Toward a Comprehensive Understanding of Rta in the Rg Veda

8/3/2019 Toward a Comprehensive Understanding of Rta in the Rg Veda

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McMaster University

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9-1-1980

Toward a Comprehensive Understanding of Rta inthe Rg Veda

Curtis R. HeckamanMcMaster University

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Recommended CitationHeckaman, Curtis R., "Toward a Comprehensive Understanding of Rta in the Rg Veda" (1980). Open Access Dissertations and Theses.Paper 3343.http://digitalcommons.mcmaster.ca/opendissertations/3343
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TOWARD A COMPREHENSIVE UNDERSTANDINGOF RTA IN THE RG VEDA---


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TOWARD A COMPREHENSIVE UNDERSTANDINGOF RTA IN THE RG VEDA---

ByCURTIS R. HECKAMAN J R . ~ B.A.

A ThesisSubmitted to the School of Graduate Studiesin Part ial Fulfilment of the Requirements

for the DegreeMaster of Arts

McMaster UniversitySeptember 1980


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rtIASTER OF ARTS (1980) McMASTER UNIVERSITYHami1ton$ OntarioTITLE: Toward a Comprehensive Understanding of Rta inthe Rg Veda .AUTHOR: Curt is R. Heckaman J r . , B.A. (Be thel Co ll ege)

. ~

SUPERVISORS: Professor W. l t lhi l l ierProfessor J. ArapuraProfessor I . WeeksNUr-1BER OF PAGES: V:J 8 L

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ABSTHACTIn this t h e s i s ~ it i s my contention that the

attempts by modern scholars to provide a precise def ini t ionof essence for : t a ~ through an analysis of th is termrsetymological roots and by the application of modern Englishand European terms as possible cognates for r t a ~ have.fai led to-account for the r ich significance of this. complicated term. I suggest that such a precise def ini t ion

c a n n o t ~ and need n o t ~ be found for r t a ~ and that the r ich.significance of th i s term can be grasped only in terms ofthe in terre la ted network of images, associations andspecif ic applicat ions which encompass i t in the Veda.To th i s end, I lay the groundwork for a more comprehensivestudy of r ta by demonstrating that this term is associatedwith images of Wide /safe/ fr ee s p a c e ~ pathways upon whichent i t ies may t ravel free from harm, l i g h t ~ and the soundwhich destroys evi l and dispels ignorance. F u r t h e r m o r e ~I indicate that in i t s spec if ic app li ca tions- -as the modeof being of the s a t ~ as that which regulates and s tabi l izesa l l phenomena in space and t i m e ~ as the sacrif ice and the .effect ive force of the sacr i f ice , and as r r t ~ u t h l ! in speech--r ta works to provide the cosmos with the benef i ts inherentin the images and associat ions which encompass i t . Theconclusion of the t h e s ~ s i s that although no single image,associat ion or specif ic application can adequately definer t a ~ these, when melted together into a unified bond,orovide the ra t ionale for viewing this complicated term.as a kind of "force" o.r "power" which i s the necessaryprecondit ion for the f r e e d o m ~ s af ety , s ecur ity , s tab i l i ty ,t r u t h ~ order" l a w ~ etc . of the establ ished cosmos.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSI would l ike to take th i s opport un ity to thank

Doctors J. Arapura and I . Weeks for the i r assis tance inth is project . I cannot adequately express my grati tude toDr. Wayne Whil l ie r who brought me through the darkness ofthe ~ Veda, and without whose urging and understandingI may not have completed th is thes i s . Also, I would l iketo ex press my sincere grati tude to Dr. K. Post. Althoughhe had no formal connection to th is project , Dr. Post tookthe time from his own busy schedule to l i s ten pat ient lyto my confusion and offe r incis ive comments on the natureof vedic thought. His kind assis tance allowed me to res toreequilibrium a t those moments when the task seemed too greatfor me to accomplish.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

PageINTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

CHAPTER ONE:

CHAPTER TWO:

RTA AND COSMOGONy . . ....... 15-.-The Adityas and the Danavas 16The Myth of the P a ~ i s 20RTA IN THE RG VEDA 27-.- - . - - -Images and Associations of Rta 27Specific Applications of Rta 32

CHAPTER THREE: ~ T A , DHARMAN AND VRATA 48Rta and Dharman 49Ptta and Vra ta 53

CHAPTER FOUR:CHAPTER FIVE:

RTA AND THE RSI ....................... 61CONCLUSION ........................... 72

BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................ 81

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INTRODUCTIONThe object of th i s thes is is to examine the s ign i f i -

cance of the word " ~ t a " in the Veda. The thes is wil linvolve prescribing a par t icu la r procedure for the study)and then working through various occu rences o f the term"r ta" in the Rg Veda in terms of the prescribed approach.

Rta) which expresses an idea tha t i s fundamental tothe vedic view of rea l i ty) needs to be re-examined becausemodern scholarshipl on the term has l e f t us with a lessthan sa t i s fac tory under$t anding o f i t s signif icance. Mydissa t i s fac t ion with the present s ta te of af fa i r s is basedu p o ~ three di f f icul t ies concerning the methodology used toobtain defini t ions of r ta and the applicat ion of thesedef in i t ions to the t ex tu a l ma te ri al . Three di f f i cu l t i e sare: 1) The inadequacy of the root-der ivat ion method forestabl ishing a core meaning for r t a ; 2) The uncr i t ica l

lWorK on the word "r ta" began in the middle and la tenineteenth century with t rans la t ions of the Veda byH.H. Wilson) F. Max Mul le r) Geldner ) and R.T:H. Grif f i th .Other scholars of th i s period who have had a d irec t in -fluence upon the present understanding of r ta are H.Grassmann (Worterbuch) Zum Ri; Veda)) M. M6nier-William.s(A Sanskrit-En l ish Dictionar,---L V.S. Apte (The Pract ica lSanskri t-Enali sh Dic tionar ) and Abel Bergaigne (Lare l ig ion vedique . Among the more recent s c h o l a r s ~ H .LUders has done the most s ignif icant work on r ta (varuna).This l a s t one hundred and f i f ty years of scholarship onIndian thought is what i s meant by the phrase "modernscholarship" in the text of th i s thes is .


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appl ica t ioD of modern words to ~ t a ~ with the impl ic i tsuggest ion t ha t the so-cal led modern cognates a re e qu iv ale ntin meanin6 to r t a ; and 3) The i nab i l i t y of modern def in i t ions of r t a to account fo r the many te x tu a l v ar ia ti on s of.th i s complicated term.

The r o o t - d e r i v a t i o ~ method has been a favoredmethod fo r es tab l i sh ing a core meaning fo r d i f f i c u l t terms.By t h i s m e t h o d ~ the verba l r o o t ~ from which the word inques t ion i s d e r i v e d ~ i s presented and the s igni f icance ofi t s meaning i s given . I t i s a sse rte d th at the roo t sugges t sa ce r ta in idea which i s embodied in the der iva t ive . F i n a l l y ~the core meaning arr ived a t i s then t es ted aga ins t theac tua l use of the word in the t ex t . This par t i cu l a r s t r a t -e g y ~ h o w e v e r ~ a t le a s t in the case of r t a ~ seems def i c i en t .For e x a m p l e ~ M. Monier-Will iams der ives r t a from the roo tvr which means " to g o m o v e ~ r i s e , tend u p w a r d s ~ to go

t o w a r d s ~ meet w i t h ~ f a l l u p o n ~ r e a c h ~ o b t a i n ~ to e x c i t e ~ toe r e c t ~ to r a i s e" . He then g ives the meaning of r ta as " ( M / F ~p r o p e r ~ r i g h t ~ f i t ~ a p t ~ su i t ab l e , a b l e ~ b r a v e ~ honest ; ( N ) ~f ixed or se t t l ed o r d e r ~ l a w ~ ru l e , sacred or pious act ion

t d I d' t th II 2 L k' . th r cus o ~ lVlDe a w lVlne ru . ac 109 In lSaccount i s an explana t ion of the manner in which the meaningsa t t r i bu t ed t o - v ~ evolved in to those given fo r ~ t a . According to Abel B e r g a i g n e ~ h o w e v e r ~ Roth and Gras smann d id

2M. M o n i e r - W i l l i a m s ~ A Sanskr i t -Eng l i sh D i c t i o n a r y ~(Oxford, 1 9 6 o ) ~ 223.


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at tempt to make t h i s connect ion: 3The word r t a i s only an a n c i e n t p a s t p a r t i c i p l efrom the r o o t r , of which the meaning may bet r a c e d from two p r i n c i p l e meanings ' t o r i s e ' and' t o adapt o n e s e l f t o ' .... I t i s from the l a t t e rof these two meanings t h a t M.M. Roth and Grassmannhave derived the meaning of r t a , and I do notf e e l any h e s i t a t i o n i n fol lowing here t h e i rexample. Rta then meant o r i g i n a l l y "what i sadapted" . -.-

Bergaigne cont inues with the sugges t ion t h a t r t a i s thep r i n c i p l e of a d a p t a t i o n and the term t h e r e f o r e e x p r e s s e s

4the idea of 'Law' or IOrder ' i n i t s d e f i n i t i v e form. V.M. Apte, however , who fol lows a s i m i l a r methodology, a r -

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r i v e s a t a d i f f e r e n t core meaning f o r the term. He arguest h a t r t a ' s primary meaning i s t o be taken i n a p h y s i c a l.5sense:

And y e t , i n my view, the fundamental p h y s i c a ls e n s e - - t h e primary meaning--of the word, whichi s alongs ide of i t s widely accepted secondaryo r derived sense has not been w e l l e s t a b l i s h e d....Rta i s der ived from r , t o go, and we recognizei n i ~ h e s u f f i x tao . . r t ... should t h e r e f o r e ,.

3Abel Berga igne , Vedic R e l i g i o n , V.G. Paranjpe t r a n s . ,(Poona, 1973) , I I I , 216-219.LL'One may r i g h t l y wonder what the d e f i n i t i v e form of 'Law lo r 'Order ' i s . Bergaigne, a Frenchman, who grew up underthe shadow o f the Napoleo nic code , would have imputedmeanings t o ' L o i ' o r 'Ordre 1 which a r e not p r e s e n t i n thenot ions of ILaw' or 'Order ' f o r those who grew up underB r i t i s h c i v i l law. c f . Bergaigne, I I I , 220 & 226.5V .M. Apte, "Rta in the Rg Veda", ABORI, 48 (1942), 55 ..


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pr imar i ly mean r (something) gone over ( co r rec t l y ) 'or b ette r '( th e co r rec t order of) going ' ands e c o ~ d a r i l y ' the se t t l ed Order of Righ t ' .

