DharmaCategory:Indian philosophical conceptsCategory:Hinduism Category: Hindu philosophical concepts Category:BuddhismCategory:Buddhist philosophical concepts The word dharma (Sanskrit धर्म) or dhamma (Pali) is used in most or all philosophies and religions of Indian origin, namely Hinduism (Sanatana Dharma), Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism. It occurs first in the Vedas, in its oldest form as dharman. In Hinduism, Yama, the god of death, is also known as Dharma, since he works within the laws of karma and morality, regulated by divine principles. More familiar to most Hindus is the embodiment of Dharma in Lord Rama, an avatar of Vishnu. Within Hindu communities, Dharma can also refer to the Hindu religion in general. In Buddhism, the Dharma most often means the body of teachings expounded by the Buddha, while, but, confusingly, the word is also used in Buddhist phenomenology as a term roughly equivalent to phenomenon, a basic unit of existence and/or experience. It is difficult to provide a single concise definition for "Dharma"; its original meaning is somewhat obscure, and it has a complex history and has evolved into many different special applications. Monier Monier-Williams gives its primary definition as:\nthat which is established or firm, steadfast decree, statute, ordinance, law; usage, practice, customary observance or prescribed conduct, duty; right, justice (often as a synonym of punishment); virtue, morality, religion, religious merit, good works, \nof which the first, "that which is established or firm" seems to be the most ancient and etymological. "Dharma" is cognate with the Latin firmus, the origin of the word "firm." Meanings related to law, morality, scripture, and teachings were probably acquired through analogy, by being regarded as firm and called as such. For the phenomenological or psychological meaning, see below. In scripture, 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" 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.
Proto-Dharma: Rta in the Vedas\nTo assess a concept whose explication is bewildering in range, it is useful to trace its nascence and subsequent development in Vedic culture. In the Vedas, which span back to 2000 BCE (and further in oral tradition), the first concept that is strikingly dharmic is that of rta. Rta literally means the "course of things." At first, the early Hindus were notably confused as to the inscrutable order of nature, how the heavenly bodies, the rushing winds and flowing waters, the consistent cycling of the seasons, were regulated. Thenceforth sprang rta, whose all-purpose role it was to signify this order, the path that was always followed. Through all the metamorphoses and permutations of nature, of life in general, there was one unchangeable fact: rta. Soon it transcended its passive role as a mere signifier and took on a greater one, that of an active imposition of order. Not only the natural principles, but the gods and goddesses themselves, were obliged to abide by rta. Rta became the father, the law of justice and righteousness, unyielding but eminently fair. It grew, as Radhakrishnan states, from "physical" to "divine" in its purvey. The world's seeming mess of altercating fortune, the caprice of the divinities, was now intelligible. Indeed, there was a single, unchanging harmony working 'behind the scenes.' A right path existed, ready to be taken by the righteous ones. Rta signifies the way life ought to be, shifting from physical to divine, from natural to moral order. Rta was morality, the equitable law of the universe. The conception of this all-transcending, supramental force that is, practically, the same concept as later understandings of dharma, is captured in this early Vedic prayer, preempting the liturgical strains of classical Hindu mantras involving dharma:
Developing conceptionsAn earlier and insightful demonstration of the continuity of thought from rta to dharma is a brief but "pregnant definition" ((3) of dharma given in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, a pre-Buddhist work dating back to between 1000 to 700 BCE. Founded upon the Hindu ideas of, as R. H. Hume's "intelligent monism," with Brahman the monad, the Upanishads saw dharma as the universal principle of law, order, harmony, all in all truth, that sprang first from Brahman. It acts as the regulatory moral principle of the universe. It is sat, truth, a major tenet of Hinduism. This hearkens back to the conception of the Rig Veda that "Ekam Sat," (Truth Is One), of the idea that Brahman is "Sacchidananda" (Truth-Consciousness-Bliss). Dharma has imbibed the highest principles of Truth, and as such is the central guiding principle in the Hindu conception of existence. Dharma is not just law, or harmony, it is pure Reality. In the Brihadaranyaka's own words:
In Buddhism\nThe teachings of the BuddhaFor practicing Buddhists, references to "Dharma" in the singular, particularly as "the" Dharma, is used as a signifier of the teachings of the Buddhists, and is sometimes called the Buddha-Dharma. The status of the Dharma is regarded variably by different traditions. Some regard it as an ultimate and transcendent truth which is utterly beyond worldly things, somewhat like the Christian logos. Others, who regard the Buddha as simply an enlightened human being, see the Dharma more as a useful set of ideas and suggestions for how to live ones life, not requiring any special transmundane status. "Dharma" usually refers inclusively not just to the sayings of the Buddha but to the later traditions of interpretation and addition that the various schools of Buddhism have developed to help explain and expand upon the Buddha's teachings. The Dharma is one of the Three Jewels, and Buddhists are said to seek refuge in it as in the Buddha and the Sangha.Dharmas in Buddhist phenomenologyOther uses include, in Buddhist philosophy, "phenomenon" or "constituent factor" in the sense of factors which were first enumerated as constituents of human experience, but then gradually expanded into a classification of constituents of the entire material and mental world. Rejecting the substantial existence of permanent entities which are qualified by possibly changing qualities, Buddhist Abhidharma philosophy, which enumerated seventy-five dharmas, came to propound that these "constituent factors" are the only type of entity that truly exists. This notion is of particular importance for the analysis of human experience: Rather than assuming that mental states inhere in a cognizing subject, or a soul-substance, Buddhist philosophers largely propose that mental states alone exist as "constituent factors", and that a subjective aspect is contained in these states themselves. Later, Buddhist philosophers like Nagarjuna would question whether the dharmas truly have an existence or nature of their own. Rejecting any inherent reality to the dharmas, he asked (rhetorically):\n\nśūnyeṣu sarvadharmeṣu kim anantaṁ kimantavat\n See also\n*Hinduism\n*Hindu philosophy\n*Buddhist philosophy\n*Dhammapada\n*dharma wheel\nReferences\n:1) Radhakrishnan, S. (1923): "Indian Philosophy Vol.1" (2nd Edition). New Delhi: Oxford India Paperbacks (Oxford University Press).\n:2) Hume, R.E.: (1921): "The Thirteen Principal Upanishads" (2nd Edition, Revised). Oxford: Oxford University Press.\n:3) Easwaran, E. (1987): "The Upanishads" (Seventh Printing). Tomales, CA: Nilgiri Press.External link\n*Digital Dictionary of Buddhism (log in with userID "guest") \n |
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