Root
Sound change: ṛ strengthens to ar.
Literally: That which holds.
Dimensions
What the usual translation loses
religion / duty
Each English word keeps one spoke and drops the rest. Dharma is at once what holds the world, what you are, and what is yours to do.
How the meaning grew
- Ṛgveda
dhárman, “a support, a foundation”: the acts that uphold the order of the world.
- Dharma texts
The duties that fit a person's role and stage of life, alongside duties shared by everyone such as truthfulness and not harming.
- Bhagavad Gītā
svadharma, the path that is yours; the poem's first word is dharma.
- Buddhist usage (Pali dhamma)
The Buddha's teaching, and also the basic elements of experience.
- Today
Used for religion, ethics, justice and the nature of things at once.
In the texts' own words
“On the field of dharma, the field of the Kurus”
“Better your own dharma, though imperfect”
“Dharma protects those who protect it”
Word family
Cousins in English
“Firm” (Latin firmus) comes from the same ancient root meaning to hold.
Easily confused
- Dharma is not a belief system; a river has a dharma, and so does a king.