Does anyone know if the concept of ṛta is mentioned/found in EBTs?
Ṛta is a Vedic concept which was overshadowed by the development of the word “dharma”, which is why it isn’t in the EBTs, although you can find some related words.
Indeed, you don’t find it as a general concept. In Pali it becomes utu which just means “weather, season”.
I would have thought that utu comes from ṛtu rather than ṛta…but still related?
See ‘niyama’ in Buddhism :
Yes, I believe so.
I’ve sometimes suspected whether artha = Pali attha is related, but I don’t think so.
That was my suspicion and somehow the reason behind my question…
How did you come to rule that out bhante?
I may be wrong! I just remember looking into it some years ago with no concrete results. But do the dictionaries say anything on this?
I don’t know
PTS dictionary says:
Utu Utu (m. & nt.) [Vedic ṛtu special or proper time, with adj. ṛta straight, right, rite, ṛti manner to Lat. ars “art”, Gr. damar(t), further Lat. rītus (rite), Ags. rīm number; of *ar to fit in, adjust etc. q. v. under appeti]
…The Pāli word sacca might also be related to ṛta, but showing it is slightly beyond the scope of the time I have available. And Avestan…is not within my skillsets.
[Take 2 as in my previous deleted post I misunderstood Bhante Sujato’s post]
Ved. ṛtá- is to be connected with an IE root *h2er- meaning ‘to fit’.
Ved. ártha- is most likely connected with an IE root *h1er - meaning ‘to reach’