Adharma

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, and vice.

Description

Adharma (Sanskrit: अधर्म) is derived from combining "a" with "dharma", which literally implies "not-dharma". It means immoral, sinful, wrong, wicked, unjust, unbalanced, or unnatural.

Ariel Glucklich translates Adharma as chaos, disorder, non-harmonious and explains it as opposite of Dharma. Glucklich states that adharma isn't the binary opposite of Dharma or absolutely unethical 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.

Lineage

The Vishnu Purana recites a Hindu legend that includes Dharma and Adharma as mythical characters, and it is loaded with symbolism about virtues and vices, morality and ethics. The lineage is as follows,