.[7] Above are a few examples.

Dharma ([dʱəɾmə]; Sanskrit: धर्म dharma, About this sound listen (help·info); Pali: धम्म dhamma) is a key concept with multiple meanings in the Indian religions — Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism and Jainism.[8] There is no single word translation for dharma in western languages.[9]

In Hinduism, dharma signifies behaviours that are considered to be in accord with rta, the order that makes life and universe possible,[10][note 1] and includes duties, rights, laws, conduct, virtues and ‘‘right way of living’’.[7] In Buddhism dharma means "cosmic law and order",[10] but is also applied to the teachings of the Buddha.[10] In Buddhist philosophy, dhamma/dharma is also the term for "phenomena".[11][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.[12]

The word "dharma" was already in use in the historical Vedic religion, and its meaning and conceptual scope has evolved over several millennia.[13] The antonym of dharma is adharma.

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