Dharma in the context of "Triple Gem"

Hinduism (/ˈhɪnduˌɪzəm/) is an umbrella term for a range of Indian religious and spiritual traditions (sampradayas) that are unified by adherence to the concept of dharma, a cosmic order maintained by its followers through rituals and righteous living, as expounded in the Vedas. The word Hindu is an exonym, and while Hinduism has been called the oldest surviving religion in the world, it is also described by the 19th century term Sanātana Dharma (lit. 'eternal dharma'). Vaidika Dharma (lit. 'Vedic dharma') and Arya Dharma are historical endonyms for Hinduism.

Hinduism entails diverse systems of thought, marked by a range of shared concepts that discuss theology, mythology, and other topics in textual sources. Hindu texts have been classified into Śruti (lit. 'heard') and Smṛti (lit. 'remembered'). The major Hindu scriptures are the Vedas, the Upanishads, the Puranas, the Mahabharata (including the Bhagavad Gita), the Ramayana, and the Agamas. Prominent themes in Hindu beliefs include karma (action, intent and consequences), saṃsāra (the cycle of death and rebirth) and the four Puruṣārthas, proper goals or aims of human life, namely: dharma (ethics/duties), artha (prosperity/work), kama (desires/passions) and moksha (liberation/emancipation from passions and ultimately saṃsāra). Hindu religious practices include devotion (bhakti), worship (puja), sacrificial rites (yajna), and meditation (dhyana) and Yoga. Hinduism has no central doctrinal authority and many Hindus do not claim to belong to any denomination. However, scholarly studies notify four major denominations: Shaivism, Vaishnavism, Shaktism and Smartism. The six Āstika schools of Hindu philosophy that recognise the authority of the Vedas are: Sankhya, Yoga, Nyaya, Vaisheshika, Mīmāṃsā, and Vedanta.

Varna (Sanskrit: वर्ण, romanized: varṇa, Hindi pronunciation: ['ʋəɾɳə]), in the context of Hinduism, refers to a social class within a hierarchical traditional Hindu society. The ideology of varna is epitomized in texts like Manusmriti, which describes and ranks four varnas, and prescribes their occupations, requirements and duties, or Dharma.

• Brahmins: Vedic scholars, priests or teachers.
• Kshatriyas: Rulers, administrators or warriors.
• Vaishyas: Agriculturalists, farmers or merchants.
• Shudras: Artisans, labourers or servants.

This quadruple division is a form of social stratification, quite different from the more nuanced system of Jātis, which correspond to the term "caste".

In the Vedic religion, Ṛta (/ɹ̩t̪ɐ/; Sanskrit ऋत ṛta "order, rhythm, rule; truth; logos") is the principle of natural order which regulates and coordinates the operation of the universe and everything within it. In the hymns of the Vedas, Ṛta is described as that which is ultimately responsible for the proper functioning of the natural, moral and sacrificial orders. Conceptually, it is closely allied to the injunctions and ordinances thought to uphold it, collectively referred to as Dharma, and the action of the individual in relation to those ordinances, referred to as Karma – two terms which eventually eclipsed Ṛta in importance as signifying natural, religious and moral order in later Hinduism. Sanskrit scholar Maurice Bloomfield referred to Ṛta as "one of the most important religious conceptions of the Rigveda", going on to note that, "from the point of view of the history of religious ideas we may, in fact we must, begin the history of Hindu religion at least with the history of this conception".

Sanātana Dharma (Devanagari: सनातन धर्म, meaning "eternal dharma", or "eternal order") or Sanatanism is an alternative term for Hinduism, primarily used as an endonym (native name) to the exonym (foreign name) of Hinduism. The term is found in Sanskrit and other Indian languages.

The term denotes the "eternal" or absolute set of duties or religiously ordained practices incumbent upon all Hindus, regardless of class, caste, or sect. Many Hindus in the Indian subcontinent call themselves Sanatanis, that is, those who follow the 'eternal dharma', to evoke a certain homogeneity in Hinduism. Its use to signify Hinduism as a religion was popularised since the 19th century by champions of Hindu orthodoxy such as Pandit Shraddha Ram in reaction to missionaries and Hindu reformers such as Arya Samaj and Brahmo Samaj. Aside from its use in socio-religious contexts, it also sustains a political necessity for many Hindus.

The following list consists of notable concepts that are derived from Hindu culture and associated cultures’ (Indian, Nepali, Balinese) traditions, which are expressed as words in Sanskrit or other Indic languages and Dravidian languages. The main purpose of this list is to disambiguate multiple spellings, to make note of spellings no longer in use for these concepts, to define the concept in one or two lines, to make it easy for one to find and pin down specific concepts, and to provide a guide to unique concepts of Hinduism all in one place.

