A cluster of ideas around duty, order, and right conduct that is understood differently across Indian traditions.
Dharma is one of the most frequently used — and most frequently oversimplified — terms in Indian thought. It has no single English equivalent, and its meaning shifts depending on the tradition and the text.
In some contexts it points toward cosmic and social order; in others toward individual duty appropriate to one's situation; in Buddhist usage it often refers to the teaching itself or to the elements of experience. This page treats "dharma" as a concept with a history, not as a fixed doctrine.
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A 700-verse philosophical dialogue set within the Mahabharata, addressing duty, action, and the nature of the self.
The principle linking action to consequence, understood differently across Indian traditions.
Liberation or release, framed as the ultimate aim in several Indian traditions — with each defining what it means differently.
A family of interpretive schools centered on the Upanishads, the Brahma Sutras, and the Bhagavad Gita.