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Adharma

From Tibetan Buddhist Encyclopedia
(Redirected from Irreligiosity)
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adharma; The verbal meaning of Adharma is irreligiosity. Blind faith, that which disregards the cosmic principles leads to adharma. Adharmas are those actions which are contrary to the individuals dharma.

Adharma is the Sanskrit antonym of Dharma. It means 'that which is not in accord with the Dharma'. Connotations include unnaturalness, wrongness, evil, immorality, wickedness, or vice.

Adharma is derived from combining "a" with "dharma", which literally implies "not-dharma". It means immoral, sinful, wrong, wicked, unjust and against balance or nature.

Ariel Glucklich translates Adharma as chaos, disorder, non-harmonious and explains it as opposite of Dharma.

Glucklich states that adharma is not understood as binary opposite or in absolute ethically negative term in Indian philosophy. Rather it is a complex functional subjective term just like dharma, with shades of meaning, that depends on circumstances, purpose and context.