Dharma

Dharma means social and moral order, law, duty, right, virtue etc. It means righteousness or good ethical practices according to the prescriptions passed down from one generation to the next. Dharma designates the traditional established order, which includes all duties; individual, social and religious. Dharma is threatened and endangered by three great moral pitfalls: lust, covetousness and anger (Kama, Lobha and Krodha). Besides the general prescriptions contained in Dharma, every man has his own (self) Dharma (svadharma), which is determined by his Place in the social structure. The correct working out of one’s own Dharma above all other obligations is one of the primary themes of the Bhagavada Gita.