Apte argues t ha t r t a , . a s t ha t which i s gone over cor rec t ly(o r t ha t which promotes the cor rec t order of going) i s tobe taken in a phys ical se nse because the Veda shows tha tr t a i s descr ibed with a t t r i bu t e s of spac i a l i t y , l oca t ion ,boundry, extens ion , and dimension. 6

Given t ha t both Apte and Bergaigne of fe r t ex tua levidence fo r t he ir i nt er p re ta ti on s , how i s it then tha tthey a r r ive a t such d i f fe ren t conclusions? The discrepancyr e su l t s from the nature of the ev iden ce upon which theybase t he i r arguments. J. Gonda, fo r example, points outsome of the d i f f i cu l t i e s inherent in the etymologicalapproach to anc ien t te rms. He mainta ins tha t : 7

... scholars have not in frequent ly neglec ted tor ea l i ze the charac te r o f e tymo lo gie s. F i r s t ...

6APte , 56-60.7J . Gonda, "Pos t sc r ip t on Mitra" , ABORI, XVIII (1977), 60.James Barr , The Semantics of Bib l i c a l Language, (Oxford,1961), 109, of fe r s suppor t fo r Gonda 's content ion . Hepo in t s out t ha t etymology i s a h i s t o r i c a l s tudy , it s tud iesthe pas t of a word. The e tymol og ic al s ou rc e, or his tory ofa word does not , however, provide us with an in fa l l ib leguide to the meaning of tha t word a t any poin t in i t shis tory : "The main point i s tha t the etymology of a wordi s not a s ta tement about i t s meaning but about i t s his tory ;it i s only as a h i s t o r i c a l s tatement tha t it can berespons ib ly asse r ted , and it i s qu i t e wrong to suppose t ha tthe etymology of a word i s necessa r i ly a guide e i t h e r toi t s ' p roper ' meaning in a l a t e r period or to i t s ac tua lmeaning in th at p er io d ." .


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any etymology is by defini t ion a hypothesis andas such never unchallengeable, always l iable toconstant revision ....Next, the invest igator whore l ies too much upon an etymology runs the r iskof introducing meanings or shades of meaning thatare foreign to the language under discussion ....l a s t ly , prehistor ic roots and so- ca ll ed r econs tr uc t ions of our ' o r ig ina l ' forms are no rea l wordsbut abstract ions of our making to symbolize in abr ief formula what some re la ted words have, formallyand semantically, in common.On the basis of Gonda's contention, both Apte and Bergaignehave based t he i r arguments upon evidence which is abs t rac tand ten ta t ive . The var ie ty of meanings ascribed to ther o o t - / ~ by Monier-Williams is indicative of the fac t tha tth i s verbal root has i t s e l f no r igidly fixed meaning. Theconnection between the verbal root and the various usagesof r ta is suff ic ien t ly vague and loose to allow for awhole range of possible interpretat ions. The fac t that r tacan be connected with anyone of several abstract meaningsof-vr , and that the core meanings thus arrived a t can beverif ied in the text , demonstrates that the notion of aprimary or orig inal meaning for the word is completelyundermined. The root-der ivat ion method, therefore, holdsl i t t l e promise f or e st ab lis hin g a fu l ly applicable coremeaning fo r the term t1 r ta" .

Research on the word "r ta" has led to a generalconsensus that i t means "Law/Order/Truthll. Bergaigne,Roth, Grassmann and Luders certa inly endorse this under-standing, and W. Norman Brown seems to accept i t without

8contest . There are , however, two problems with under-


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. s tanding r t a in t h i s way: 1) Scholars have tended to assumet ha t s ince the Sanskr i t term "r ta 1r has been circumscribedwithin a network of so-cal led cogna tes , they somehow havea su f f i c i en t grasp of the sense and s igni f icance of the wordin q ue st io n. On what bas i s , however, can one make theassumption t ha t the images and assoc ia t ions connected withthese modern terms, images and assoc ia t ions which havedeveloped over a long h i s to ry , proper ly f i t with the vedicunders tanding of r t a? What i s the conceptua l r e l a t i onbetween the Sanskr i t " r ta" and the Engl i sh "Law/Order/Truth"? Are they exac t ly equivalent? I f roughly equ iva len t ,then a t what po in t s do they agree ; a t what po in t s are theydiss imi la r? Are the d i s s imi l a r i t i e s grea t enough so tha tthe English words would be robbed of t he i r own semanticcon ten t when appl ied to r t a? Would the French t r ans l a t i on.of ~ t as "Loi /Ordre /Ver i te" or the German t r ans la t ion asr 'Gesetz/Ordnung/Wahrheit" carry the same meanings as theEngl i sh "equivalents"? Would they impute meanings to r t awhich are not par t of the Eng lish un ders tand ing o f Law,Order or Truth? These que sti on s d ea lin g with the sem anticd i f f i c u l t i e s involved in at tempting to t rans la te r t a withthe words of modern vocabula r ies have not been answered.J. Gonda descr ibes the e f f e c t s of t h i s s i t ua t ion in h is

8c f . Bergaigne, I I I , 216-219; H. LUders, Varuna, (Got t ingen,1959), I I , 420-485; W. Norman Brown, "Duty as Truth in theRig Veda", in J. Ensink and P. Gaeffke eds . , India Maior,(Lieden, 1972), 60.


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.. 9cri t ique of Luders' understanding of r ta as das Wahrheit:When LUders defended the thes is that r ta issynonymous with the German Wahrheit, he didnot only forget to define th i s term or to informus of his view as whether r ta may, or must, betra ns la te d in to English b y ~ u t h , but hadalso to deprive the German word of a considerablepar t of i t s semantic contents as well as toextend these by Procrustean methods, impl ic i t lyadmitt ing that r ta is not IWahrheit ' .

In the uncr i t ica l applicat ion of modern terms to the vedicword "r ta" scholars have run the r i sk of imputing meaningsto that term which simply are not applicable. 2) Even i fone could overcome the semantic barr iers and es tabl ishtha t r ta does encompass the meanings of "Law/Order/Truth",one would f ind tha t portions of the Veda defy a l l.attempts to s t r ic t ly l imi t the meaning of the word with'these "cognates". V.M. Apte 's in te rpre ta t ion of r ta i s a--good case in point (cf . p. 3) . Rta is viewed in the-

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Veda as an area possessing spacial dimensions; in thesecase s the sense of r ta as "Law /Order /Truth" i s los t .Similarly, when r ta is identif ied with the sacrif ice.(yajoa), or elements of the sacr i f ice , as a t RV 1.105.4where the r s i s ta tes : I' I ask about the l a s t sacr i f ice . . .where has the previous r ta gone (yajnam prcchamy avamam . . .kva rtam purvyam gatam )?", the understanding of r ta as"Law/Order/Truth l l does not seem to apply. The fu l l s ign i f i -cance of r ta cannot be accomodated by the semantic contents

9Gonda, 138.


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of ei ther the English t erms "Law/Order /Truth" or the i r10European "equivalents".

One major flaw in modern at tempts to understand r tais the assumption that th i s term can have a precise def ini -t ion of essence; i . e . , that r ta can have a core meaning.which firmly f ixes the boundries of i t s application. Gonda,however, points out that ancient terms, such as r ta , areessent ia l ly untranslatable because " . . . our modern languagesdo not furnish us the means of re nd erin g by one single wordan l idea l or 'conceptI that is closely connected with l inesf th h t h h f t 1 " 11oug w lC are or cen uries no onger ours . . . .

One cannot even take refuge in establ ishing a variety ofmeanings which then can be shown to be logical ly and/orhis tor ica l ly related: 12

We should be aware that the apparen t mult itude ofmeanings of many important terms . . . are l ikely to bei l lusory Attempts to account fo r the various!meanings! are often characterized by assumptionsof pseudo-his tor ical and essent ia l ly unprovable

10R.T.H. Grif f i th , The Hymns of the Rgveda, (Varanasi, 1970),2 vols . , also usually t rans la tes r t a as "Law/Order/Truth".Yet a t various points in his t rans la t ion he resor ts torendering r ta as "holy r i te" (RV 7.23.4) , "the r ighteous l !(RV.1.18b.2y-"and "pr esen t" (RVIO.179 .3 ). Although Grif f i thoffers no reason for why rtais t ransla ted in these differentways, i t is clear that herecognized that this term hadapplications in the text which could not be accomodated bythe notions of "Law/Order/Truth".IlGonda, 138.12Gonda, 138-139.


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of ten evo lu t ion i s t i c semantic developments Tooof ten the a p p a r e n t ~ y h i s t o r i c a l developments .owe t h e i r ex i s t ence , f i r s t to the suppos i t ion t ha tthe vague, complex, i nde f i n i t e , p resc i en t i f i cte rm in i a re r ea l ly analyzable in d i f fe ren t 'meanings 'tha t are completely equ iva len t to modern terms andin the second place t ha t these 'meanings ' havedeveloped from one another in such a way as wouldbe in tune with some more or l e s s preconceivedschemes of our devis ing .

I f r t a cannot be defined by one s ingle concept , or circum -.scr ibed within a network of i n t e r re l a t ed de f in i t i ons , thenhow can one poss ib ly understand i t s s igni f icance? In f ac t ,one need not r e so r t to a de f in i t i on or core meaning inorder to grasp what ~ t , s i gn i f i e s . The meaning of r t a i sfound in th e combin atio n of images and assoc ia t ions whichencompass the term and del imi t the f i e ld of i t s s ign i f i -cance.

There are a number of terms in modern vocabula r ieswhich are per fec t ly wel l unders tood despi te the fac t t ha tthey cannot ac tua l ly be def ined. Wit tgens te in , who wrotein German, po in t s t h i s out in h is Phi losophical Inves t ig -a t ions . He takes the word which i s t r ans la ted in to Engl i shas "games ll There are many types of games--card games,board games, ba l l games etc . - -which have no one elementcommon to them a l l . Not a l l games are amusing, nor i sw innin g alw ay s involved, nor are a l l games mult i -p layergames. All those th ings which are ca l led rlgames" are notre la ted because they share one s ingle common cha r ac t e r i s t i c .Rather , they are re la ted because they form a col lage of


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Overlapping s imi lar i t ies and points of difference. 13 Allthe referents to the word Jlgamesfl are re la ted in a var ie tyof ways despite the fac t that the word i t s e l f has no firmlyfixed boundry or meaning. One may argue, however, that themanner in which th i s par t icu la r word has been characterizedleaves i t in a s ta te of anarchy. Since the word has nofixed boundries, could i t not, in theory at l eas t , meananything? In fact , th i s word, and others of s imi lar nature,simply does not act as a neutral designator;" i . e . , when oneappl ies th i s word to a part icular act iv i ty one recognizestha t the act iv i ty conforms to cer ta in associat ions whichencompass the term flgames!!. Thus, an act iv i ty which i scal led a "game" is associated with ideas of enjoyment, shortterm ac t iv i ty , absorbing actiVity, unnecessary act iv i ty( i . e . , act iVi ty which i s not engaged in out of necess i ty) ,dis t rac t ion from daily concerns and so on. This is not tosay that a l l games conform to everyone of these associa-t ions; but the degree to which an actiVity does conform tothese associat ions determines whether or not i t is to becal led a game. These associat ions delimit the f ield of theterm "games'l s igni f icance, and furnish the reason why th i sterm can be dist inguished from other terms, such as the word"work", which possess the i r own f ie lds of s igni f icance.

l3Ludwig Wittgenst ein, Ph ilosophica l Invest igat ions , t rans .G.E.M. Anscombe (Oxford, 1963), 3 1-32.


