I’m wondering about whether there is a Pali equivalent for this word but it seems to not exist. Could some Ajahns who know Pali inform me if there exists an equivalent?
Perhaps nīti?
1 Like
That could be it. I’m not sure how likely it would be that Vedic vocalic liquid r̥ becomes an n.
Considering that r̥ju (straight) becomes uju in Pali.
1 Like
The DPD has Sanskrit roots listed and my quick search of the DB reveals no hits with the whole word “ṛta” (plenty of kṛta, etc) Utu is from ṛtu = season (and there’s no uta)
I feel the Pali goes out of its way to avoid this word. Possibly the Buddha wanted to distinguish ṛta from dhamma. But normally if he did this he’d explain why. In any case, the process was well underway before his time.
From an etymological view, ṛta and dhamma are almost opposites. Ṛṭa is from “move”, like the wind or the seasons, while dhamma is from “bear”, like the earth.
5 Likes
Niyama and Dhammata are very similar concepts.
1 Like
I think if a descendant word did exist it would be “ata”.
Taking into account the trend of the vocalic liquid r turning into the proceeding vowel.
1 Like
(post deleted by author)
2 Likes
This is true of Prakrits in general but not of Pali. Vedic ṛkṣa, for example, is cognate with Pali accha.
Pages 9-10 of Geiger’s grammar has a comprehensive list of the possibilities.
3 Likes
(post deleted by author)
1 Like
Thansk to Khemarato.bhikkhu
One word that is derived from the Vedic word “Ṛta” is “Ritu,” which is used in many Indian languages to mean “season,” such as “Grishma Ritu” for the summer season and “Shishira Ritu” for the winter season. Since “Ritu” fundamentally refers to the natural course of phenomena, the equivalent word for “season” in Pali is “Utu.” This word is quite similar to the Vedic “Ritu.” As we know, Pali rarely uses the sound “R,” so it seems that “Utu” is the Pali equivalent of the Vedic “Ritu.” or “Rtu”.
2 Likes
There are a few others, e.g., ṛnjati (“to straighten”) and ṛṇa (“debt”). From the former we get the pp. añjita (“erect”), and from the latter the doublets aṇa and iṇa.
There are about half a dozen accha homonyms in Pali and a similar number of ṛkṣa homonyms in Sanskrit. I think you’re focusing on the wrong ones. The relevant ones are ṛkṣa and accha in the sense of “bear” (this is the meaning stipulated by Geiger) and ṛkṣa and accha in the sense of “painful”.
1 Like
(post deleted by author)
Taking a step back from the expected reflex in Pali, it is much more likely that Vedic rtá- is ultimately to be connected with and Indo-European root *H2er- ‘to fit, put in order’. It was an adjective (cf. RV 9.62,30) which was also used as a substantive, meaning ‘what is fitted, ordered’ > ‘order’.
There’s a great deal of Iranian evidence, from Old Persian, through Avestan and Middle Persian which is supportive and well detailed in the literature.
Sir Jayarava,
Your research is extensive and your knowledge is profound. I merely offered my perspective as a layman. Thank you, and best regards. Rajeev
1 Like
The Pāli cognate of Sanskrit Ṛta is Ata.
Ata is not attested in the Pali Canon to my knowledge but is attested in the Saddanīti of Aggavaṃsa (in the Dhātumālā chapter under the heading Dakārāntadhātu) in the locative compound anatabhāsane i.e. an-ata-bhāsana (= an-ṛta-bhāṣana in Sanskrit) meaning “speaking untruth”.
So Ṛta/Ata in this case means ‘truth’ both in Sanskrit & Pali
The Śatapatha-Brahmaṇa says “Brahman verily is Ṛta” (brahma vā ṛtam)
3 Likes
Would you happen to know if the ṛt part of ṛtvija is related to or identical with either ṛta or ṛtu?
Yes, ṛtvij is explained grammatically as ṛtu + √yaj + kvin (affix) = “He who performs yajñas at the appropriate ṛtu (season/time) - or in due season”
2 Likes
Ṛta plays no doctrinal role in early-Buddhism, hence it is to be expected that it is not mentioned in the Pali or Gāndhāri or Sanskrit EBT canons.
It doesnt matter which primary vowel replaces initial ṛ in Pāli, as I dont see what the point of such hairsplitting could potentially be.
However, in my understanding, word-initial Sanskrit ṛ normally converts in Pāli to the nearest following vowel (or corresponding vowel if followed by a semi-vowel). If there is no vowel that follows it, it converts to ‘a’ by default.
- In the case of ṛta, therefore, the expected Pāli form is ata (and that is how it is attested in the compound anatabhāsana). I dont see what the point of disqualifying a nañ-samāsa (negating ‘na’ compound) could be, the opposite of ‘anata’ is ‘ata’ (what else could it potentially be phonetically?)
- The initial Ṛ in ṛśya-vṛjana converts to i (Pāli isi-patana) as y is the corresponding semivowel for i.
The same general rule (ṛ converting to the following vowel) is followed in all the examples mentioned above (see below), with the solitary exception of ṛṇa (which has also a non-standard variant iṇa, apart from the expected aṇa) :
- ṛkṣa > accha
- ṛddhi > iddhi
- ṛṇa > aṇa / iṇa
- ṛṣi > iṣi
- ṛju > uju
- ṛtu > utu
The question asks about a Pali equivalent and not about a canonical equivalent for Ṛta. We know ṛta is called ata in the Saddanīti, which is a Pāli text.
If you feel ata is not a correct Pāli cognate for Ṛta, I am interested to hear about where any alternatives to it are listed/attested with an initial ‘i’ or ‘u’ - looks like you dont think there are any such alternatives in any pali literature, so the Saddanīti attestation remains our best bet.
Even if there were no attestations found, I would still go with ata as being the proper Pali reconstruction for Sanskrit ṛta due to reasons aforementioned. That you remain unconvinced despite the attested evidence of words like ata & accha (while offering no viable alternatives) makes no difference to me.
I do not consider Pali to be a spoken dialect/language, I consider it to be a literary register/language, so it does not matter to me what the ṛ is converted into - as it doesnt amount to a phonetic shift (in my estimation) - it is just an orthographic variant. I have read enough Ashokan texts to conclude that ṛ existed in the spoken language in the 3rd century BCE, and Pali is not very far off from the Aśokan language.
Discussion is now wound up. Thank you.
1 Like