History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v7.c91.249

v7.c91.249

Śrī Aurobindo admits (p. XXXIII) that there are some key words in the Ṛgveda such as *ṛta*, *kratu*, *śravas*, *ketu* and that elaborate work would have to be done to fix the meanings of such words. But he does not undertake a study of the key words (each of which except ‘ketu’ occurs hundreds of times in the Ṛgveda) by comparison of Ṛgvedic passages and considering the light shed on these words by the other Saṁhitās and the Brāhmaṇas. He mentions the occurrence of the word *ṛta* in I. 164. 47 and IV. 21. 3 (*sadanāt-ṛtasya*) and ‘*ṛtasya pathyā*’ in Ṛg. III. 12. 7 and jumps to the conclusion that the last two words mean ‘the path of truth’ and remarks that ‘we have to find the path of Truth’ (Foreword p. XXX.). In the H. of Dh. vol. IV. pp. 2-5 it has been shown that ṛta in the Ṛgveda has three meanings, viz. (1) the regular and general order in the cosmos; (2) the correct and ordered way of the cult of the gods, (3) ‘moral conduct of man.’ In the Ṛgveda ṛta is not the same as ‘satya’, but the two are differentiated. In Ṛg. V. 51. 2 the Viśve-devas¹⁶¹⁴ are described as ṛtadhītayaḥ (whose thoughts are fixed on ṛta) and ‘satyadharmānaḥ’ (whose ordinances are true or fixed) and the sage prays to them to come to his sacrifice and to drink (*ājya* and soma) by the tongue of Agni. In Ṛg. X. 190. 1 both ṛta and satya are said to have arisen from rigorous or refulgent *tapas* (of the Creator). In the Ṛgveda ṛta involved a very wide conception as stated above and ‘satya’ had a restricted meaning viz. truth or static order. In Ṛg. IX. 113. 4 Soma is described as one who proclaims ṛta, satya and śraddhā (faith). Therefore, Śrī. Aurobindo is quite inaccurate when he translates ṛta by the word ‘Truth’ and draws important conclusions from his inaccurate renderings. Similarly, Śrī. Aurobindo does not give a correct rendering when he translates (Foreword p XXX) the word ‘*ṛtacit*’ as truth-conscious (whatever that may mean acc. to Śrī. Aurobindo). Mr. Kapali Sastry (p. 46) goes a step further than his great master by stating that in the mantras true knowledge is termed ‘ṛtacit’ Truth-consciousness (with a capital C). It appears that both Master and disciple are misled by the meaning of ‘*cit*’ in such an attribute as ‘*sat-cit-ānanda*’, applied to *brahma* They appear to take ‘*ṛta-cit*’ as meaning two distinct things ‘ṛta’ and ‘cit’ The word ‘ṛtacit’ occurs five times in the Ṛg., in¹⁶¹⁵ I. 145.5, IV. 3.4, V. 3. 9 ('ṛtacit is here an epithet of Agni), in VII 85. 4 (it is an adjective of hotṛ) and in IV. 16. 10 it qualifies the word *nārī* (in the context, Śacī, the wife of Indra). The present author wonders whether Śrī Aurobindo and his disciple cared to go into the meaning of 'ṛtacit' in the several verses where it occurs. They pay no attention to the word 'ṛṇacit' that occurs in Ṛg. II. 23. 17 as an attribute of Brahmanaspati.¹⁶¹⁶