Jaramillo 1

Jennifer Jaramillo
Dr. Wijitha Bandara
RELS 2300-400
25 June 2016
Dharma in South Asia
There are numerous differences between Buddhism and Hinduism in terms of dharma. In
Buddhism, people call it dhamma in Pali language.2 In Hinduism, people call it dharma in
Sanskrit language.2 The word dharma has multiple meanings in Buddhism and Hinduism. In the
former religion, the term means the teachings and laws for conduct given by the Buddha. 2 In
the latter religion, it means that one has to carry out their responsibilities and duties in order to
maintain the cosmic order.2 It appears that Buddhists and Hindus see things differently in other
areas of their respective religion as well.
Its not just their concepts of dharma being different. Buddhism is a nontheistic religion,
meaning there is no God while Hinduism is a polytheistic religion, meaning there are many
Gods. While the Buddha is not a god, he is considered as the Awakened One, meaning that he
has a powerful realization about the cause of suffering and the means to end it. He then taught
the fundamental truths and paths that will lead people to nirvana, or liberation from the cycle of
life named samsara. A way to achieve nirvana is training oneself to detach from desires and live
a life without attachment to materialism. In Hinduism, its a little different. Hindus believe that
entities take many different forms and yet are still part of the Brahman, or an unseen but vast,
boundless reality. Thats why there are over 300 million gods. 2 Hindus also believe in the
permanent soul or atman. They reason that if the atman recognizes that they are one with the
Brahman, they will achieve moksha, or liberation from samsara. Note that Buddhism and
1. Bodhi, B. (2006). The Buddha and His Dhamma. Retrieved from
www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/bodhi/wheel433/html
2. Fisher, Mary Pat. Living Religions. Boston: Pearson, 2014. Print.

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Hinduism use different terms for liberation from samsara. It makes sense because they interpret
liberation differently. For instance, for Buddhists, liberation is detaching oneself from the
material world while for Hindus, liberation is becoming one with the Brahman upon recognition.
However, Buddhism rejects the concept of atman based on a philosophy that entities do not exist
independently or eternally.1 It is stated that five aggregates of a person (e.g. physical form,
feelings) function together but cannot exist on their own so its not possible for one to have a
permanent soul. For example, when a soul left a physical body, the soul simply ceases to exist
because it cannot function without the physical body. It is the principle of anatman, meaning
there is no eternal self. As a result, Buddhism does not believe in reincarnation, or the eternal
self being born over and over again. However, Buddhists do perceive that beings go through
many cycles of life and take many different forms but they are not the same self.
In comparison, Buddhism and Hinduism do believe in the concept of karma. For both
religions, it means action, consequences of action, or the law of cause and effect. If a person does
something bad or good, they will get the backlash or positive effects from the consequences of
their own actions. When they die, their karma will pass to the next life. Not only that, karma will
affect other people indirectly because they are interconnected. For instance, when a person dies
and does not leave a will, their family ends up with nothing because of a persons bad karma.
This person creates bad karma by not ensuring that their estate will stay in the family. Their
family have to deal with the consequences of this bad karma.
Another difference is that Buddhism believes that women can attain liberation on their
own while Hinduism believes that women only can achieve liberation from devotion to their
husbands. It seems that the Indian society believes that its disruptive for women to devour from

1. Bodhi, B. (2006). The Buddha and His Dhamma. Retrieved from

www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/bodhi/wheel433/html
2. Fisher, Mary Pat. Living Religions. Boston: Pearson, 2014. Print.

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their duties in terms of patriarchy. However, there have been successful Indian women that have
achieved spiritual liberation on their own. Akka Mahadevi is a good example of that.2
In conclusion, Buddhism and Hinduism have many differences in terms of dharma,
number of gods, the nature of soul, feminism, life after death, and more. For both, dharma means
many different things.

1. Bodhi, B. (2006). The Buddha and His Dhamma. Retrieved from

www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/bodhi/wheel433/html
2. Fisher, Mary Pat. Living Religions. Boston: Pearson, 2014. Print.

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Works Cited
Bodhi, B. (2006). The Buddha and His Dhamma. Retrieved from
www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/bodhi/wheel433.html
Fisher, Mary Pat. Living Religions. Boston: Pearson, 2014. Print.

1. Bodhi, B. (2006). The Buddha and His Dhamma. Retrieved from

www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/bodhi/wheel433/html
2. Fisher, Mary Pat. Living Religions. Boston: Pearson, 2014. Print.