User:Alcaios/Cosmology
Linguistic evidence has led scholars to reconstruct the concept of a superordinate impersonal cosmic order,*hₐértus, denoting "what is fitting, rightly ordered" and ultimately deriving from the root *haer-, "to fit" : Sanskrit ṛta ("right time, order, rule");[1][2] Avestan arəta- ("order"); Hittite āra ("right, proper");[3] Greek artús ("arrangement"), possibly arete ("excellence") via the root *h₂erh₁ ("please, satisfy");[4] Latin artus ("joint"); Tocharian A ārtt- ("to praise, be pleased with"); Armernian ard ("ornament, shape"); Middle High German art ("innate feature, nature, fashion").[5]
This cosmic order is a passive principle, nevertheless it is superior, similar to a symmetry principle.
Interlocked with the root *hₐer- is the root *dʰeh₁- that means "to put, lay down, sit down, produce, make, speak, say, bring back" [6] [7] The Greek thémis and Sanskrit dhāman, both meaning "law" derive from *dʰeh₁-men-/i-. This notion of "law" includes an active principle and it is interpreted generally as lawful conduct or actions in obedience to the order. The law or rule refers to the superordinate cosmic order here (that is derived from the root *hₐer-). So the semantic linking between the root *hₐer- and the root *dʰeh₁- is that of an order, rule or law and action in obedience to this order or law.
The interplay between the cosmic order and animate beings in the cosmos is attested in many mythological narratives from descendent Indo-European daughter cultures. Because these narratives have a similar or equal semantic content in all daughter cultures it can be concluded that this semantic content was present in proto-Indo-European times yet.
For example, in the mythologies of none of the Indo-European daughter cultures are exist almighty deities. The highest deities in the panthea were often considered to be guardians or preservers of the cosmic orders, however they have to abide by its rules. This is e.g. the case for Mitra and Varuna that are the Guardians of the Rta [8]. The influence of the cosmic order is often named Fate in the narratives and many tales exist in that the deities have to bow to the Fate e.g. in Greek mythology Zeus can not save the life of his son Sarpedon and the power is divided between Zeus and the Moirai. In Norse mythology the power over the runes, which are a mythological manifestation of the superordinate cosmic order, is divided between Odin and the Norns.
According to Martin Litchfield West the root *dʰeh₁- denotes the divine creation and consequentially the name of the Vedic creator god Dhātr also derives from the root *dʰeh₁-.[9]
The Buddhist code of lawful conduct is the Dharma. The etymology of Dharma can also be traced back to the root *dʰeh₁- [10]
References[edit]
- ^ Myers, Michael (2013). Brahman: A Comparative Theology. Routledge. p. 60. ISBN 978-1-136-83565-0.
Ṛta, for example, is impersonal.
- ^ Johnson, W. J. (2009). "ṛta". A Dictionary of Hinduism. ISBN 978-0191726705.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Kloekhorst, Alwin (2008). Etymological Dictionary of the Hittite Inherited Lexicon. Brill. p. 198. ISBN 9789004160927.
- ^ Beekes 2009, p. 128.
- ^ Mallory & Adams 2006, p. 276: "17.4 Law and Order The vocabulary of law [...] is not extensive in Proto-Indo-European and much of the concept 'law' derives from that of 'order' or 'what is fitting'. For example, we have *hₐértus from the root *hₐer- 'fit' which had already shifted to an association with cosmic order by the time of Indo-Iranians (e.g. Lat artus 'joint', MHG art 'innate feature, nature, fashion', dialectal Grk artús 'arranging, arrangement', Arm ard 'ornament, shape', Av 'arəta- 'order, Skt ṛtu- 'right time, order, rule', Toch B ārtt- 'love, praise'). More closely associated with ritual propriety is the Italic-Indo-Iranian isogloss that yields *yew(e)s- (Lat iūs 'law, right, justice, duty' "}, Av yaož -dā- 'make ritually pure', Skt śáṃca yóśca 'health and happiness') with a derived adjective *yusi(iy)os seen certainly in OIr uissse 'just right, fitting' and possibly OCS istǔ 'actual, true'. 'Law' itself, *dhéh₁-men-/i-, is 'that which is established' and derives from *dhéh₁- 'put, establish' but occurs in that meaning only in Grk thémis 'law' and Skt dhāman- 'law' (we also have *dhéh₁tis [e.g. Lat conditiō 'basis', NE 'deed', Grk 'order', Skt -dhiti- 'position']) though the same kind of semantic development is seen in Germanic (e.g. NE law) and Italic (e.g. Lat lex 'law'), both from *legh- 'lie', i.e. 'that which is laid out'. and thus the concept is pan-Indo-European.
- ^ Claus Peter Zoller 2010, p. 18 (260): "This element derives < OIA dádhāti ‘places, lays on, gives, seizes’ (6145), but regarding the exact meaning one needs to consider the meanings given for the precursor PIE *dheh1- , namely ‘to put, lay down, sit down, produce, make, speak, say, bring back’"
- ^ Claus Peter Zoller: Aspects of the Early History of Romani, University of Oslo, Acta Orientalia 2010: 71, page 18 (260)
- ^ Michael Myers, Brahman: A Comparative Theology & Routledge 2013, p. 60: Pande defines Rta as "the ideal principle in ordering, the paradigmatic principle of ultimate reality". Rta is the great criterion of the Rgveda, the standard of truth both for individual instances of human morality and for cosmic order and truth. The god Varuna is the guardian and preserver of the Rta, although Varuna also must abide its rules. Rta is more passive than the active god of christianity, but nevertheless it encompasses the order of the sacrifice, the physical order of the universe and the moral law.
- ^ West 2007, p. 354.
- ^ M.G. Boutet: Celtic Astrology from the Druids to the Middle Ages, McFarland, 2017, p. 239