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I propose to t r ea t the di f f i cu l t term "r ta" as i f.i t was l ike the English word "games'! and regard i t as un-definable in the sense that an essen t ia l defini t ion cannot,and need not be found for i t . The methodology of this thes isinvolves a tes t case appl icat ion of Wittgenstein!s con-tent ion regarding defini t ions to a context study of theterm " r ta If in order to develope a kaleidoscopic "def init ion" which accomodates the subtle nuances in the meaningof the term without posi t ing "multiple meanings" which,as Gonda has noted, too often res t upon untenable hi s to r -i ca l assumptions. I wil l examine the Veda in consideration of the associat ions which encompass the term " r ta" .

The term "r ta" occurs in the Veda approximatelyfour-hundred and f i f ty t imes. Since th i s thes is i s de-signed to provid e only an over-view of the signif icanceof r ta in the Veda, I wil l not deal with every occurence.of the term. I wil l , however, ci te a sizeable percentageof these occurences (approximately three-hundred). Myselection has been guided by s eve ra l cons ide ra tion s . Ihave trie-d to examine those instances of r ta which shedl ight upon the importance of th i s term to the cosmos asa whole. Thus, the appl icat ions of this term which areres t r ic ted to one par t icu la r en t i ty , or to some part icularaspect of the r i t ua l , and which could be unders tood onlythrough a de ta ile d ana ly sis of the ent i ty or r i t ua l , havebeen l e f t out of th i s study. I have also concentrated upon


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uses of r t a which occur regula r ly in the t ex t . I have,.however, c i ted pecu l i a r or unique uses of r t a , but t h i s hasbeen done only when these l ess regu la r occure nc es p rovi deinformat ion on the meanings of the more regu la r occurencesof the term.

The thes i s w i l l open with an exam ination of thecosmogony of the Veda. The vedic cosmogony i s theaccount of the or ig in of the es tab l i shed cosmos; it providesinformat ion on the charac te r of those forces which rep resen tthe necessary precondi t ions fo r the b i r th of r t a in to theworld of ordered being. The discuss ion on vedic cosmogonywi l l be supplemented by an examinat ion of the impact whichthe pr imord ia l forces have upon the es tab l i shed cosmos; i.e.,I wi l l look in to the manner in which the forces which gaver i s e to :ta a f fec t the operat ion of r t a in the es tab l i shedcosmos. These inves t iga t ions , which comprise the f i r s tchap te r o f th is th e s is , w il l provide a b r i e f expos i t iona lover-view of the context within which r t a fu nctio ned in thev ed ic world .

The second chapte r i s an ou t l ine of the s igni f icanceof :ta in the Veda. I t i s divided . into two pa r t s . Theimages and assoc ia t ions which encompass r t a wi l l be examinedin the f i r s t par t of the chap te r . These images and a s soc i -a t ions de l imi t the f i e l d of th i s t e rm ' s s igni f icance andprovide the bas i s from which the s igni f icance of var iousspec i f ic app l i ca t ions of r t a wi l l be c l a r i f i ed . The second


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part concentrates upon various specif ic applicat ions of r tain the B Veda. I wil l consider r ta as a sphere/mode ofbeing, as the order, s tab i l i ty and re l i ab i l i ty of establ i shedphenomena, as the sacrif ice and the effect ive force of thesacr i f ice , and as satya ( t ruth/ the principle of being inaccord with being) and t ru th in speech.

Chapter three wil l deal with the re la t ion betweenr ta and two o th er c lo se ly a sso cia te d vedic concepts--.dharman and vrata . My task here wil l be to cal l intoquest ion the notion that these words are a l l synonymouswith the words lILaw" and "Order", and to demonstrate thatdharman and vra ta are concepts which emphasize part icularlyimportant aspects of r t a .

In the fourth chapter I wil l offe r a br ie f discus-sion on the re la t ion between the vedic r s i and r t a . Iwil l demonstrate that vedic manls concern for freedom,securi ty and safety is int imately bound up with the questto conform to r t a .

I wil l recapi tula te my f indings in the conclusionto the thes is . I wil l argue that even though ~ t cannotbe defined, i t can be understood in terms of the mutualcohesion of i t s images and associat ions and speci f ic appl i -cat ions. I wil l offer also some thoughts on how th is studyon r ta could be broadened. Final ly , I wil l r e f l ec t uponthe signif icance of this study to the general problem ofcontinui ty and change in the Indian phi losophical / re l ig ious


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t radi t ion. I wil l discuss the various ways in which II con -tinuityll could be understood and present a br ief out l inefor a compara tive s tudy of the concept of r ta in the RgVeda and the conception of dharma in the Bhagavad Gita.


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I

RTA AND COSMOGONY

The vedic cosmogony i s the account of the s t rugglebetween the forces of enclosure ( fo rces which tend to i nh i b i tthe es tabl ishment of the ordered cosmos) and forces of f r e e -dom ( forces which s t r i ve to es t ab l i sh the cosmos). Thecharac te r of these forces , witn which r t a i s e i t he r a l l i edor opposed, wi l l se rve as the s t a r t i ng poin t from which thes igni f icance of r t a wi l l be c la r i f i ed ..

There i s no u nif ie d n ar ra tiv e dep ic t ing the or ig inof the cosmos in the Rg Veda. There a re , however, manyre fe rences sca t t e red throughout the Rg Veda which appear tosugges t t ha t severa l complete accounts of the orig in of thecosmos were ava i l ab le to the vedic community. W. NormanBrown has pieced toge ther one such account in h is a r t i c l e

1"The Creation Myth in the Rg Veda". This a r t i c l e deals

lW. Norman Brown, liThe Crea t ion Myth of the Rg Veda,r, JAOS62 (1942). I do not wish to involve mysel f in a debate overthe ph i lo soph ica l/ ep is t emo log ica l imp l i ca ti on s of the term'myth ' . Reg ardless o f what Brown may have unders tood by theterm, fo r the purposes of t h i s thes i s I understand the term'myth l to s ign i fy only lithe v ed ic a cc ou nt of the orig in ofthe es tab l i shed cosmos ll The r eader should also note tha tthe issue over an ' o r i g ina l ' or coherent cosmogonic mythin the Veda has not been se t t l ed . For ins tance , RaymondHodgson; Indra and Vrt ra : A Stud in C on tin uity and Changein the Indian Rel i ious Trad i t ion , Ph.D. d i s se r t a t i on ,McMaster Univer s i ty , 1975 , devoted h is en t i r e thes i s to the


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-with the s t rugg le between the A dityas and the Danavas overth e elem en ts necessary fo r the es tabl ishment of orderedbe ing . Below, I wi l l of fe r a b r i e f over-view of Brown'saccount . This wi l l be fo l lowed by an ex am in atio n o f themyth of the Panis which has been pieced together by DorisSr in ivasan . 2 The myth of the Panis i s not concerned withthe or ig in of the cosmos: it i s an order-maintenance mythwhich ca r r i e s on with the theme found in the s tory of thes t ruggle between the Adi tyas and the Danavas. Both mythsto ge th er p re se nt a comprehensive account of the na ture ofthe pr imordia l forces which th rea ten or suppor t the ex is tenceand operat ion of r t a in the world of ordered being ..

1 . The Adi tyas and the DanavasBefore the cosmos had been es tab l i shed , p r io r to

the exis tence of man and h is rea lm, only gods exis ted . Thegods were of two type s: 1) There were devas. Except fo r thegod Indra , the devas did not play a prominent ro le in thes tory of the or ig in of the cosmos; 2) There were also beingscal led the ' a sura l The asuras were divided in to two groups .

claim t ha t no such or ig ina l myth ex i s t s in the Rg Veda.With th i s in mind, I draw upon the scholarsh ip of Brown andSrin ivasan (see n. 1) recogniz ing t ha t there are a l t e rna t i veviews.2Doris Sr in ivasan , "The Myth of the Panis in the Rig Veda",J AOS, 93. 1 (1973) .


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There were th e Adityas whose mother was Aditi and whoseleader was Varuna. The character of these asuras is ex-pressed in the etymology of the i r mother 's name. The name"Aditi" i s made with the negative pref ix "a" attached to theabstract substantive "d i t i 'l which i s derived from the verbalroot-vda, meaning lIto bind I'. Hence, flAditi" l i t e ra l ly means"non -bondage".3 Thu s , the .Ad i tyas were asuras who ac tedfo r expansion, l ibe ra t ion and freedom. Opposed to theAdityas were the Danavas. The name of the i r mother, flDanu fl ,i s also derived from the root vida wi th the added suffix "nu".The name means r'bondage", and th is appears to be the chiefcharacter is t ic of the Danavas. Vrtra was the leader of theDanavas, and his name i s derived from the r o o t ~ v r , whichmeans "to cover or enclose fl . Hence, V ~ t r a , as the leaderof the disciples of bondage, is the "encloserfl . 4 The Adityas

3Brown, 90. The reader may wonder how I , having despaired ofetymologies in the introduct ion of th is th es is , can now re lyupon an etymology to es tab l ish the meaning of a name. Thereader should note, however, that I res t r ic ted my cr i t ic ismof etymologies to only those words which possess contextualapplications which cannot be understood in terms of theinformat ion furni shed by the etymological root . Other terms,however, possess applications which seem to conform to themeaning of the root from which i t derives . In these cases,the etymology of the word can be ci ted as a reference forthe meaning of the term in question. For the use and misuseof e tymologie s see: James Barr, The Semantics of Bibl ica lLanguage, (Oxford, 1961), 107-160. For the role that A ditiplays in the Veda see: A.A. Macdonnel, Vedic Mythology,(Delhi, 1974); 120-123; and Abel Bergaigne, Vedic Religion,V.G. Paranjpe t rans . , (Poona, 1969), I I , 92-102.4Brown, 90.


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and the Danavas were enemies who s t ruggled to bind or se tf ree those elements which were necessary fo r the es t ab l i sh -ment of the cosmos.

The Danavas had the i n i t i a l advantage over the otherasuras . Vr t ra had achieved a place which was foremostamong the gods because he had managed to en close a l l t ha twas necessary fo r ordered being. He enclosed both heaven andthe cosmic w a t e r ~ whose embryo was the sun (RV 2 .11 .5) .5

Try as they m i g h t ~ the Adityas were not able tosecure the components of ordered being from the Danavas.Varuna was powerless aga ins t V ~ t r a ~ and it appears t ha t hemay have been siezed and e n c l o s e d ~ along with Agni andS o m a ~ with in V ~ t r a (RV 10.124) .6 I t was c lear t ha t sincethe A dityas lacked the power to break V ~ t r a l s grasp uponthe necessary elements fo r the es tab l i shmen t of orderedb e i n g ~ a more p oten t fo rce was needed i f the d i sc ip le s ofbondage were to be overcome. That new force w a s ~ in thee n d ~ the warr ior-god Indra .

