Dharma is not religion

Are the terms religion and dharma synonyms, as we perceive them to be?

The term religion can be understood as ‘the belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, especially a personal God’ whereas dharma is ‘the eternal law of the cosmos, inherent in the very nature of things.’ It can be also interpreted as ‘the righteous way to live life’ or ‘the law that orders universe and conduct that conforms with this.’ The two are concerned with completely different aspects of human life. One validates the concept of God, other endeavors to strike a rhythm with the universe, to be a part of it and live in accordance with it. Therefore, dharma cannot be translated as religion so it should not be interpreted as.

The dharma never preaches of God, it is the universal way of life which is true in all times ‘saarva-kaalik’, at all places ‘saarva-bhaumik’ and for all people ‘saarva-janik’. ‘Dharma-parivartan’ or ‘change of faith’ becomes impossible, as there is only one universe and only one universal way that encompass all. It confesses the oneness of being with this universe. However, there can be a ‘change of faith’ in context of religion.

Religion is recognized to instill a belief of the existence of a superhuman, who is attainable by diligently practicing a prescribed way of life. Practices can be different and pragmatically are different that culminate as differences in faith. Therefore, giving a way to the inevitable comparisons amongst religions with fatal repercussions. However, this prescription also receives challenges with time, place and followers who are rarely interpreters. The situation aggravates when many such religions compete for space and people in the given time frame. Often, a ‘change of faith’ unleashes a cascade of responses that have the potential of transforming the divine to a beast.

‘All religions lead to one God’ is a delusional vision, which is propagated to dilute the friction, but has failed to do so. This demands introspection where one needs to dissect and meticulously untangle dharma from religion, tread the chosen path believing not to loose our divinity.