Dharma is central to all the indigenous religious traditions of India, which cannot adequately be understood apart from it. Often translated as 'ethics', 'religion' or 'religious law', dharma possesses elements of each of these but is not confined to any single category. Neither is it the equivalent of what many in the West might usually consider to be 'a philosophy'. This much needed analysis of the history and heritage of dharma shows that it is instead a multi-faceted religious force, or paradigm, that has defined and that continues to shape South Asian civilization in a whole multitude of forms. Experts in the fields of Hindu, Buddhist, Jain and Sikh studies here bring fresh insights to dharma in terms both of its distinctiveness and its commonality as these are expressed across, and between, the local religions of India. Exploring ethics, practice, history and social and gender issues, the contributors correct philosophical misrepresentations that are increasingly widespread in the West, and point to ways of appreciating Indian religions in a manner appropriate to the practice of Eastern, rather than Western, tradition.