Arya (name)
Arya (Devanāgarī: आर्य) is a female and male given name, which means "noble" in Sanskrit. "Arya" is a very popular and common name for Hindu girl child in Indian subcontinent whereas the name "Aryan" for male child .The term Arya and Aryan originates from the Sanskrit word ārya (Devanāgarī: आर्य), in Classical Sanskrit meaning "honorable, respectable, noble".[1][2]
Etymology
The English word "Aryan" is borrowed from the Sanskrit word ārya,[3] आर्य, meaning "noble" or "noble one".[4][5] In early Vedic literature, the term Āryāvarta (Sanskrit: आर्यावर्त, abode of the Aryans) was the name given to northern India, where the Indo-Aryan culture was based. The Manusmṛti (2.22) gives the name Āryāvarta to "the tract between the Himalaya and the Vindhya ranges, from the Eastern (Bay of Bengal) to the Western Sea (Arabian Sea)".[6]
Initially the term was used as a national name to designate those who worshipped the Vedic deities (especially Indra) and followed Vedic culture (e.g. performance of sacrifice, Yajna).[7]
History
Vedic Sanskrit
The term Arya is used 36 times in 34 hymns in the Rigveda. According to Talageri (2000, The Rig Veda. A Historical Analysis) "the particular Vedic Aryans of the Rigveda were one section among these Purus, who called themselves Bharatas." Thus it is possible, according to Talageri, that at one point Arya did refer to a specific tribe.
While the word may ultimately derive from a tribal name, already in the Rigveda it appears as a religious distinction, separating those who sacrifice "properly" from those who do not belong to the historical Vedic religion, presaging the usage in later Hinduism where the term comes to denote religious righteousness or piety. In RV 9.63.5, ârya "noble, pious, righteous" is used as contrasting with árāvan "not liberal, envious, hostile":
- índraṃ várdhanto aptúraḥ kṛṇvánto víśvam âryam apaghnánto árāvṇaḥ
- "[the Soma-drops], performing every noble work, active, augmenting Indra's strength, driving away the godless ones." (trans. Griffith)
Sanskrit Epics
Arya and Anarya are primarily used in the moral sense in the Hindu Epics. People are usually called Arya or Anarya based on their behaviour. Arya is typically one who follows the Dharma.[citation needed] This is historically applicable for any person living anywhere in Bharata Varsha or vast India.[citation needed]
Ramayana
In the Ramayana, the term Arya can also apply to Raksasas or to Ravana. In several instances, the Vanaras and Raksasas called themselves Arya. The vanara's king Sugriva is called an Arya (Ram: 505102712) and he also speaks of his brother Vali as an Arya (Ram: 402402434). In another instance in the Ramayana, Ravana regards himself and his ministers as Aryas (Ram: A logical explanation is that, Ravana and his ministers belonged to the highest varna (Ravana being a Brahmin), and Brahmins were generally considered 'noble' of deed and hence called Arya (noble). Thus, while Ravana was considered Arya (and regarded himself as such), he was not really an Arya because he was not noble of deeds. So, he is widely considered by Hindus as Anarya (non-Arya).[citation needed]
The Ramayana describes Rama as: arya sarva samascaiva sadaiva priyadarsanah, meaning "Arya, who worked for the equality of all and was dear to everyone."[8]
Mahabharata
In the Mahabharata, the terms Arya or Anarya are often applied to people according to their behaviour. Dushasana, who tried to disrobe Draupadi in the Kaurava court, is called an "Anarya" (Mbh:0020600253). Vidura, the son of a Dasi born from Vyasa, was the only person in the assembly whose behaviour is called "Arya", because he was the only one who openly protested when Draupadi was being disrobed by Dushasana. The Pandavas called themselves "Anarya" in the Mahabharata (0071670471) when they killed Drona through deception.
According to the Mahabharata, a person's behaviour (not wealth or learning) determines if he can be called an Arya.[9][10] Also the whole Kuru clan was called as Anarya .
Religious use
The word ārya is often found in Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain texts. In the Indian spiritual context it can be applied to Rishis or to someone who has mastered the four noble truths and entered upon the spiritual path. According to Nehru, the religions of India may be called collectively ārya dharma, a term that includes the religions that originated in India (e.g. Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and possibly Sikhism).[11]
Hinduism
"O my Lord, a person who is chanting Your holy name, although born of a low family like that of a Chandala, is situated on the highest platform of self-realization. Such a person must have performed all kinds of penances and sacrifices according to Vedic literatures many, many times after taking bath in all the holy places of pilgrimage. Such a person is considered to be the best of the Arya family" (Bhagavata Purana 3.33.7).
According to Swami Vivekananda, "A child materially born is not an Arya; the child born in spirituality is an Arya." He further elaborated, referring to the Manu Smriti: "Says our great law-giver, Manu, giving the definition of an Arya, 'He is the Arya, who is born through prayer.' Every child not born through prayer is illegitimate, according to the great law-giver: "The child must be prayed for. Those children that come with curses, that slip into the world, just in a moment of inadvertence, because that could not be prevented – what can we expect of such progeny?..."(Swami Vivekananda, Complete Works vol.8)
Swami Dayananda founded a Dharmic organisation Arya Samaj in 1875. Sri Aurobindo published a journal combining nationalism and spiritualism under the title Arya from 1914 to 1921.
