The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (645 page)

 
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(Skt.,
dhar
, ‘hold’, ‘uphold’).
1
In Hinduism, dharma is a fundamental concept, referring to the order and custom which make life and a universe possible, and thus to the behaviours appropriate to the maintenance of that order. Initially, dharma applied more to ritual and religious rules (especially sacrifices) than to ethics (e.g.
g Veda
3. 17. 1), but by the time of the
Br
hma
as
, the term includes also the rules which govern (and enable) society. These were gathered in the
Dharmas
tras
and
Dharma
stras
, of which the most important are the law-codes of Manu and Yajñavalkya. In the
Upani
ads
, dharma is related more to the ways appropriate for the attainment of
Brahman
, than to ethics.
2
In Buddhism
(P
l
,
dhamma
), the Hindu sense of cosmic law and order is retained, especially as it works out in
karma
and reappearance according to the law of karma. But it was rapidly applied also to the teaching of the
Buddha
(
pariyatti
) who is himself a manifestation of the truth that is dharma. Dharma is then understood as the practice (
pa
ipatti
) of that truth, and as its realization in stages (
pa
ivedha
) up to
nirv
na
, of which in this way dharma becomes a synonym.
3
Among the Jains, dharma may simply be the teaching of the
Jinas
, so that
adharma
is its opposite—error and immorality. However, both of these are also regarded as basic constituents of the universe: dharma is the all-pervasive medium of motion or activity, and adharma, also pervasive, offers the circumstance of rest. Both are understood as real substances, in the Jain sense that without the ontological truth of the Five Elements (
astikaya
), there could be no distinctions in the universe, which is palpably false.