The gods arranged fo r Indra1s bi r th ; they generatedhim fo r the purpose of dest roy ing Vrt ra (RV 3 .41 .9) . Indra. -was a warr ior as soon as he was born (RV 3 .51 .8) . Hiss t a tu re was immense. He s t ruck f ear in a l l the gods (RV

5 B r o w n ~ 8 8 92.6Brown 92 -95 .


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5 .30 .5 ) , and they submit ted t he i r powers to him (RV 3 .51 .8 ,7.21.7).7 Afte r many eXPloi t s8 Indra f ina l ly managed tomeet Vrt ra in ba t t l e . At f i r s t , V ~ t r a appeared to be amatch fo r him, fo r he broke Indra1s jaw (RV 1 .32 .4 ) . ButIndra , in r e tu rn , broke Vr t r a ' s jaw (RV 1 .52 . 6 , 10.152.23) ,and even bet te red him, breaking V ~ t r a ' s face (RV 1.32 .6)and sp l i t t i ng h is head (4 .17 .3) . Ind ra ' s weapon was thevaj ra ( lig h te nin g b o lt ) and with it he s p l i t Vrt ra wideopen, r e leas ing a l l tha t had been enclosed with in tha tdemon. 9

The defea t of Vrt ra had monumental e f f ec t s . Indrase t the cosmic waters f ree (RV 1 .32 .4) . He converted asa t(non-being/an t i -be ing) in to sa t (be ing ) , or he separatedasa t from sa t . lO Indra sca t t e red the darkness (5.31.3) andhe cu t a path through the darkness w ith the sun (6 .21 .3) .Rta was born a t the r eques t of Varuna (1 .105 .15) , and Varuna

7Brown, 92-95.8Brown, 92f f . The account of Ind ra ' s b i r th and exp lo i t s i si n t e re s t ing but not a propos to the presen t s tudy.9Brown, 96.10Brown, 97. Brown sugges ts t ha t Indra converted the asa tin to the sa t a t RV 6.24 .5 . Ste l l a Kramrisch t r ans la tesd i f f e ren t ly : l lIndra made a t once the a s a t and the sa t , heco-ord ina ted these two in t he i r separa te d i s t i nc tnes s " c f .Ste l l a Kramrisch, "The T rip le S tr uc tu re of Crea t ion in the13-g Veda fl , H istory of Rel igions , 2 (1963), 145; c f . RV6 .24 .5 ; asac ca san muhur ack r i r ....


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was se t over the r ta (RV 10.124.5). Indra and Varuna- . - -became the two rulers of the newly established cosmos (RV3.30, 4.42). 11

With the defeat of the Danavas, the cosmos wasdivided into two separate spheres of existence whichstood in both material and moral oppositio n to one another.The forces of enclosure were banished to the realm ofasat /anrta where chaos and darkness reign supreme, while

the gods of freedom and expansion cla imed as the i r abodethe sphere which embraces l i fe-preserving l i gh t andorde r - the realm of sa t / r ta . W. Norman Brown explains: 12.

The Danavas dwell in darkness and cold, under the. earth, where the sun never re ache s and cosmic order(r ta) does not obtain . This is , in short , theAsat, the Non-Existent. The Adityas dwell in thelap of mother Aditi , who is l igh t . Their sphereis the surface of the earth and the free empyreanabove i t , where the sun reaches and order doesprevail , in brief the Sat , the Existent .Although the Danavas had been defeated and banished bythe Adityas, the struggle between these two antagonistswas not over. As we shal l now see, the forces of bondageattempted to gain back what had been los t to the i r riwals.

2. The Myth of the P a ~ i sThe myth of the Panis is an order-maintenance mythwhich deals with the continued struggle between the forces

of freedom and enclosure. The Adityas and the Danavas hadstruggled over the elements necessary for establishing the

11Brown , 96-97. 12Brown, 88-89.


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realm of ordered being. In the myth of the PaQis theth rea t of prohibit ion and enclosure i s directed , a t onelevel a t leas t , against the sacr i f ice (yajoa) -- the foremostinstrument of the maintenance of ordered being. SrinivasaneXPlains: 13

The problem of preservation is impl ic i t in thecondit ions under which the Indra-Vrtra mythachieved crea t ion . According to tna t myth, thecreat ion of the universe was only won throughthe utmost exertion of the mighties t gods.Moreover, the forces of evi l were not eliminatedwhen the universe was created; they were relegatedto a specif ic area below the vedic world and ruledthere by anr ta . That i s to say the orderly worldwas dearly won, precariously maintained and cons tant ly threatened. The chief securi ty againstthose fo rc es d esiro us of upsett ing the order isthe sacr i f ice .

The forces of e nc lo su re were not discouraged by the i rfa i lu re to prevent the establishment of ordered' being.Unable to effec t the i r primary goal, they then turned t he i rat tent ion to s tea l ing away from the realm of r ta that forcewhich upheld the cosmos--the sacr i f ice .

In the myth under examination, the Panis are therepresenta t ives of the world of asa t /anr ta . Throughout the

Veda the word Ilpani II i s used to denote anyone who is a~ i s e r (RV 8.64.2 , l O ~ 6 0 . 6 ) .14 A human pani was par t icu la r ly

obnoxious to the vedic pr ies t s because he was part of agroup of people who in some way withheld from the sacr i f ice .

13Sr in ivasan, 55-56. 14Srinivasan, 48.


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Whatever the i r par t icu la r offence may have been, i t i sclear tha t the vedic pr ies t s held them in ut t e r contempt.Thus, a t ~ Veda 7.6 .3 the p a ~ i s are described as beingwithout sp i r i tua l insight (akratu) , fa lse (grathin) , speaking contemptuously (mrdhravac) , without fa i th (as"raddha),not strengthening (avrdha; i.e., one who does not strengthenthe gods through sacr i f ice) , and against the sacrif ice(aya,jna) .15

The mythical PaQis, whose leader is Vala--whosename is derived from the r o o t - - / v ~ meaning "to cover/enclose tJ - - ,take on a dimension which extends the i r ro le beyond tha tof t he i r human counterpar ts . More than merely refusing tosupport the sacr i f ice , the demoniacal PaQis work act ive lyto s tea l the items which a re necessary for the performanceof the sacr i f ice . The Panis manage to s tea l cows, horses,.r iches , the dawn, f i r e , and the day. 16 Cows, horsesun,and r iches daksina gi f t s I gi f t s for the sac r i f i c ia lre \ l . e . ,offer ing) . At another level of s ignif icance , cows and horsesare also symbols fo r rays of l ight . 17 I f we r eca l l that inthe myth of the Adityas and the Danavas the release of thesun was an essen t ia l part of establ ishing the orderedcosmos, then we can readi ly see that the Panis, in steal ingthe sun and the rays of l igh t , not only inh ib i t the sac-r i f i ce but a ls o th rea ten the securi ty of the entire realm

15Sr inivasan, 48. 16Srinivasan, 53. l7Sr inivasan, 53-54.


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of s a t / r t a .The word "cow" (go) i s a lso an ep i the t used to

s ign i fy speech/song/hymn. According to Ste l l a Kramrisch,the cows are par t of the th ree voices of the cosmos whichwork to check and neut ra l i ze the pr inc ip l e s of des t ruc t ionand d i s in t eg r a t i on : 18

There are a lso the th ree Ni r r t i s (10 .114 .2) ,th ree awful goddesses o r pr inc ip l e s of d i s in t egra t ion , which s ieze the cosmos and thef acu l t i e s in man tha t are exerc ised on eachof the three l eve l s . Against and in sp i te ofthem, there i s the l oya l t r i p l e progeny (7.33.7)with t he i r l ead ing l i gh t . Theirs are the "threevoices" ....They are led by Agni. . . who i s thechar io teer of the cha r io t , which i s the sacr i f i c e . The three voices express the ins igh tin to cosmic and s ac r i f i c i a l law ( r t a sya dhl t im)and the wisdom of the sacred , magic word(brahmano manlsam; 9.97 .34) . They are thevoices of the p r i e s t s , of the cows, and of Soma(9 .33 .4) . The cows are the hymns (9 .50 .2) . Theth ree voices are the audible voice of the pr i e s t ,the form in which t h i s voice i s heard as song orpoem and the inner voice of Soma, the source ofi n sp i r a t ion .The P a ~ i s held t he i r t r easure of daksina g i f t s , rays

of l i gh t , the sun, the dawn, the f i r e , hymns, songs, poemse t c . , in t he i r na tura l abode-- tne realm of asa t / an r t a(RV 10 .67 .4 , 2 .24 .6-7) . But th i s was not to l a s t , fo r thegods conspired to win back the necessary elements of thesac r i f i c e .

Indra i s again the c hie f p ro ta go nis t in the myth ofthe Panis . He managed to cu t through Vala and re l ease the

18Kramrisch, 158.


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imprisoned cows (RV 10.67.62). But more often than not)Indra i s ass is ted by other beings or the release of thes to le n tr ea su re is effected by someone w ithout the aid ofIndra a t a l l . The reason behind th i s may be found in thefac t tha t the principle weapon of victory i s not Indra ' svajra (as i t is in the struggle between Indra and V ~ t r a )but the brahman and the arka. flArka fl mean s "hymn fl orl l l ight". The brahman i s the mystic power) imminent insacred speech) which gives strength and force to songs)prayers and hymns. Doris Srinivasan elaborates: 19

The prayer taps as i t were th i s mystic forceand attempts to control i t for the w elfare ofthose who believe in vedic r i t es . Thus thebrahman ; -vedic pries t-7) t h r o ~ g h the eff icacyof his hYWn is able to evoke and control thebrahman / mystic force-1.Although the Panis had stolen a l l of the elements

of the sacrif ice) they lacked one essent ia l power whichproved to be the i r undoing. ~ Veda 10.108.6 s ta te s thatthe words of the Panis were no weapons; and th i s means tha tthe i r words were unsupported by the power of the brahman.Hence) Brahmanaspati (the name means l i t e ra l ly flthe lord of

19Srinivasan) 51. W. Norman Brown) who argued for anev olu tio n in the cosmogonic myth of the Rg Veda in "Theoriesof C reation in the Rig Veda fl ) JAOS) 85 (1965"T:-would haved is ag re ed w ith Srinivasan that Indra i s not the mainprotagonist because the principle weapon of victory is thebrahman. Since i t is not my in tent ion to get involved withthe in t r icacies of the various cosmogonic theor ies) I wil lnot engage in a discussion on the re la t ive merits of Brown'sor Srin ivasan 's pos i t ion .