Separating concepts in Hinduism from concepts specific to Indian culture, or from the language itself, can be difficult. Many Sanskrit concepts have an Indian secular meaning as well as a Hindu dharmic meaning. One example is the concept of Dharma. Sanskrit, like all languages, contains words whose meanings differ across various contexts.

The Bhagavad Gita (/ˈbʌɡəvəd ˈɡiːtɑː/; Sanskrit: भगवद्गीता, IPA: [ˌbʱɐɡɐʋɐd ˈɡiːtɑː], romanized: bhagavad-gītā, lit. 'God's song'), often referred to as the Gita (IAST: gītā), is a Hindu scripture, likely composed in the second or first century BCE, which forms part of the epic poem Mahabharata. The Gita is a synthesis of various strands of Indian religious thought, including the Vedic concept of dharma (duty, rightful action); Sankhya-based yoga and jnana (knowledge); and bhakti (devotion). Among the Hindu traditions, the Gita holds a unique pan-Hindu influence as the most prominent sacred text and is a central text in the Vedanta and Vaishnava traditions.

While traditionally attributed to the sage Veda Vyasa, the Gita is historiographically regarded as a composite work by multiple authors. Incorporating teachings from the Upanishads and the samkhya yoga philosophy, the Gita is set in a narrative framework of dialogue between the Pandava prince Arjuna and his charioteer guide Krishna, an avatar of Vishnu, at the onset of the Kurukshetra War.

Purushartha (Sanskrit: पुरुषार्थ, romanized: Puruṣārtha; pronounced [pu.ɾu.ʂɑːɾ.tʰɐ]) literally means "object(ive) of men". It is a key concept in Hinduism, and refers to the four proper goals or aims of a human life. The four puruṣārthas are Dharma (righteousness, moral values), Artha (prosperity, economic values), Kama (pleasure, love, psychological values) and Moksha (liberation, spiritual values, self-realization).

All four Purusharthas are important, but in cases of conflict, Dharma is considered more important than Artha or Kama in Hindu philosophy. Moksha is considered the ultimate goal of human life. At the same time, this is not a consensus among all Hindus, and many have different interpretations of the hierarchy, and even as to whether one should exist.

Moksha (/ˈmoʊkʃə/, UK also /ˈmɒkʃə/; Sanskrit: मोक्ष, mokṣa), also called vimoksha, vimukti, and mukti, is a term in Jainism, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Sikhism for various forms of emancipation, liberation, nirvana, or release. In its soteriological and eschatological senses, it refers to freedom from saṃsāra, the cycle of death and rebirth. In its epistemological and psychological senses, moksha is freedom from ignorance: self-realization, self-actualization and self-knowledge.

In Hindu traditions, moksha is a central concept and the utmost aim of human life; the other three aims are dharma (virtuous, proper, moral life), artha (material prosperity, income security, means of life), and kama (pleasure, sensuality, emotional fulfillment). Together, these four concepts are called the Puruṣārtha in Hinduism.

Mīmāṁsā (Sanskrit: मीमांसा; IAST: Mīmāṁsā) is a Sanskrit word that means "reflection" or "critical investigation" and thus refers to a tradition of contemplation which reflected on the meanings of certain Vedic texts. This tradition is also known as Pūrva-Mīmāṁsā because of its focus on the earlier (pūrva) Vedic texts dealing with ritual actions, and similarly as Karma-Mīmāṁsā due to its focus on ritual action (karma). It is one of six Vedic "affirming" (āstika) schools of Hindu philosophy. This particular school is known for its philosophical theories on the nature of Dharma, based on hermeneutics of the Vedas, especially the Brāḥmanas and samhitas. The Mīmāṃsā school was foundational and influential for the Vedāntic schools, which were also known as Uttara-Mīmāṁsā for their focus on the "later" (uttara) portions of the Vedas, the Upanishads. While both "earlier" and "later" Mīmāṁsā investigate the aim of human action, they do so with different attitudes towards the necessity of ritual praxis.

Mīmāṁsā has several sub-schools, each defined by its pramana. The Prabhākara sub-school, which takes its name from the seventh-century philosopher Prabhākara, described the five epistemically reliable means to gaining knowledge: pratyakṣa or perception; anumāna or inference; upamāṇa, comparison and analogy; arthāpatti, the use of postulation and derivation from circumstances; and shabda, the word or testimony of past or present reliable experts. The Bhāṭṭa sub-school, from philosopher Kumārila Bhaṭṭa, added a sixth means to its canon; anupalabdhi meant non-perception, or proof by the absence of cognition (e.g., the lack of gunpowder on a suspect's hand)