Namaskar Everyone!! Many people come to this page and called Hinduism as religion. Hindusim is not religion it is Dharma. There is a great difference between a religion and a dharma. A religion is something that is founded by someone. A religion is where a large group of people share a common symbol, a common religious text, a common GOD and a common founder. A religion is something that consists of a group of followers who earlier followed a different faith but now are following a certain faith that they now believe in. A religion is one which was founded by a religious movement. A religion has a date of origin. A religion is a set of belief systems.Dharma on the other hand is more of a way of living or a way of life followed since antiquity, i.e., since the start of civilisation. Dharma was a kind of education or knowledge imparted to a person to lead a life in a certain way. Dharma is also sometimes considered as a complete and continuous education. Dharma is based on the principle of truth. Dharma is based on various stages that a man passes through in his lifetime, i.e., birth, childhood, youth, old age and death. Dharma is the truth or Dharma is the righteousness. If Karma is the righteous action, Dharma is the righteous decision. Dharma is not preached. Dharma is learnt, followed and practised. Dharma is the role you play.
The Dharma that was practiced in the ancient times has a multitude of difference than what is practised at the present time. Now Dharma has become a synonym with the religion. A religion is not a Dharma.
Now, we will understand Dharma with two standpoints. Every man plays two roles, a social role and a private or a personal role. Socially, a man is recognised by the job or the kind of work he does, he may be playing a role of a professor, an engineer, a doctor, a politician, a soldier, a police, etc. Personally a man is playing the role of a son, brother, friend, father, husband, grandfather, etc.
For a student, learning is the dharma of the student. Mother is a villain and father is an enemy if they don’t educate their children. Just as a crane looks odd in the midst of swans, a fool looks odd in the midst of wise men. So it is the dharma of the parents to impart knowledge of the worldly affairs to their children. Even if the parents are not able to send their children to school, it is the dharma of the parents to impart knowledge that makes their children worthy adults.
For a doctor, the duties of a doctor and the Hippocratic Oath that a doctor takes become the dharma of a doctor. Similarly, the oath that a politician, a lawyer, a policeman, a soldier, etc. takes, becomes the dharma of that particular person.
For a man who accepts a job, weather as a CEO or as an executive, the job description becomes his Dharma. Promise is the dharma of a man who has promised. Oath is the dharma of a man who has sworn. Above all, honesty is the highest Dharma.
Sometimes, the role is self-chosen and sometimes the role is a result due to the karmas of the previous life.
Anything that is anti-social, anything that involves cheating and other deceiving aspects, etc., anything that involves the killing of innocent people (terrorism), anything that gets a person off the spiritual track, any ignorant and selfish act that brings grief upon others is called Adharma. This is just a brief, but not a full description of Adharma. Any soul due to ignorance or with knowledge that is involved in Adharma falls to the lowest of lower levels.
A man who knows about the soul, a man who has the knowledge about karma, knows that these roles that he plays are temporary and don’t belong to the soul, he discharges his duties without expecting fruits (profit and loss). He discharges his duties without attachment or aversion.
A man who starts identifying with the roles that he is playing and considers them to be permanent is deluded.
Hope all of you now understand what is religion and Dharma.. If still any question remains you can asked via message...Shiva Bless