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brahman fl )20 sp l i t Vala open with the brahman (RV 2.24 .3) andsca t t e red the darkness with the arka (RV 10.68 .9) . TheAngi rases , who were brahmans (RV 7 .42 .1 ) , ~ ~ i S (RV 10.62.4)and knowers of the word (padajnah; RV 1 .62 .2 ) , used boththe brahman and the arka to s p l i t open the enc losure whichheld the s ac r i f i c i a l t r easure (RV 6 .65 .5) . They a lsoas s i s t ed Indra with song as he des t royed Vala (RV 2.15.8) .21

The myth of the PaQis br ings the account of thes t ruggle between the forces of freedom and the forces ofinh. ibi t ion to a new l eve l . Pr ior to the es tab l ishment ofthe ordered cosmos, the s t ruggle was sole ly between gods.Afte r the cosmos had been es t ab l i s hed , men, as the care taker sof sacred hymns and the sac r i f i c e , came to play an i n t eg ra lro le in keeping secure the vic tory which preceded orderedbeing. Sr in ivasan expla ins : 22

... the myth of the PaOis i l l u s t r a t e s the be l i e ft ha t the brahman, ac t iva ted by the vedic chants ,safeguards the sac r i f i ce aga ins t forces t ry ingto undermine it. The s t ruggle , waged and wonpr imari ly by the mythic pr i e s t s ; -Brahmanaspat iand the Angirases 7 and secondar i ly by Indra ,in essence , re leases condi t ions needed fo r thesac r i f i c e , assures i t s per fo rmance, d ef ends ther t a and works to uphold ordered exis tence ..The two myths j u s t out l ined i l l u s t r a t e seve ra l

poin t s which are im portan t to the discuss ion on r ta . F i r s t ,.20For more on the ro le of Brahmanaspat i (Brhaspat i ) in theVeda see N.J . Shende, flBrhaspati in the Vedic and EpicLi te ra tu re" , DSRIB, 8, 225-251.21Sr in ivasan , 51. 22Sr in ivasan , 55.


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r ta was establ i shed only af t e r the forces of freedom andexpansion gained victory over the powers of inhibit ion andenclosure. T h u s ~ r ta is associated with the powers off r e e d o m ~ expansion and l ibera t ion. S e c o n d ~ although theforces of freedom had gained an i n i t i a l v i c t o r y ~ they didnot annihilate the powers which were against ordered being.These powers were only ban ished to the realm of asa t /anr ta .T h u s ~ r ta is not secure; i t i s constant ly under th rea t of.being subdued by the forces of enclosure . T h i r d ~ the mythst e l l us tha t men and gods must sustain and protect the r tai f the realm of sa t i s to be maintained. Man i s assigneda unique place in the cosmos because i t is by his performanceof the sacr i f ice that the gods a re s tre ng th en ed and ther ta i s secured.


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I I

RTA IN THE RG VEDA

1. The Images and Associations of RtaThe images and associat ions which encompass r ta

wil l now be examined. Since the value and significanceof a word is found not only in i t s use in a tex t , but alsoin the use of i t s opposite , I wil l begin by giving a br ie faccount of the images and associa t ions which accompanyr taJs contrary--anr ta . Following th is I wil l explorethe images and associat ions of r t a .

Anrta is closely all igned with asat , and togetherthey form the realm of asat /anr ta . A deta i led account ofwhat this world embodies is found in sukta 7.104 of the

Veda, which is a pet i t ion to Indra and Soma to destroythe one who speaks and acts counter to the r ta . l I t isa sukta which is r ich in imagery of the realm of asat /anr ta .

RV 7.104 in fo rms us that the locat ion of the realmof asat /anr ta is below the t r ip le structure of creation(v. 16). This downward place is described as possessingendless chasms (vavran anantan; vv . 3, 17). There is nol igh t in th i s lower region; the chasm is a bottomless

lW. Norman Brown has analyzed th i s sukta in liThe RigvedicEquivalent fo r Hell l' , JAOS, 61 (1941 ), 76 -80.


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darkness (anarambhana tamas; v. 3). The ev i l person (mGradeva; v. 24)--who is described as an rtad ev a (v. 14) whichmeans e i the r "one who worships a fa lse god '! or, accordingto Brown, "one who has made anrta h is god 112 - - i s said toprosper by/in darkness (tamovrdh; v. 1), and he employsdemons ( raksasas) who f ly about a t night seeking to harmboth men and gods (vv. 17, 18, 22, 23) .

The sphere of asa t /anr ta i s a place of si lence( . Inlsvaram; v. 5) . Brown points out that the noise of thesoma-pressing stones helps to slay the demons a t v. 17. 3The implication is that the demons cannot stand noise,but I would add that the noise refered to here i s a potentweapon against the representa t ives of asa t /anr ta becauseit is connected with the sacr i f ice . 4

The world of asa t /anr ta i s associated with theforces of inhibi t ion and enclosure. In l ine with th i si s the imagery of bottomless, dark and s i lent chasms.Thus, asa t /anr ta is a place where there i s no reassuringlysafe ground, and where "tBings who are opposed to the r ta.thr ive in darkness.

In contrast to asa t /anr ta , the realm of sa t / r t aappears as a place of wide, f ree , safe , and secure spaces.

2Brown, 77.3Brown, 78.4Thus , a t RV 1.133.1 the rS l lS able to purge the cosmosof demons by performing the sacr i f ice .


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H e ~ v e n res ts in the abode of r ta (sadana r tasya; RV 4.42.5) .5The sons of Adit i thr ive in the home of r ta (rtasya vavrdhur. .dorone . . . putra aditer .... ; RV 7.60.5) . The Rudras prosperin the dwelling of r ta (sadanesu r tasya; RV 2.34.13), and. . .the domain of ~ t (prasi t ih r tasya; RV 10.92.4) i s said tobe the sky and vast space. The security of r ta i s exhibited.by the fact that i t i s often desc rib ed a s a womb (yoni/garbha).6Thus, heaven and e arth re jo ic e in the womb of ~ t (r tasyayona; RV 3.54.6) . At RV 10.65.b, the extent of space whichheaven and ear th inhabit is called the "rtasya yoni". Thegod Agni i s said to have been born in the womb (garbha)which i s the womb of r ta (r tasya yona; RV 1.65.4) .

Rta pos sess es paths along which en t i t i es may safely.move. 7 The dawn moves along the path of r ta ( ~ t a s y a pantham;RV 1.124.3 ,5 .80 .4) . At RV 3.12.7 the "v is ions !! o f men movealong the path of ~ t (yanti dhitayah r tasya pathya anu).

5For the !!abode of rta!! see: RV (sadana) 1.43.9, 1.164.7,2.34.13, 4 .21.3 , 4 . ~ 4 , 7 . 3 6 . ~ 7 .3 6.5 , 7 .5 3.2 , 10.100.10;(sadas) 3.7.2, 3.55.12, 4.51.8, 5.41.1 , 10.111.2; (sadma)3.51.14.6 For the "womb of rta,lI see: RV (yona) 1.65.4, 1 .144 .2 , 3 .2 .11,3.54.6 , 3.62.18, 3:b3.12, .9 .13.9, 9 .3 9.6 , 9 .7 2.6 , 9.7 3.1 ,9.86.25, 10.8.3, 10.65.8, 10.85.24; (yonim) 3.62.13, 5.21.4,6.16.35, 9.8 .3 , 9.32.4, 9.64 .1 1, 9 .6 6.1 2, 9 .1 07 .4 , 10.65.7,10.68.4; (garbha) 1.156.3, 6.54.5, 9.68.5.7For the lI pa th of r ta ll see: RV (5atham) 1.124.3, 5.80.4,10.66.13; (patha) :5:"45.8, 10-:33. ; (pathyam) 3.31.5; (panthas)1 .1 36 .2 , 1 .4 6.1 1, 1 .1 28 .2 , 8.22.7, 8.31.13, 9 .7 3.6 , 9 .9 7.3 2,10.31.2 ,10 .70 .2 ,10 .80 .6 ; (pantha:m) 8.12.3; (patha) 7.65.3;(p ath i) 6 .4 4.8 .


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At RV 8.12.3 the r s i longs to go along the path of r ta(patham r tasya) , and in RV 7.65.3 the poet implores Varunato keep him safe from trouble by bearing him along the pathof r ta (r tasya patha).. .

Light i s also associated with r t a . In RV 6.51.1the sun i s called the shining face of r ta (r tasya suci . . .anikam) . The dawn, which comes from the dwelling of r ta.(RV 4.51.8) and the womb of r ta (RV 10.8.3) , shines accordingto r ta (rtenaviskrnvana; RV 7.75.1) and l ights up the r ta. .(rtam avasrann usaso vibhatih; RV 4.2.19) . The "horses"( i . e . , rays of l ight) of the dawn are said to 'be yoked by/united with the r ta (rtayuj; RV 4.51.5, 6.39.4, 7.71.3) .At RV 4.21.3 the Maruts are said to come from the realm ofl ight (svarnarat) , which i s also called the abode of r ta(sadanad r tasya) .

The dark world of asa t / anrta i s marked by si lence.I t is not surpr is ing, therefore, to find that sound playsan important role in sa t / r t a . RV 4.23.8 informs us that

/the sound/call of r ta opens deaf ears (rtasya sloka badhirata tarda karna budhanah sucamana ayoh). Prayers (brahman)., .s ta r t from the abode of r ta (sadanad r tasya) a t RV 7.36.1.An in teres t ing passage occurs a t RV 2.24. This suktare la tes the story of how Brahmanaspati sp l i t Vala with thebrahman (v. 3) . The text states that Brahmanaspati hadexcel lent arrows and a swift bow; i t also says that thest r ing of the bow was r ta (r tajya; v.8) . The implication


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here i s tha t the brahman, which sp l i t s Vala l ike an arrow,i s empowered by the r t a . Rta ac ts l ik e a bow-str ing becauseit hurls the brahman a t whatever mark Brahmanaspati des i r e s( r t a jyena ks iprena brahmanas pa t i r ya t r a vas t i pra tad., .a sno t i dhanavana; v. 8). Thus, the brahman, the mysteriouspower of sacred speech, gains i t s potency from the r t a .

Rta i s as soc ia ted w ith these images: r t a i s f r e e /vas t space , a place of s a f e t y / s e cu r i t y / s t ab i l i t y , it i s awomb, and it possesses sa fe pathways along which both l i gh tand men proceed protected from hearm ; r ta i s the splendor ofl i gh t , and the myste rio us f or ce of sound which des t roysev i l . The assoc ia t ions which encompass r t a de l imi t the.f ie ld of t h i s t e rm ' s s ign i f i cance . The t o t a l i t y of elementswhich comprise t h i s f i e l d sha l l be termed here ina f te r" the dynamic nexus of r t a 'l I have chosen t h i s phrasebecause it expresses two fundamenta l aspec t s of r t a . The.meaning of the term Ifrta" i s composed of a nexus of images

.,.--

and assoc ia t ions because no s ingle image or assoc ia t ion canencompass the f u l l s ingi f icance of t h i s compl icated term.Nei ther can r t a be unders tood by loosely s t r i n g i ~ g toge therthe assoc ia t ions and images which accompany it. These mustbe melted together in to a unif ied bond, a nexus, i f we areto grasp the r i ch and comprehensive s igni f icance of t h i sterm. ~ t i s a dynamic nexus because when each subt lei nd iv idu al a s so c ia ti o n i s bound t oge the r , and no s inglec l ea r ly defined assoc ia t ion remains dominant , the force and


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impact of the word is revealed. The conceptual for ce of theterm, however, cannot be explained; our powers of def ini t ionbreak down before i t . Thus, r ta must remain conceptuallyambiguous, but th is ambiguity should not be viewed as adefeat . I t i s th i s potent ambiguity which gives f lu idi tyand force to the significance of r t a . This potent ambiguityi s the base from which r ta assumes a variety of forms and.yet maintains i t s in te rn al ri go r and force.

