Cosmic Order (Ṛta)

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.