The Concept of Dharma

Abstract

The concept of dharma (roughly translated as “righteousness”) is one of the most challenging in Indian philosophical thought. It seems to cut across so many conceptual distinctions - legal, social, moral, religious - that to those attaching importance to these divides it may appear to be less challenging than confusing. And yet there is something fascinating about a term whose usage spans millennia and which gives evidence of a sustained effort to come to grips with the friction of fact and meaning, institution and ideal. To this day, to say that a man is dhārmik (righteous) indicates the highest commendation. Whether one ought to be dhārmik or not is something which could be paralleled by whether one should be moral or not. In both cases, to pose the query is to reveal that the speaker has asked a question which does not strictly make sense.