2. The Specif ic Applicat ions of RtaThe dynamic nexus of r ta demonstrates that th is

term represents a force which operated for the benefi t ofthe establ ished cosmos. The dynamic nexus foreshadows thesignificance r ta wil l embrace when i t performs a speci f icfunction in the tex t , and the specif ic funct ions of r tagive i t defini te form. Hence, both the dynamic nexus andthe specif ic appl icat ions of r ta come together to expressthe fu l l signif icance of the term . Several s pe cif ic a pplic a-t ions wil l be examined below. Rta wil l be considered underthese four headings: 1) ~ t as a sphere/mode of Being; 2)Rta as the order, s tab i l i ty and re l iab i l i ty of phenomena;.3) Rta as the sacrif ice and the effect ive force of thesacr i f ice ; and 4) Rta as satya ( t ru th/ the principle of beingin accord with being) and t ru th in speech.

Rta as a Sphere/Mode of BeingIn order to gain a clear picture of r ta as a sphere/


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mode of b e i n g ~ the discuss ion on t h i s term wi l l be prefacedby a br i e f examination of anr t a as a sphere/mode of being .S uk ta 7.104 of the Veda had been examined p re vio us ly inorder to gain informat ion on the images as soc ia ted with thesphere of asa t / an r t a . I t also ind ica te s how the one whosesphere/mode of being i s asa t / an r t a may be d is t ingu ished fromone who i s not of t h i s realm. For example, a t RV 7.104.8 the: ~ pe t i t i ons Indra to send the one who speaks with wordswhich conform to anr t a ( a b h i c a ~ ~ e ... anr t ebh i r vacobhih)to the realm of asa t (asann as tu ) because asa t i s embodiedin h is speech (asa ta vak ta ) . According to t h i s v e r s e ~ theev i l person proper ly belongs to the realm of asa t / an r t abecause he embodies tha t realm in the manner in which he

8behaves. This ac t of c o n f o r m i t y ~ in which the ob jec tassumes the qua l i t i e s of the sphere to which it b e l o n g s ~ind ica te s tha t asa t / an r t a rep resen t s not only a realm of-- .e X i s t e n c e ~ but also a mode of being . RV 7 .1 04 .8 e xp re ss esthe idea tha t the ev i l p erson should go to asa t / an r t a

8At RV 7.104.5 it i s s ta ted th at s i lence (nisvaram) i s acha rac t e r i s t i c of asa t / an r t a . Thus, the ev i l person, inpronouncing a s a t ~ u t t e r s s i l ence . The so lu t ion to t h i sapparen t cont rad ic t ion in terms l i e s in what had been d i s -covered p rev io usly in the myth of the Panis (c f . pp. 20-25) .In t ha t s tory the Panis lacked the power' necessary to with -s tand the a s sau l t of the var ious gods; i . e . ~ t he i r wordswere not weapons (RV 10.108.6) . They lacked the mysticp o ~ e r behind s a c r e ~ s p e e c h - - t h e brahman. The s i l ence ofasa t / an r t a gives express ion to the fac t tha t speech whichconforms to tha t realm of exis tence i s without e f fec t iveforce or power.


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th e dynamic nexus of r t a and take u p as t he i r mode ofb e i o g ~ the qua l i t i e s of the sphere to which they belong.

Rta i s associa ted with images of l i g h t ~ broads p a c e s ~ sa fe p a t h w a y s ~ e t c . . S i m i l a r l y ~ the A d i t y a s ~ whoare d es crib ed a s ~ t a j a t a a t RV 7 . 6 6 . 1 3 ~ are l o rds of l i gh t( j y o t i ~ a s pa t i ; RV 1.23.5) and pro tec to rs of a l l crea tu res(bhuvanasya gopah; RV 2.27.4). A g n i ~ who i s r t a ja ta inRV 1 . 3 6 . 1 9 ~ 1 . 1 4 4 . 7 ~ 1 . 1 8 9 . 6 ~ 3 . 6 . 1 0 ~ 6 . 1 3 . 3 ~ and r t a -pra j a t a a t RV 1 . 6 5 . 1 0 ~ i s r i ch in r ad i an t l i gh t (vibhavasuh;

I

RV 3.2.2) and he provides men with a broad wide expanse(P : t thVi bahula urvi ; RV 1.189.6) to dwell in . Mitra and

V a r u ~ a are r t a j a t a a t RV 7 . 6 6 . 1 3 ~ and elsewhere it i s saidt ha t they govern a l l the world with the r t a and se t thesun f irm ly in i t s place ( r tena visvam bhuvam vi ra j a thahsuryam a dat tho d iv i ; RV 5.63.7).

There are a number of ep i the t s which ind ica te thec lose r e l a t i onsh ip between r t a and the gods. Indra i ssaid to have been yoked by /u n ite d w ith r t a ( r t ayu j ; RV6.39.2) when he dest royed Vala . In giving b i r t h to M itraand V a r u r : a ~ Adi t i i s cal led " r t ava r i " ( t rue to r ta ) a tRV 8.25.3. In RV 1 . 2 ~ Mitra and V a r u n a ~ who descr ibedas being t uv i j a t a (s t rong by nature) and u r u k ~ a y a (whopossess a wid e domain; v. 8 ) are r t a sp r s ( touching/connected with r t a ; v. 9). The Adityas are cal led Ilrtavan 'J( t rue t o / assoc ia t ed with r t a ) l l a t RV 2.27.4 because theyp ro t ec t a l l c rea tu re s . The ep i the t IJrtavan Jr i s common to


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both M itra and varuna. 12 In RV 5.67.4, Mitra and V a r u ~ aare described as both rtavan and r tasprs because they arebounteous in the i r gi f t s (sudanavah) and provide much aidto men (urucakrayah). The god Agni i s r tavan at RV 1.77.1,

,132, 5 because he brings the sacrif ice of men to the gods.Gods are also o ften des crib ed as r tavrdh. The

meaning of this compound, however, has been surrounded bysome controversy. V.S. Apte, Monier-Williams and R.T.H.Griff i th t rans la te i t as "one who strengthens/ increases

" 14 " IIrta, while Bergaigne and Luders take i t to mean onewho st rengthens/ is strong by means of r ta" .15 I t i sdi f f icul t to determine which of these meanings is intendedin the context of the Veda. On the one hand, gods oftenstrengthen or protect the r ta . For example, the god Agni.l lAbel Bergaigne, Vedic Religion, (Poona, 1973), f I I , 236,and Gonda, 77. Bergaigne prefers to t rans la te rtavan as"true to r ta" while Gonda provides "associated with r t a " .- . - - . -12 -For Mitra, Varuna and rtavan see: RV 1.136.4, 1.151.8,5.65.2, 8.23.3, 8:25.1, 7, 8.13For Agni and r tavan see: RV 2.3 5.8, 3 .1 3.2, 3.2 0.4 ,4.2.1, 4 .6 .5 , 4 :7 .7 , 5.1.6, ~ 2 5 . 1 , 6.12.1 , 6.15.13,7 .3 .1 , 7 .7 .4 , 8.28.2, 1 0.2 .2 , 1 0.6 .2, 10 .7.4.14V. S . Apte, The Pract ical Sanskr it -Engli sh Dict ionary ,(Poona, 1957), 490. M. Monier-Williams, A Sanskrit-EnglishDictionary, (Oxford, 1963), 224. R.T.H. Grif f i th , The Hymnsof the Rgveda, (Varanasi, 1970), 2 vols. (cf . RV 7.66.13).

F o r tavrdh see: RV (Mitra-Varuna) 2.41.4, 3 .62.18, 7 .66.19;(devas) 6 .50 .14 ,0 :-52.10 , 8 .78 .1 , 10.65.7, 10.66.1; (Adityas)7 ~ 1 0 - 1 3 , 7.82.10.15Bergaigne, 232, and Gonda, 75 (Gonda endorses L ~ d e r s rt rans la t ion of , r tavrdh).


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i s descr ibed as r t asya gopah (pro tec tor of the r t a ) a t RV- . - -

10.118.7 because he dest roys ev i l beiDgs ( raksasas ) . MitraaDd v a r u ~ a are c alle d r ta sy a gopau a t RV 5 . 6 3 . 1 ~ aDd in RV1.113.12 the d a w D ~ who i s borD iD r ta ( r t e j a ) ~ i s thepro tec tor of r t a ( r tapa) wheD she manifes ts the f i r s t l i gh tof day. R t a ~ h o w e v e r ~ also s t reDgthens the gods. The-Adityas a re mighty by means of the r t a ( r tenadi tya mahi)iD RV 2.27 .8 . At Rv4.42 .4 Varuna i s said to have spreadout the t r i p a r t i t e cosmos by means of the r t a ( r tena ...

.- .

t r idha tu prathayad vi bhuma). I t appears tha t r t avrdhcould be t r ans la ted as e i the r "st rengtheDer of r ta fl or"st reDgthening by ~ t a " in RV 1.25.5:

r t ena yav r tavrdhav r t asya jy ot is as p at i / tamitravaruna huve.Those w h o ~ by meaDS of r t a ~ are s t rengtheners o f fs t rengthening by r t a ~ are lo rds of l i gh t and of r t a ~I ca l l Mitra Dad Varuna.

This verse appears to iD dicate tha t the re la t ioD betweeDgods and r t a i s r e f lex ive ; i . e . ~ the gods s t rengthen r taand r ta i s th e fo unda tio n fo r the power of the gods. T h u s ~r t avrdh may mean both "ODe who streDgtheDs r t a " aDd !lODe. .who i s s t rong by means of r t a " . I f th is i s the c a s e ~ theD.the not ion t ha t r t a i s a mode of beiDg to which the godscODform i s brought out eveD more c lea r ly . The gods gaint he i r s t rength from ~ t a ~ and through tha t s t reDgth theypro tec t the r t a from the as s au l t of the forces of anr ta .

F i n a l l y ~ the idea tha t r t a fUDctions as a mode of.


