Hindu concept
Dharmaधर्म
dharma — duty, righteousness, and the order that upholds life
In short
Dharma is one of the central ideas of Hinduism — the right way of living: duty, righteousness, ethics, and the natural order that holds the cosmos and society together. It is not a single fixed rule but what is fitting for a person given their role, stage of life, and circumstances.
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What it means
Dharma comes from a root meaning 'to hold' or 'to sustain' — it is what keeps life, society, and the cosmos in balance. It spans the moral law, one's personal duty (svadharma), the ethics of truthfulness and non-harm, and the proper ordering of the world. To live in accordance with dharma is to act rightly in each situation rather than merely to follow one's impulses.
Because dharma depends on context — one's role, stage of life, and the needs of the moment — Hindu tradition explores it through stories as much as rules: the dilemmas of the Mahabharata, the steadiness of Rama in the Ramayana, and Krishna's counsel to Arjuna in the Bhagavad Gita, who is taught to do his own duty with integrity even when it is hard.
A verse on Dharma
“yadā yadā hi dharmasya glānir bhavati bhārata”
Bhagavad Gita 4.7 · Chapter 4, Jnana-Karma-Sannyasa YogaWhenever righteousness fades and wrong arises, I take form and come, age after age.
Spoken by Krishna to Arjuna on the battlefield of Kurukshetra (within the Mahabharata's Bhishma Parva), revealing that He takes form age after age, whenever righteousness fades.
Deities of Dharma
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About Dharma
What does dharma mean in Hinduism?
Dharma means duty, righteousness, and the moral order that sustains life. It is the right way of living — what is fitting for a person given their role, stage of life, and circumstances — rather than a single fixed rule.
What is svadharma?
Svadharma is one's own dharma — the duty that belongs to a particular person in their particular role and situation. The Bhagavad Gita counsels doing one's own svadharma with integrity rather than imitating another's.
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