In the Vedic religion, ášta (/ɚ̊tĚŞÉ/; Sanskrit Sanskrit: ŕ¤ŕ¤¤ "order, rhythm, rule; truth; logos") is the principle of natural order which regulates and coordinates the operation of the universe and everything within it. In the hymns of the Vedas, ášta is described as that which is ultimately responsible for the proper functioning of the natural, moral and sacrificial orders. Conceptually, it is closely allied to the injunctions and ordinances thought to uphold it, collectively referred to as Dharma, and the action of the individual in relation to those ordinances, referred to as Karma â two terms which eventually eclipsed ášta in importance as signifying natural, religious and moral order in later Hinduism. Sanskrit scholar Maurice Bloomfield referred to ášta as "one of the most important religious conceptions of the Rigveda", going on to note that, "from the point of view of the history of religious ideas we may, in fact we must, begin the history of Hindu religion at least with the history of this conception".
Vedic and its Avestan equivalent both derive from Proto-Indo-Iranian *HrĚĽtĂĄs "truth",[1] which in turn continues Proto-Indo-European Indo-European languages: hâr-tĂłs "properly joined, right, true", from a presumed root Indo-European languages: hâer-, making it a distant cognate of Latin Latin: ordo and thus English order.The derivative noun ášta is defined as "fixed or settled order, rule, divine law or truth".
As Mahony (1998) notes the term can be translated as "that which has moved in a fitting manner". Although this meaning is not actually cited by authoritative Sanskrit dictionaries it is a regular derivation from the verbal root áš, "to move" with ta, the suffix which forms the past participle, so it can be regarded as the putative origin of the word. More abstractly, it is translated as "universal law" or "cosmic order", or simply as "truth". The latter meaning dominates in the Avestan cognate to ášta, aᚣĚa.[2]
The proper Sanskrit pronunciation of the word is ášta, the áš being a vocalic r, like that in pert or dirt, when pronounced with a rhotic r, e.g. as in American, followed by a short a. The most common pronunciation of speakers of modern Indian languages is "rita", with short i and short a, due to the loss of the vocalic r by the successor languages to Sanskrit, the prakrits and modern Indo-Aryan languages.
The term appears in Vedic texts and in post-Vedic texts, both as ášta and derivatives of the term. For example, in the 2nd-century BCE text MahÄbhÄᚣya of Patanjali, he explains áštaka to be the grammatically correct form of name for a son, where then the name would mean "truthling".[3]
See also: Asha. In scholarship there is no common position about the origin of the concept of ášta. Similar concepts exist in many Indo-European cultures and the names can in addition be derived from an identical root word Indo-European languages: hâr-tĂłs. This is why some scholars take the position that the concepts in the Indo-European daughter cultures have a common ancestor in the Proto-Indo-European culture.[4]
In contrast Hermann Oldenberg (1894) surmised that the concept of ášta originally arose in the Indo-Aryan period from a consideration of the natural order of the world and of the occurrences taking place within it as doing so with a kind of causal necessity. Both Vedic ášta and Avestan aĹĄa were conceived of as having a tripartite function which manifested itself in the physical, ethical and ritual domains.[5] In the context of Vedic religion, those features of nature which either remain constant or which occur on a regular basis were seen to be a manifestation of the power of ášta in the physical cosmos. In the human sphere, ášta was understood to manifest itself as the imperative force behind both the moral order of society as well as the correct performance of Vedic rituals. The notion of a universal principle of natural order is by no means unique to the Vedas, and ášta has been compared to similar ideas in other cultures, such as Ma'at in Ancient Egyptian religion, Moira and the Logos in Greek paganism, and the Dao.[6]
Due to the nature of Vedic Sanskrit, a term such as ášta can be used to indicate numerous things, either directly or indirectly, and both Indian and European scholars have experienced difficulty in arriving at fitting interpretations for ášta in all of its various usages in the Vedas, though the underlying sense of "ordered action" remains universally evident.[7] In the Rigveda, the term ášta appears as many as 390 times, and has been characterized as "the one concept which pervades the whole of ášgvedic thought". The cosmic order, ášta, has three features:
ášta appears most frequently as representing abstract concepts such as "law", "commandment", "order", "sacrifice", "truth", and "regularity", but also occasionally as physical phenomena such as the waters, the heavens or the sun as manifestations of the operation of ášta. ášta is also frequently used in reference to various Vedic deities. Thus, Bášhaspati is referred to as possessing a powerful bow with "ášta as its string" and as one prepared to "mount the chariot of ášta"; Agni is described as one who is "desirous of ášta", one who is "ášta-minded" and as he who "spread Heaven and Earth by ášta"; the Maruts are referred to as "rejoicing in the house of ášta" and as "knowers of ášta"; Ushas is described as having been "placed at the root of ášta"; Varuna is praised as "having the form of ášta" and, along with Mitra as Mitra-Varuna, as "destroying the foes by ášta" and as "professing ášta by ášta". Epithets such as "born of ášta" and "protector of ášta" are frequently applied to numerous divinities, as well as to the sacrificial fire and the sacrifice itself.
