Cosmic Order (Ṛta)
The oldest name for the order of things — the deep truth by which the cosmos, the rite, and the moral life all keep their course.
Ṛta is the oldest Hindu word for the order of things — the deep, true regularity that runs through the cosmos, the ritual, and the moral life alike. It is what makes the sun rise on time, the seasons keep their course, the sacrifice reach its mark, and a promise bind. In the Vedic vision the gods themselves are its guardians, not its makers. As Hindu thought matured, ṛta's work passed largely to the broader and more flexible idea of dharma, but the intuition it names — that reality is ordered, and that living truthfully means aligning with that order — runs through the whole tradition.
Key passages(4)
Each passage is tagged by what it does with the idea: explains it, applies it in practice, redefines it with a new meaning, or challenges it. Relevance shows how directly the passage is about this idea.
Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad · Vedic Revelation (śruti)
'By the command of that Akshara (the imperishable), O Gargi, sun and moon stand apart . By the command of that Akshara, O Gargi, heaven and earth stand apart. By the command of that Akshara, O Gargi,
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The seasons belong to him, nay, he is always in season (successful) who knowing this meditates on the fivefold Sâman as the seasons.
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"There are the two, drinking their reward in the world of their own works, entered into the cave (of the heart), dwelling on the highest summit (the ether in the heart). Those who know Brahman call th
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I regard all this that Thou sayest to me as true, O Keshava. Verily, O Bhagavân, neither the Devas nor the Dânavas know Thy manifestation.
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