- dharma
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—dharmic, adj./dahr"meuh, dur"-/, n. Hinduism, Buddhism.1. essential quality or character, as of the cosmos or one's own nature.2. conformity to religious law, custom, duty, or one's own quality or character.3. virtue.4. religion.5. law, esp. religious law.6. the doctrine or teaching of the Buddha. Pali, dhamma /dum"euh/.
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In Hinduism, the religious and moral law governing individual and group conduct.It is treated in the dharmasutras, the oldest collection of Hindu laws, and in the compilations of law and custom called the dharmashastras. In Buddhism, dharma is the universal truth common to all individuals at all times, and it is regarded as one of the primary sources of Buddhist doctrine and practice. In Jainism, dharma signifies moral virtue as well as the eternal life force.* * *
▪ religious conceptIn Hinduism dharma is the religious and moral law governing individual conduct and one of the four ends of life, to be followed according to one's class, status, and station in life. It constitutes the subject matter of the dharmasutras, religious manuals that are the earliest source of Hindu law, and in the course of time has been extended into lengthy compilations of law, the dharmashastra.In Buddhism, dharma is the doctrine, the universal truth common to all individuals at all times, proclaimed by the Buddha. Dharma, the Buddha, and the sangha (community of believers) make up the triratna, or “three jewels,” to which Buddhists go for refuge. In Buddhist metaphysics the term in the plural (dharmas) is used to describe the interrelated elements that make up the empirical world.In Jaina philosophy, dharma, in addition to being commonly understood as moral virtue, also has the meaning—unique to Jainism—of an eternal “substance” ( dravya) the medium that allows beings to move.* * *
Universalium. 2010.
