The word “religion” is confusing, inaccurate, and not useful.

Depending on the context, the use of the word religion can be ill-defined and even offensive—for example, when someone says that religions cause all wars or when someone says, “Science is logic; religion is belief.”

These two statements are ignorant because the person using the word religion has defined it in an arbitrary manner when in fact the word religion defies definition and thus should not be seriously used.

The Wikipedia article on religion quotes the following from various scholars: “Religion is a modern Western concept. Parallel concepts are not found in many current and past cultures; there is no equivalent term for religion in many languages.

“…there is no scholarly consensus over what precisely constitutes a religion.

“[Some] argue that regardless of its definition, it is not appropriate to apply it to non-Western cultures.”

Hindus, Buddhists, and Jains use the word dharma. This is a complex word, although Indian languages today simply translate it as religion, because there’s no English word for it. Dharma means “a set of principles with a corresponding set of responsibilities.” Thus, it can be translated as laws (principles), duty (responsibility), or the nature of a thing (set of innate principles).

Also, dharma can mean the teaching or set of principles that someone like Buddha, Krishna, or Mahavira (Jainism) imparts.

Thus, the Oxford Dictionary definition of religion, “a belief in and worship of God” seriously limits the concept of dharma. They aren’t the same. Such a definition doesn’t consider that dharma involves principles and responsibilities. Dharma is much more complex than belief and worship. Dharma implies that the principles and responsibilities are those of nature, both the nature of this world and that of the next.

Also, to say that religion is belief implies some latitude. With dharma, there is no latitude. One must follow dharma, because it is a set of principles of nature. For example, we don’t believe fire is hot. We know. We don’t believe killing is wrong. We know. These are both principles of nature. In modern Western terms, the nature of fire is considered in the realm of science whereas killing is in the realm of morality. However, dharma categorizes them both as natural principles.

Of course, philosophers often discuss what constitutes dharma; however, it’s a serious discussion of the nature of things and it’s not necessarily limited to belief in God and worship of Him.

In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna teaches about dharma. He says it’s pratyakṣāvagamaṁ dharmyaṁ–the dharma that’s directly perceived. Krishna protects and upholds that dharma. He says dharma-saṁsthāpanārthāya sambhavāmi yuge yuge—“I appear from time to time to reestablish and maintain dharma.”

That dharma is complex. It includes the principles of karma yoga, jnana yoga, bhakti yoga, and much more. And there are corresponding responsibilities with those principles. Too much to discuss here.

In sum, the dharma that Krishna describes is about the nature of the world—bondage—and how to become liberated from that bondage.

Thus, Krishna’s dharma is much more complex and nuanced than “belief in and worship of God.”