Buddhism
The word ārya (Pāli: ariya), in the sense "noble" or "exalted", is very frequently used in Buddhist texts to designate a spiritual warrior or hero, which use this term much more often than Hindu or Jain texts. Buddha's Dharma and Vinaya are the ariyassa dhammavinayo. The Four Noble Truths are called the catvāry āryasatyāni (Sanskrit) or cattāri ariyasaccāni (Pali). The Noble Eightfold Path is called the āryamārga (Sanskrit, also āryāṣṭāṅgikamārga) or ariyamagga (Pāli). Buddhists themselves are called ariyapuggalas (Arya persons). In Buddhist texts, the āryas are those who have the Buddhist śīla (Pāli sīla, meaning "virtue") and follow the Buddhist path. Those who despise Buddhism are often called "anāryas".
Jainism
The word Arya is also often used in Jainism, in Jain texts such as the Pannavanasutta.
Usage and adaptation
In Sanskrit and related Indic languages, ārya means "one who does noble deeds; a noble one". Āryāvarta "abode of the āryas" is a common name for North India in Sanskrit literature. Manusmṛti (2.22) gives the name to "the tract between the Himalaya and the Vindhya ranges, from the Eastern Sea to the Western Sea".[12] The title ārya was used with various modifications throughout the Indian Subcontinent. Kharavela, the Emperor of Kalinga of around 1 BCE, is referred to as an ārya in the Hathigumpha inscriptions of the Udayagiri and Khandagiri Caves in Bhubaneswar, Odisha. The Gurjara-Pratihara rulers in the tenth century were titled "Maharajadhiraja of Āryāvarta".[13] Various Indian religions, chiefly Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism, use the term ārya as an epithet of honour; a similar usage is found in the name of Arya Samaj.
In Ramayana and Mahabharata, ārya is used as an honorific for many characters including Hanuman, Karna.
Hindu nationalism
The term "Aryan" is used by Hindu nationalists to refer to the Indian people as indigenous to India in contrast to the Indo-Aryan migration theory.[14][15][16]
Game of Thrones
In 2013, BBC News wrote that "the passion and the extreme devotion of fans" had brought about a phenomenon unlike anything related to other popular TV series, manifesting itself in a very broad range of fan labor, such as fan fiction,[17] Game of Thrones-themed burlesque routines, or people naming their children after characters from the series[18] .In 2012, "Arya" was the fastest-rising girl's name in popularity in the U.S., jumping from from 711th to 413th position.[19].
References
- ^ "Baby name". Retrieved April 23, 2016.
- ^ "Aryan". Encyclopædia Britannica Online, 2011. Retrieved 23 April 2016.
- ^ Fortson, IV 2011, p. 209.
- ^ Monier-Williams (1899).
- ^ "Monier Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (2008 revision)". UNIVERSITÄT ZU KÖLN. Retrieved July 25, 2010.
- ^ Michael Cook (2014), Ancient Religions, Modern Politics: The Islamic Case in Comparative Perspective, Princeton University Press, p.68: "Aryavarta [...] is defined by Manu as extending from the Himalayas in the north to the Vindhyas of Central India in the south and from the sea in the west to the sea in the east."
- ^ Encyclopaedic dictionary of Vedic terms, Volume 1 By Swami Parmeshwaranand, pages 120 to 128 [1]
- ^ Weinberger, Eliot (2000). Karmic Traces, 1993-1999. New Directions Publishing. p. 179.
- ^ (Mbh: tasyam samsadi sarvasyam ksatttaram pujayamy aham/ vrttena hi bhavaty aryo na dhanena na vidyaya. 0050880521)
- ^ Deshpande/ Gomez in Bronkhorst & Deshpande 1999
- ^
Kumar, Priya (2012). Elisabeth Weber (ed.). Beyond tolerance and hospitality: Muslims as strangers and minor subjects in Hindu nationalist and Indian nationalist discourse. Fordham University Press. p. 96. ISBN 9780823249923.
{{cite book}}:|work=ignored (help) - ^ The Sacred Books of the East, Volume 14, p. 2
- ^ Wink, André (2002). Al-Hind: Early medieval India and the expansion of Islam, 7th–11th centuries. BRILL. p. 284. ISBN 0391041738, ISBN 978-0-391-04173-8.
- ^ Trautmann 2005, p. 220.
- ^ Tickell 2005, p. 38.
- ^ Sugirtharajah 2003, p. 53.
- ^ Templeton, Molly (June 16, 2013). "The best (and the weirdest) of "Game of Thrones" fanfiction". Salon. Retrieved July 6, 2013.
- ^ de Castella, Tom (March 22, 2013). "Game of Thrones: Why does it inspire such devotion among fans?". BBC News Magazine. Retrieved March 23, 2013.
- ^ Carlson, Adam (May 10, 2013). "'Game of Thrones' domination is nearly complete: 'Arya' is the fastest-rising name for baby girls". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved May 10, 2013.