rita
ऋत ṛtaThe Vedic principle of cosmic order: the truth-in-action by which the universe holds together rather than falling into chaos. It runs at once through the physical cosmos, the ritual, and the moral life; its opposite is anrita, and it is the direct ancestor of the later idea of dharma. Also written rta or ritam, and the words for season (ritu) and for right conduct (dharma) descend from it.
Where this term appears
- Dharma, Karma and Rebirth Essentials
In the oldest layer, the Vedic hymns, the governing idea is rita , the cosmic order: the regularity by which the sun rises, the seasons turn and the sacrifice works.
- Rita (ṛta): The Cosmic Order at the Root of Dharma Essentials
The word is rita , or ṛta as scholars transliterate it, and its disappearance from ordinary speech is not because it failed.
- The Vedic Gods: Indra, Agni, and the world of the Rigveda Essentials
He is the guardian of rita , the deep cosmic and moral order that keeps the sun on its track, the seasons in their round, and human conduct in its bounds.
- What is Shakti? Essentials
Working also from fieldwork, Kathleen Erndl and the theologian Rita Gross have argued the other way.
- Devas and Asuras Deities
The god of cosmic order, the keeper of rita , carries the title that would later name his enemies.
- The History of Sanatana Dharma: A Timeline History
Sanatana Dharma has no founder and no single date of birth. It is the cumulative tradition of the Indian subcontinent, built up over more than three thousand years,…
- The Vedic Age: A Civilization That Left No Ruins History
Varuna guards rita , the cosmic order, the truth by which the rivers run and the seasons turn.
- Who is Parvati? Deities
Rita Gross argues that to read Parvati only as ideal wife and mother is an incomplete symbolism of feminine power, and that her association with motherhood and sexuality does not exhaust her significance.