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Arya
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Arya (Old Persian: ariya, Avestan: airya) is an ethnic epithet in the Achaemenid inscriptions and in the Zoroastrian Avestan tradition.
Outside the Iranian world there is also evidence of non-single term "arya-". e.g. in the Vedas, of certain first component of names and titles. The relationship between these and the single word "Arya" used in documents in Old, Middle, and Modern Persian languages is ambiguous and open to objections.
ts oldest recorded forms, Indo-Iranian arya is a national name, i.e.
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Arya (Old Persian: ariya, Avestan: airya) is an ethnic epithet in the Achaemenid inscriptions and in the Zoroastrian Avestan tradition.
Outside the Iranian world there is also evidence of non-single term "arya-". e.g. in the Vedas, of certain first component of names and titles. The relationship between these and the single word "Arya" used in documents in Old, Middle, and Modern Persian languages is ambiguous and open to objections.
Etymology
In its oldest recorded forms, Indo-Iranian arya is a national name, i.e. the name of the ethnic group of (respectively) Indians and Iranians themselves. More precisely, it is a self-referential adjective that – from the point of view of the North-Indians and Iranians themselves – effectively means "pertaining to ourselves." It stands in relationship to the antonymic *anarya, which effectively refers to "pertaining to the Other". From the external point of view – i.e. of comparative philology – this most ancient usage of *arya indicates "pertaining to speakers of North-Indian/Iranian language"; with the Vedic Sanskrit a´rya- meaning "pertaining to speakers of North-Indian language", and Iranian airya- (Old Persian ariya, Avestan airiia) meaning "pertaining to speakers of Iranian language".
This original significance of Indo-Iranian arya as an autonym is uncontested, and has been known to western scholarship for centuries. But the origin of Indo-Iranian arya (and thus also its pre-attested significance) remains uncertain. Indo-Iranian ar- is a syllable ambiguous in origin, from Indo-European ar-, er-, or or-. No evidence for an Indo-European (as opposed to Indo-Iranian) ethnic name like *arya has been found, and contra some obsolete theories floating about the internet, *arya is neither related to Germanic ario- (which has a lost h-), nor is it related to the Irish word for Éire (which has a lost p-).
There is no shortage of ideas what the Indo-Iranian ar- in arya could have originally meant. As noted, Indo-Iranian ar- is ambiguous, and there are several different ar- bases, each with a distinct meaning. For a summary of the etymological problems involved, see . There is however a general tendency to accept a relationship to one particular form of Indo-Iranian ar- that means "to allot", "to get, to cause to give". This particular form of ar- is known to be the root of a multitude of other words that – though distinct from *arya" – are either glosses of it, or appear in conjunction with it. Among them are the nouns for "possessor", "patron" (hence further "lord"), "reward", "recompense", "a share" (hence further "wealth" and "capricious luck"), and "hospitality", "collegiality" and "friendship". If the derivation from this form of Indo-Iranian ar- is correct, then prehistoric Indo-Iranian arya would have represented the idea of sharing, of mutual exchange, of communality. Other serious alternatives (though far less accepted) include ar- "to move", from which the national name of a nomadic peoples could then derive.
Sanskrit's vriddhi-formed a´rya- is the only Indic form of Indo-Iranian arya that has a comparable Iranian equivalent. Other forms of Indic arya, of which there are several, have no equivalent. In contrast to Indian usage, in which several secondary meanings evolved, the meaning of ar- as a self-identifier is preserved in Iranian usage, hence the words "Iran"/"Iranian" themselves. Iranian airya meant and means "Iranian", and Iranian anairya meant and means "Un-Iranian".
The notion that Indo-Iranian (or even just Indian) arya "originally" means "noble" is a populistic misrepresentation of a (now defunct) scientific theory. The premise of that obsolete theory was that arya and Germanic ario were related, and even if that theory were still accepted, it would merely provide one more etymological option, and would not reflect oldest attested usage. While one variant of Indic arya did eventually (> 5th century BCE) acquire "noble" as a meaning (especially in Buddhist literature), this development is post-Vedic and has no parallel in an Iranian context.
Religious uses
The term arya 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. The religions of India are sometimes called collectively arya dharma, a term that includes the religions that originated in India (e.g. Hinduism (Sanatana Dharma), Buddhism, Jainism).
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 Aryan family" (Srimad Bhagavatam 3.33.7).
In the Vedas
The term Arya is used 36 times in 34 hymns in the Rig Veda. 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. “Brahma of glory is he to whom both the Aryans and the Dasas belong” (Book VIII, Ch 8, verse 9).However, sometimes it is also used in a moral sense, RV 9:63:5 "Make us all in the universe arya, noble."
In the 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.
Ramayana
In the Ramayana, the term Arya can also apply to Raksasas or to Ravana, if their behaviour was "Aryan". In several instances, the Vanaras and Raksasas called themselves Arya. The monkey king Surgriva 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: 600600512).
The Ramayana describes Rama as: arya sarva samascaiva sadaiva priyadarsanah, meaning "Arya, who worked for the equality of all and was dear to everyone."
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 .
Modern uses in Hinduism
According to Swami Vivekananda, "A child materially born is not an Aryan; the child born in spirituality is an Aryan." He further elaborated, referring to the Manu Smriti: "Says our great law-giver, Manu, giving the definition of an Aryan, 'He is the Aryan, 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.
It is also used a popular name, including among Dravidian groups. For example there were Telugu and Tamil films titled Arya.
Jainism
The word Arya is also often used in Jainism. The word occurs frequently in the Jain text Pannavanasutta.
Buddhism
The word arya (Pali: 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 catvary aryasatyani (Sanskrit) or cattari ariyasaccani (Pali). The Noble Eightfold Path is called the aryamarga (Sanskrit, also ) or ariyamagga (Pali). Buddhists themselves are called ariyapuggalas (Arya persons). In Buddhist texts, the aryas are those who have the Buddhist sila (Pali sila, meaning "virtue") and follow the Buddhist path. Those who despise Buddhism are often called "anaryas".
In Buddhism, those who spiritually attain to at least "stream entry" and better are considered Arya Pudgala, or the Arya people.
In Chinese Buddhist texts, is translated as ? (approximately, "holy, sacred", pinyin shèng, on'yomi sei).
The spiritual character of the use of the term arya in Buddhist texts can also be seen in the Mahavibhasa and in the Yogacarabhumi. The Mahavibhasa states that only the noble ones (aryas) realize all four of the four noble truths (aryasatyani) and that only a noble wisdom understands them fully. The same text also describes the aryas as the ones who "have understood and realized about the [truth of] suffering, (impermanence, emptiness, and no-self)" and who "understand things as they are". . In another text, the Yogacarabhumi (Taisho 1579, vol. xx, 364b10-15), the aryas are described as being free from the viparyasas (misconceptions).
Several Buddhist texts show that the was taught to everybody, including the aryas, Dasyus, Devas, Gandharvas and Asuras. The (from the Mulasarvastivadavinaya) describes a story of Buddha teaching his dharma to the Four Heavenly Kings of the four directions. In this story, the guardians of the east and the south are aryajatiya (aryas) who speak Sanskrit, while the guardians of the west and the north () are dasyujatiya (Dasyus) who speak Dasyu languages. In order to teach his Dharma, Buddha has to deliver his discourse in Aryan and Dasyu languages. This story describes Buddha teaching his Dharma to the aryas and Dasyus alike. The (a Mahayana sutra) describes how Avalokitesvara taught the arya Dharma to the asuras, s and s.
See also
External links
- (Aurobindo in 'Arya', September 1914)
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