Dharma

Dharma stems from the Sanskrit root dhṛ, 'to hold, bear or uphold.' Literally it is 'that which holds together' — the supporting order of things. From this single root flowers a remarkably broad word: cosmic law, moral duty, righteousness, one's proper role, and the intrinsic nature of a thing.

As the shortDefinition says, dharma is right living in harmony with a deeper order. It operates at once cosmically — the principle that keeps the universe coherent — and personally, as svadharma, the duty fitting your own nature and station. Living your dharma means acting in accord with what is genuinely yours to do.

The Bhagavad Gītā is dharma's pivotal text: Arjuna's crisis is a dharma conflict, and Kṛṣṇa counsels that one's own dharma, imperfectly done, surpasses another's done well. Dharma also heads the four puruṣārthas, and the Upaniṣads and wider tradition treat it as both sacred and social order.

For a practitioner, dharma turns yoga outward into daily life. The yamas and niyamas are dharma made practical — truthfulness, non-harming, integrity. Discerning your dharma asks honest reflection: what your responsibilities, gifts and circumstances genuinely call for, rather than what merely flatters preference or copies another person's path.

Dharma is sometimes mistaken for rigid religious rule, or conflated simply with 'religion.' It is subtler and more contextual: what is dharmic can depend on role, time and situation. Nor is it mere obligation imposed from above — at its root it means living truly in accord with reality's own order.