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being i s supported in several passages of the Rg Veda inwhich gods are equated with r t a . Varuna i s said to have

Ithe form of ::ta (::tapesas) in RV 5 .. 66.1, and the Asvinshave the appearance of r ta (r tapsu) in RV 1.180.3 Anin te res t ing equation occurs a t RV 9.62.30: "pavamana : : t a ~kavih somah pavitram asadat" . Grif f i th t rans la tes th i sl ine as: "Soma, true /-: : ta 7, Pavamana, Sage, is seated inthe cleansing sieve".16 Gri f f i th ' s rendering of r ta as"true" ent i rely misses the force of the equation betweenSoma and r t a . Soma is not merely If t rue", he is r ta i t s e l f .Presumably, Soma i s called IJrta" because he, l ike other.gods, is c lo se ly a lli gn ed to the dynamic nexus of r t a . 17

I t is important to note here that the ent i t iesdiscussed above, both those who come from the realm ofasat /anr ta and those who belong to sa t / r t a , display the i rrespective modes of being by the i r acts and intent ions.The demons (Pa9is and Danavas) work act ively to underminethe securi ty of r t a . The various gods s t r ive purposelyto inh ib i t the powers of anr ta . The sharp contrast betweengods and demons is indicated a t RV 7.66.13 where Mitra andVaruQa are described as r tavan, r ta ja ta , r tavrdh, and

16Grif f i th , I , 44.17For more on Soma see A.A. Macdonnell, Vedic Mythology ,(Delhi, 1974), 104-115, R.G. Wasson, Soma, The DivineMushroom, (London, 1968), and Bergaigne, I I , 21-43.


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anr t advi s (ha ters of an r t a ) . Funct ion ind ica tes being inthe Veda. The gods and demons i nd ica t e t he i r re spec t ivemodes of being through the ac t s and in ten t ions Which conformto e i the r the dynamic nexus of r t a or anr ta .. .

Rta as the Order, Stab i l i t y and Rel i ab i l i t y of PhenomenaThe connect ion between r t a and the r egu l a r per iod ic

movement of phenomena i s indica ted a t RV 1.123 which s t a t e st ha t the dawns possess the same dai ly form ( sadr s i r adya;v. b) because they fo llow the s t a tu te of Varuna (sacantevaru9asya dhama; v. ~ ) which i s the s t a tu te of ~ t ( ~ t a s y adhama; v. 9 ) . Simi la r ly , in RV 4.51 .8 , the dawns begint h e i r journey from the dwell ings of r t a ( r t a sya sadasah). .and thus they do not miss the d i r ec t i ons (na sa rga usasoj a r an te ) . Rta , as the force which r egu la tes the per iod icmovements of phenomena, i s assoc ia ted with the twelve-spoked wheel of the year ; the wheel i s ca l l ed the llcakramr t a sya" (Wheel of r t a ; RV 1.164.11) .18. .

The regula t ing and s tab i l iZ ing power of the r t a i s.of ten e f fec t ed through the ru le of Varuna. Varuna dr ives

18The connect ion between r t a and the order , s t ab i l i t y andr e l i ab i l i t y of es t ab l i shed phenomena i s hin ted a t by theuse of the term " r tu" which, l ike r t a , i s derived from theroot - - / r . According to V.S. Apte, t t u means "a season,p e r i o d ~ o f t ime, f ixed order or rulerr-(p . 490). The r e l a t ionbetween seasonal r egu la r i ty and f ixed order i s t ransparent ;one impl ies the othe r . Thus, in RV 2.13 .1 , r tu represen t sthe seasons, while a t RV 1 . lb2 .19 - r t i s the pr inc ip l e ofcosmic order . The term11rta" funct ions in a s imi l a r manner.


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the char io t of r t a ( ~ t a s y a ra thyah; RV 7.66.12); i . e . , heru l e s by means of r t a . 19 His power of ru le i s manifes tedin holding th ings d i s t i n c t , ye t r e l a t ed , and in crea t ingdef in i t e spheres of ac t iV i ty . In RV 5.62.1, it i s s ta tedtha t Varuna es tab l i shed the ~ t by means of h is own r t a ,which means t ha t because h is sphere and mode of being i sr t a he br ings a l l of the cosmos in to conformity with r t a .According to the same sukta , V a r u ~ a es tab l i shed heaven andea r th (p r th iv i /dyu) , caused the cows (go; i.e., cows, r ays. -of l i gh t , hymns, e tc . . ) to stream fo r th , caused the plants :(osadhi) to f l ou r i sh , and made the ra in s (v rs ti ) f a l l (v . 3).In RV 7.87.1-2, it i s sa id tha t Varuna cu t out a pathwayfo r the sun and make grea t channels fo r the days to fol low.

The dynamic nexus of r t a c lear ly foreshadows t h i st e rm ' s ro le as the fo rce of orde r and s t ab i l i t y in thecosmos. Rta , as the agent of freedom, c rea t e s vas t spacefo r the cosmos to f lo ur ish in . Within t h i s vas t space ite s t ab l i she s sa fe rou tes and pathways upon which ind iv idualen t i t i e s may perform t he i r funct ions . Thus, r t a i s man-i fes t ed in the r egu l a r order of temporal and spac ia lphenomena. The few i n s t ances , c i ted above, by no meansexhaust the number of t ex tua l occurences in which r t aperforms t h i s funct ion . The grea t e s t number of re fe rences ,however, occur when r t a i s used with the v e r b ~ J d h r and- . -19For VaruOa as king see H. L ' ~ d e r s , Varuna, (Got t ingen,1959), I , 28ff .


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i t s derivat ive--dharman. I wi l l dea l with these in s tancesl a t e r in t h i s thes is in the sec t ion on the connect ionbetween r t a and dharman.Rta as the Sacr i f i ce and the Effec t ive Force of the Sacr i f i ce

Rta i s severa l t imes i den t i f i ed with the sac r i f i ce(yajoa) in the Veda. For i n s t a n c e ~ the sac r i f i ce i sc l ea r ly intended in RV 10.179.3 where the r s i dec la res :"susratam manye tad rtam n av iy ah (wel l c o o k e d ~ I t h i n k ~ i st h i s new r t a ) II . Rta and yajna a re a l so apparen t ly used todes ignate the same prac t i ce in RV 7.21 which s t a t e s t ha tIndra i s roused by the sac r i f i ce (ya jna ; v. l ) the godsCOme to the sac r i f i ce (ya j6a ; .v . 2 ) and t ha t they pro tec tthe s ac ri f ic e ( r ta ; v. 5) from those who are not worthy topa r t i c ipa te in it.

The term " r ta" i s used to des ig na te the sac r i f i ce.because it i s the force wnich makes t ha t r i t e e f fec t ive .At RV 1 . 1 3 3 . 1 ~ the sac r i f i c e r i s able to purge the cosmosby burning up those demons who are aga ins t the god Indra(ubhe punami rodas l r t ena druho dahami sam mahir a n i n d r a ~ ) .Rta as the e f f ec t i ve force of the sac r i f i ce i s c l a r i f i edin connect ion with the god Agni. A g n i ~ the luminous godof f i re who i s the grea t envoy of the s a c r i f i c e ~ wases t ab l i shed among men as a f r iend to work according tothe r t a (RV 3 .5 . 3 ) . A c c o r d i n g l y ~ he makes the sac r i f i ceagreeable to the gods by t ak ing it to them along the path


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of r ta (rtasya patha namasa miyedho devebhyo devatamahsusudat; RV 10.70.2) . At RV 4.3 .4 , the r s i implores Agnito "Be at tent ive to th is our work, the r t a , 0 Agni, you.who are the knower of the : t a (tvam cin n a samya agne asyar tasya bodhy r t a c i t svadhih)".20 This injunction is followedby a ser ies of declarat ions which p ~ a i s e the power of the

21r ta :r tena hi sma vrsabhas cid aktah puman agnihpayasapI'S"thyena. . -- . .By the r ta cer ta inly the bul l , the male Agni,a n n o i n t ~ i t h milk the mountains (v. 10).rtenadrim vy asan bhidan taQ sam angiraso_navantagObhiQ I sunam narah pari sadann usa sam avih svarabhava,j jate agnau.By the r ta the A ~ g i r a s e s , cleaving th e mounta in ,opened it out. They cause the i r voice to resoundw i t ~ the cows. The heroes happily take the i rseats on the dawn L ight a pp ea rs af ter the bi r thof Agni (v. 11).

This sukta seems to say that r t a , in the form of thesacr i f ice , i s the fundamental force through which men andgods perfo rm the i r functions in the cosmos.

Those who observe, perform and maintain the r ta"'"nd the yajna, and the re by g ain access to the freedom,

s afe ty , s ec urity , s tab i l i ty , e tc . which the sacr i f iceprovides, are s igni f ied by several epi thets in the20ThiS t ransla t ion is according to H. Aguilar, The Sacr i f icein the Rgveda, (Delhi, 1976), 20. Aguilar i s so impressedby the close re la t ionship between r ta and yajfi'a tha t heargues that the two terms are vir tua l ly synonymous (pp. 26-27)21Translation ac co rd ing to Berg aign e, I I I , 243.


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Veda. Agni gives specia l wisdom or p o ~ e r (medha) to theO:1e who is r taya t (who keeps the r ta /sacr i f ice) in RV

-.- -5.27.4 . All aspects of l i fe are Il sweet fl ( ma dh u) forthe r taya t (RV 1.90.6) . S o ~ a gives prosperity/happiness(bhaga) to the ~ t a y a t (RV 1.91.7) . The sacr i f icer inRV 7.85.4-5 , who i s able to persuade the Adityas to promotehis welfare, is called r t ac i t (who knows/has int imatecontact with the r t a ) . The ancient fa thers (p i t r ) , whowere r s i s , attained to the abode of l igh t (svar) becausethey were rtasap22 (who perform the r t a ) , r tavan andr tavrdh in RV 10.154.4.

Rta as Satya and Truth in SpeechThroughout this ent i re thes is a c lo se conceptual

re la t ion between r ta and sa t has been maintained. Themeanings of both terms are so inter twined that i t i sd i f f i cu l t to main tain a r ig id d is ti nc ti on between them.Thus, sat is flbeingl! manifested by the establishment ofthe cosmos, while : t a i s the mode of being which promotesthe freedom, sa fe ty , s ec urity , and s tab i l i ty of the sa t .Rta i s a lso closely aligned with sa tya -- a de riva ti ve of

22According to Monier-Williams (p. 223) the epi the t r tasapmeans lI who performs the sacrif ice" when i t i s applied tomen, but "who accepts the sacrif ice" when i t i s appliedto gods. For the a pp aren t "polysemy'l of many Sanskri tterms see T.Y. Elizarenkova, flConcerning a Pecul iar i ty ofthe Rgvedic Vocabulary", ABORI, 1 8 ( 1977 ), 129-136. FOl."r tasap see: RV (men) 5.41.6, 10.154.4; (gods) 6.21.11,6.50.2, 7.56.12, 10.66.8.


