Ṛta
Ṛta, “the right, the true”
Atirātra has other meanings too: see all meanings of Atirātra. Prāṇa has other meanings too: see all meanings of Prāṇa. Vijaya has other meanings too: see all meanings of Vijaya.
Grammar: neuter noun: “the right, the true”.
Meaning: in the Bhāgavata Purāṇa, two things: speech that is both pleasing and beneficial; and the livelihood of gathering the grains that have fallen in the field.
In the Bhāgavata Purāṇa:
Ṛta as speech. When Uddhava asks the true meaning of the words of dharma, Śrī Kṛshṇa answers word by word: satya is seeing the Paramātmā everywhere, not only speaking the truth; and the learned have praised in many ways that ṛta is speech that is both pleasing and beneficial (priya-hita) (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 11, Chapter 19).
Ṛta as a livelihood. Nārada, teaching Yudhishṭhira the livelihoods of the varṇas, says: “One should live by ṛta and amṛta, or by mṛta and pramṛta, or by satyānṛta, but one should never at any time live by śvavṛtti.” Ṛta is living by gathering the grains that have fallen in the field; amṛta, living on what comes without asking; mṛta, living by begging daily; pramṛta, living by ploughing the earth; satyānṛta, trade; and śvavṛtti, “the dog’s livelihood”, serving a low person for one’s living. Neither the knower of the Veda nor the kshatriya should resort to śvavṛtti, for all the Vedas are in the brāhmaṇa who knows the Veda, and the king is the very form of all the devatās (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 7, Chapter 11).
Related terms: Satya · Amṛta · Śvavṛtti · Vṛtti · Dharma
Sources
- Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 7, Chapter 11; Skandha 11, Chapter 19