It is easy to write “Religion” in English without worrying about the pronunciation, but when you want to write “Dharma” in English you worry about if it will be pronounced correctly or not. First there is no sound of “dh” in English, most European and American people reach directly on to “d”. Second problem is if you write “dharm” people may pronounce it similar to “derm” not give appropriate “end” to the sound of “m”; while if you write it “dharma”, there is chance of it being pronounced with a “aa” sound. Those who understand “Devanagari” script and know how to pronounce it, should refer to the title of the blog for pronunciation of the word “Dharma”.
I agree that this is just a cosmetic issue caused by nothing but the “conditioning” of tongue, but the dissimilarities do not end here. Rather this basically an indication that the two words have a very very different origin. Phonetically as well as in their meaning.
Lets explore it a little more. This time in terms of the meaning of the words.
Dictionary.com gives the first reference of Religion as “a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, especially when considered as the creation of a super human agency or agencies, usually involving devotional and ritual observances, and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs.” (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Religion?s=t)
Oxford dictionary equates it to “The belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, especially a personal God or Gods”. (http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/religion?searchDictCode=all)
Merriam-Webster Dictionary says It is “an organized system of beliefs, ceremonies, and rules used to worship a god or a group of gods”. (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/religion)
Now lets see what do these sources say about “dharma“.
Dictionary.com gives the first reference of Dharma as “essential quality or character, as of the cosmos or one’s own nature.” (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Dharma?s=t)
Oxford dictionary equates it to “the eternal law of the cosmos, inherent in the very nature of things.” (http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/dharma?searchDictCode=all)
Merriam-Webster Dictionary says It is “an individual’s duty fulfilled by observance of custom or law”. (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dharma)
And the origin is said to be in Sanskrit where it actually meant “custom, duty, akin to dhārayati holds, maintains“.
As the word “Dharma” is agreed by everyone to be originated in Sanskrit, I would give preference to it’s Sanskrit meaning.
So what is the observation here?
Religion means “belief in or worship of some supernatural power“, while “Dharma” means “an individual’s duty”.
I am no expert in Latin so can’t comment much about Religion. But I was pretty good at Sanskrit. I used to get minimum 90% in that. Plus I have read some material related to “Dharma”. (and i am not including Shrimad Bhagvad Gita in it.). So I think i can understand the word a little better.
“Dharma” is associated with “set of duties” one with associate to his role. For example the set of duties of a son would be called “Putra-Dharma”, set of duties of a warrior would be called “Kshatriya-Dharma” (and yes, the word “Kshatriya” was originally associated with “role” and not “birth”.). So basically even if you worship Ram or Krishn or Allah or Jesus or you are an atheist; if you are a student you will have “Chhatra-Dharma” associated with you. In similar context we may put the worshipers of Ram and Krishn together in one religion, those have different religion than those who worship Allah or Jesus. And atheists are associated with no religion. In a broader perspective “Dharma” is set of duties associated with you which may include duties as a son, duties as an employee, duties as a resident of a building, duties as a citizen and duties as a Human. All the duties associated to all the roles that you perform constitute your “Dharma”. You may belong to Islam, Christianity or Hinduism (as we call it a religion. Will shed more light on how “Hinduism” is not a “religion” and was never supposed to be.” ), you may have similar “Dharma”.
The whole point of this write-up is to show that despite the fact that we use the words “Religion” and “Dharma” interchangeably, the two terms are inherently very different.
And the irony is despite knowing the differences we would still mention or fill “Religion/Dharma” in bilingual forms.