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sa t . According to J . G o n d a ~ the meaning of satya can begrasped in a varie ty of re la ted wa;s:2 3

satya . . .may be paraphrased by "that what.. (s ic . )i s r e a l ~ t r u e ~ essen t ia l ; being in conformityw i t h - ~ belonging t o - ~ characterized b y - ~ st ickingto what i s rea l ly e x i s t e n t ~ r e a l i t y ~ b e i n g ~ towhat is ver i ty; b e i n g ~ essence of the u n i v e r s e ~of n a t u r e ~ of (oners) nature e tc . ; t ruthfulness inm i n d ~ speech of act ion." Verbal t ru th i s onlyone side of the concept which i s much moregeneral . A being who i s satya acts in accordancewith rea l facts and unshakable n o r m s ~ with thatorder and t ru th on which the cosmos is supposedto be founded; he i s true to the val idi ty of hisown n a t u r e ~ and hence also r e l i ab le .

T h u s ~ on Gonda's t e r m s ~ i t seems reasonable to understandthe formal significance of satya as lIthe principle ofconformity to the sat ' l .

S a t y a ~ when used as an abstract s u b s t a n t i v e ~ isa principle as fundamental to the cosmos as r t a . Fori n s t a n c e ~ RV 10.190.1 in dic ate s th at r ta and satya f i r s tarose from tapas (fervor/heat) and tha t the night ( ra t r i )and the o ~ e a n ( a r ~ a v a / s a m u d r a ) were establ ished af t e rthese. S i m i l a r l y ~ RV 10.85.1 s ta tes tha t satya upholdsthe ear th (sa tyenot tabhi ta b h u m i ~ ) while the Adityasstand secure because of the r ta ( r tenadi tyas t i s than t i ) .

- . - .

The principle of being in accord with sat ( s a t y a ) ~ and theprinciple of f r e e d o m ~ s a f e t y ~ securi ty and s tabi l i ty ( r ta)appear to be two fundamental precondit ions for the existenceof the cosmOs.

23J. G o n d a ~ The Vedic God r 1 i t r a ~ ( L e i d e n ~ 1 9 7 2 ) ~ 62 .


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Satya i s sometimes used with words which sigoifyconformity with r t a . In RV 3.6.10, heaven and earth arecalled satya ( i . e . , they are in accord with sat) andr tavan ( true to/associated with r t a ) . The dawn i s called: , ta jatasatyah a t RV 4.51.7, which means "who i s in accordwith sa t by means of his bir th in r t a" . These epi thetsgive exp ression to the fact tha t the t ru th /essence / rea l i tyof an ent i ty i s established by i t s associa t ion with r taand satya.

~ t and satya appear to s ignify the same thingwhen used in connection with speech. In these casese i ther term may be t ranslated as "truth ' l , although onemust keep in mind tha t they s ignify "truth'! by virtue ofthe fac t of conformity to rea l i ty . An in teres t ing para l le loccurs a t RV 9.113. The second verse of th i s sukta s ta testha t the soma juice i s pressed out be the pr ies t s by meansof tapas ( fervor /heat ) , ~ r a d d h a ( fa i th) , satya, and r tavaka( speaking according to the ~ t a ) . Verse five indicatesthat the soma juice i s made pure by the prayers (brahman)of the pr ies t s . I t appears, th ere fo re , th at speech whichconforms to r ta and satya i s possessed of special power.The process of soma purir icat ion was time for inspira t ion.Soma loosens the inspired thought (manlsa) o the pr ies ta t the time of purif icat ion (RV 9.95.5). Soma engendershymns ( ~ ) , and he sends his voice to the pr ies t along thepath of r ta (pathyam r tasaeyar t i vacam; RV 9.95.1-2). Soma


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himsel f declares r ta (rtam vadan) and speaks sa tya (sa t yam. .vadan) a t RV 9.113 .4 . In these i ns t ances , it i s notposs ib le to di s t ingui sh between the s ign i f i cance of speakingaccord ing to r ta or sa tya . Both types of speech possess thesame ef fec t ive force and power.

Speech which con fo rm s to ~ t or sa tya appears tohave a compel l ing e f f ec t . For example, the r s i a t RV1.185.10 dec la res t ha t he has gained grea t understanding(sumedha) and t ha t he has spoken the ~ t ( ~ t a m avocam).On the bas i s of t h i s he then implores heaven and ear thto pro tec t him from reproach and a f f l i c t i on (patam avadyadd u r i t ~ t ; v. 10) and to l e t h is t rue speech (satya) cometo be f u l f i l l ed (idam d y a v a p ~ t h i v i sa tyam as tu ; v. 11) .Simi lar ly , the ~ ~ a t RV 10.35.8 asks the gods to furn ishhim with the speech which con fo rms to r t a (Pipar tu rna tadr t asya pravacanam), and th i s i s followed by a s e r i e s ofreques t s asking the ~ d j t y a s to grant spec ia l g i f t s to thes a c r i f i c e r (vv. 11-12) . I t appears t ha t in speaking ordeclar ing r ta or sa tya one t e s t i f i e s to the f ac t t ha tone has b ro ught one ' s words, and perhaps onets en t i r e being,i n to conformity with r e a l i t y . This then provides the bas i supon which v ar io us d iv in e beings may be exhor ted to providethe speaker with the f reedom, safe ty and secur i ty inheren tin the dynamic nexus of r t a ..

Rta and sa tya are both pr inc ip les upon which thecosmos i s founded. In t h i s re spec t , they are forces which


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no ent i ty can r e s i s t because to do so would amount toviolat ing that upon which any ent i ty i s establ ished in i t sbeing. Most s ign i f ican t to th is study i s the fact tha t

24til:.., l ike satya, i s used to denote l! tru th II in speech. Indiscussing the dynamic nexus of r ta i t was mentioned that--r ta i s associated with the sound which overcomes evi l anddispel ls ignorance (cf . p. 30) . Rta, therefore, i s l! truth frin speech because i t is the effect ive force which, whenembodied in the words of men, causes the speaker tocommune with, and par t ic ipate in tha t upon which thewhole of rea l i ty is sustained--the r ta ..24 For r ta as "tru th" in speech see H. LUders, Varuna,(Gottingen, 1959), I I , 420-485. '


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I I I

RTA, DHARMAN AND VRATA.Rta i s a pr inc ip l e which represen t s the necessary.

pre-condi t ion fo r the s afe ty , se cu ri ty , freedom and s t ab i l i t yof the cosmos. There are two aspec t s of r t a which, oWingto t he i r importance to the maintenance of the cosmos, areg iv en in depend en t recogni t ion in the ~ Veda. The twoaspec ts are dharman and vra t a . Dharman and vra t a are soc lose ly r e l a t ed to r t a t ha t s ev era l s ch ola rs have viewedthem as synonyms of r t a . Bergaigne, fo r example, s ta tesexp l i c i t l y h is be l i e f tha t r t a , dharman and vra t a have thesame meaning, while Gr i f f i t h impl ies t h i s understanding byh is tendency to t r ans la t e these te rms in the same, or-simi lar ways . l In what i s to fo l low, however, it wi l l bedBmonstrated tha t these are not synonyms, a l though they arein t imate ly r e l a t ed . Br ief ly s t a t ed , it wi l l be shown t ha tthe r e l a t ion between these terms i s such tha t r t a i s thecomprehensive world pr inc ip l e of freedom, safe ty , secur i tye t c . , dharman i s the spec i f i c aspect of r t a represent ingthe power which suppor ts , mainta ins and sus t a ins the cosmos,

lAbel Bergaigne, Vedic Rel ig ion , (Poona, 1973), I I I , 227.Gr i f f i t h , Hymns of the Rgveda, (Varanasi , 1971), 2 Vols . ,tends to t r ans la t e r t a as holy /e te rna l law/order (RV 1.24 .10 ,1 .52 .1) , dharman as 'ho ly law (10 .44 .1 , 10 .65 .5 ) , and vra taas holy ordinance/ law (10 .65 .11) .


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and vrata is the f ix ed fun ctio n of an individual ent i tythrough which that ent i ty both manifests the r ta and mainta ins i t s e l f in re la t ion with the r ta . The three terms formthe : ta/dharman/vrata complex within which the entire network of reciprocal re la t ions between r t a , gods and men i sexpressed.

1. Rta and DharmanNo where in the R& Veda is the notion of the order

and s tab i l i ty of phenomena be t te r exemplified than in there la t ionship between ~ t and the v e r b ~ d h ~ , along w ith i t sderivative--dharman. The verb-/dhr means lIto support /hold/f ix /es tab l ish" , and in the R& Veda we find that the type ofaction which th is verb embodies is o ften a ss oc ia ted withthe ac t iv i t i e s of the gods. For example, Mitra susta ins(dadhara) heaven and earth in RV 3.59.1 , and Soma supports(dharayanta) the sky a t RV 6.47 4.

-JDhr often occurs w ith r ta" In RV 2.27.4, theAdityas, who are described as rtavan ( true to /associa tedwith r t a ) , uphold (dharayanta) a l l animate and inanimateobjects . The re la t ion between ~ t and...)dh: i s further outlined in RV 5.26.1-3 where the r s i declares tha t Mitra andVaruna have establ ished (dhruvan) the r ta by means. of the. .~ t a , and tha t because 'of this they have firmly supported( adharaya tam) the heaven and the ear th . In RV 4.42.4,Varuna, who i s described as one who observes the r ta


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( ~ t a v o t a ) , i s said to have se t firm (dharyam) heaven in thesea t of ~ t by means of the r t a . The message of thesesample passages i s c lea r ; the var ious gods work to upholdand es tab l i sh the var i e ty of ind iv idual en t i t i e s in thecosmos by means of the power of r t a . Because r t a i s t he i rmode of being , they act in c on fo rm ity w it h t ha t mode, andpar t of t ha t ac t iv i ty cons i s t s of support ing the ind iv idua lelements of the cosmos.

In the ~ Veda the no tion of "support ing" or"es t ab l i sh ing" i s a bs tr ac te d in to a power which i s representedby the neute r deriva t ive ofv!dhr--dharman. According toJ . Gonda, "dharman" means : 2

. . . a s t ab i l i z i ng , s uppor ti ng , p re se rv ing power,a power of maintenance and s t ab i l i t y , a f a i th -fu lnes s to n atu re , in he re nt qua l i t i e s , t ru thand r e a l i t y ; the inna te pr inc ip le of anythingin vi r tue of which it remains what it i s .

The support ing and mainta in ing power of dharman i s broughtout when t h i s term appears in conjunct ion wi th ' / dh r . In.RV 2.13 .7 , Indra i s said to have f ixed or es tab l i shed( a d h a r a y a ~ ) the stream s and p lan t s by means of dharman.Dharman appears as the power of support in RV 8 .6 .20 , whereit i s said tha t dharman surrounds the sun and holds itin i t s p lace . Simi la r ly , RV 10.88 .1 informs us tha t thegods made themselves broad in order to support (dharmane)the world . The power of dharman a l lows the sun to follow i t s

2 J . Gonda, The Vedic God Mitra, (L eid en, 1 972 ), 62.


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course in RV 1 . 1 6 0 . 1 ~ a

Toward a Comprehensive Understanding of Rta in the Rg Veda

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