The Religion and Philosophy of the Veda and Upanishads v1.c24.43

v1.c24.43

The ethical terminology of the Rigveda presents points of interest.⁶ The term for cosmic order,⁷ Ṛta, and its opposite, Anṛta, express also moral order as in the dialogue of Yama and Yamī; Ṛta forbids and doubtless also commands positive action.⁸ Ṛta is more than truth, Satya, nor can we say with Wundt⁹ that Vedic India makes the good and the true identical, though truth is given an extraordinary high place, in its various senses of accuracy of statement, faithful performance of promises, and the assurance that what should happen will happen, and that the order of things is as it ought to be. Law is denoted by Dharman,¹ which denotes that which supports and that which is supported; it applies like Ṛta to all aspects of the world, to the sequence of events in nature, to the sacrifice and to man’s life; ‘The gods by the sacrifice offered the sacrifice; these were the first ordinances’, says the Puruṣa hymn; it is according to Dharman that the sacrificial flame is enkindled, that the pious man duly propagates himself with offspring. Law is also expressed by Vrata,² a term which has been compared with *verbum* in Latin and word in English, and which in any case denotes often the command or law of a deity; thus on Varuṇa the laws rest firmly as on a rock, and the gods make the abiding laws; under the law of Indra are Varuṇa and the sun, the streams obey his laws; before Parjanya’s law the earth bows; the pious man lives righteously according to the law. The term can be applied more widely;³ under the law of the king the rich man prospers; the bridegroom brings the heart of the bride under his command. A development gives the term the sense of the rule of life or of ritual conduct which men observe, originally as commanded; thus we hear of the Vrata of the carpenter, doctor, priest, or smith, or of the Brahmans who keep their year-long Vrata.⁴ Sin, Āgas or Enas, as we have seen, is the lot of him who violates the Vratas of the gods.