Despite the abundance of such references, the gods are never portrayed as having command over ášta. Instead, the gods, like all created beings, remain subject to ášta, and their divinity largely resides in their serving it in the role of executors, agents or instruments of its manifestation.[8] As Day (1982) notes, the gods "do not govern ášta so much as immanentalize it through the particularities of divine ordinances and retributions concerning both rewards and punishments. In this sense they do not "govern" ášta; they serve it as agents and ministers".
While the concept of ášta as an abstract, universal principle generally remained resistant to the anthropomorphic tendencies of the Vedic period, it became increasingly associated with the actions of individual deities, in particular with those of the god Varuna as the omniscient, all-encompassing sky.[9] Although the Adityas as a group are associated with ášta, being referred to as "the charioteers of ášta, dwelling in the home of ášta", it is Varuna in particular who is identified as the "friend of ášta".[10] The connection of Varuna and ášta extended beyond the physical realm and into the sphere of ritual worship, with the sacrificial fire itself being lauded as that which "harnesses the steeds and holds the reins of ášta, becoming Varuna when he strives for ášta".[11] As James (1969) notes, Varuna attained the position of "universal Power par excellence maintaining ášta" and is celebrated as having "separated and established heaven and earth, spreading them out as the upper and lower firmaments, himself enthroned above them as the universal king, ordering the immutable moral law, exercising his rule by the sovereignty of ášta.
Already in the earliest Vedic texts, ášta as an ethical principle is linked with the notion of cosmic retribution. A central concept of the ášgveda is that created beings fulfil their true natures when they follow the path set for them by the ordinances of ášta, and failing to follow those ordinances was thought to be responsible for the appearance of various forms of calamity and suffering.[12] Committing one's actions to the governance of ášta, referred to as its "Dharma", was therefore understood as imperative in ensuring one's own well-being.[13] In this vein, the individual who follows the ordinances of nature can be described as one who acts according to the "Dharma of ášta". Dharma, then, was originally conceived of as a "finite or particularized manifestation of ášta inasmuch as it represents that aspect of the universal Order which specifically concerns the mundane natural, religious, social and moral spheres as expressed in ritualistic regulations, public laws, moral principles and laws of nature".
Though originally understood as a subordinate component of the essentially metaphysical concept of ášta, Dharma eventually grew to overshadow ášta in prominence in later Vedic and early Hindu literature. According to Day (1982), the concept of Dharma,
...became so useful for framing religious, moral and social regulations, that interest in it and discussion of its applications to social and moral order eclipsed all discussions of metaphysical and theological ideas. Since, moreover, Dharma was made the central subject of a literary tradition which was to become vast and extensive throughout India, while the conception of ášta remained largely confined to the Vedas and their commentaries, it naturally took possession of brÄhmaášical thinking even at the expense of older, exalted concepts and conceptions.
As the notion of Dharma shifted emphasis away from the gods as executors of ášta and towards the individual as upholding ášta through their actions, the ethical responsibility and culpability of the individual received an increasing amount of emphasis towards the end of the Vedic period.[14] Central to the discussion of such culpability is the notion of Karma. Karma refers to the works one performs, which can occur either in congruence with or in opposition to Dharma â and thus, to ášta â and which are posited to stand in a causal relationship to the pains and pleasures one experiences in life.
The emergence of Karma as a central doctrine of the late Vedic and early Hindu tradition is due in part to the problem of theodicy. Given the inherent goodness of ášta and its absolute power over the operation of the universe, the presence of gross inequality and injustice in the world represented a serious religious, philosophical and ethical dilemma. The notion of Karma helped to overcome this problem as it was conceived as a "law of moral causation" which effectively excused the gods and ášta from the appearance of evil in the world, placing the responsibility for the same squarely upon the individual.
Being an extension of ášta, Karma was conceived of as operating with the same absolute efficiency.[15] As Day (1982) notes, "acts are causally determinative in accordance with their good or evil nature, and their out-workings are inexorable; there is no intrusive or arbitrary factor which might overcome their potentiality for causing retributional effects, or otherwise interfering with the strictly mechanical efficiency of Karma. Since, moreover, an individual's fortunes and misfortunes are solely the outcome of his past actions, he has no ground for believing that life is kindlier or harsher than is deserved. He has no cause either for praising God's benevolence nor for lamenting God's wrath."
ášta- or arta- sometimes appears as an element in Vedic and Indic personal names, as with Iranian.
In India the vocalic 'áš' of Sanskrit is transformed into the modern 'ri', or in South India, 'ru'. Indian names include:
Mitanni (non-Indian, Vedic) names include:
"The ášta [...] was not created or willed by any being or beings, the gods or any other above them. It existed before them but became known by them. They were powerless to alter it; they were only agents to execute it or supervise its execution."
