Ārya (आर्य) is an ancient Sanskrit word used by Hindus, Jains, and Buddhists. Sanskrit (sa संस्कृता वाक् saṃskṛtā vāk, for short sa संस्कृतम् saṃskṛtam) is a historical A Hindu ( Devanagari: हिन्दू is an adherent of the philosophies and scriptures of Hinduism, a set of religious, Philosophical Jainism, traditionally known as Jain Dharma / Shraman Dharma (जैन धर्म is an ancient religion of India. A number of noted individuals have been Buddhists. Historical Buddhist thinkers and founders of schools Individuals are grouped by nationality except in cases where the It's also used by Zoroastrians (Old Persian "Ariya" and Avestan "Airya"). Zoroastrianism (ˌzɔroʊˈæstriəˌnɪzəm is the religion and philosophy based on the teachings The Old Persian language is one of the two attested Old Iranian languages (besides Avestan) Avestan is an Eastern Old Iranian language that was used to compose the sacred hymns and canon of the Zoroastrian Avesta. The term has a variety of positive meanings, usually in spiritual contexts. It is not to be confused with the derived English adjective "Aryan", which in its socio-linguistic meaning refers to Indo-Iranians regardless of religion or spirituality. English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States Aryan is an English word derived from the Sanskrit " Ārya " meaning "noble" or "honorable" Indo-Iranian peoples consist of the Indo-Aryan, Iranian, Dardic and Nuristani peoples that is speakers of Indo-Iranian languages

Etymology and derived words

The Indo-Iranian term is from Proto-Indo-European *ar-yo-, from the same root as Sanskrit rta, Iranian asha. The roots of the reconstructed Proto-Indo-European language (PIE are basic Morphemes carrying a Lexical meaning Sanskrit ṛtá (sa ऋत as used in Vedic Sanskrit literally means the "order or course of things" cognate to Avestan Aša Asha ( aša) or arta is the Avestan language term for a concept of cardinal importance to Zoroastrian theology and doctrine Root cognates without Indo-Iranian include a large constellation of associated concepts, such as Greek arete "virtue" , aristos "best", and ortho, in orthodoxy; Latin rectus and erectus, and all Romance derivatives, as well as German Recht and English right. Arete (Greek; ˈærəteɪ in English in its basic sense means " Goodness " " Excellence " or " Virtue " of The word orthodox, from Greek orthodoxos "having the right opinion" from orthos ("right true straight" + doxa ("opinion A right is a legal or moral Entitlement or Permission. Rights are of vital importance in theories of Justice and deontological ethics

Sanskrit aryá- is an adjective meaning "kind", "favorable", or "devoted". In nominalized usage, it can take a meaning of "master, lord". The vrddhi derivation ārya-' means "respectable", "honorable", "noble", and "belonging to the brahmin, kṣatriya, or vaiśya varṇas. Vrddhi (वृद्धि) is a Sanskrit word meaning "growth" (from) Brahmin ( Brāhmaṇa, sa ब्राह्मणः is the class of educators scholars and preachers in Brahminical Hinduism. Kshatriya (क्षत्रिय kṣatriya from क्षत्र kṣatra) is one of the four varnas (social orders in Hinduism The Hindu varna (class System, a Vaishya ( Sanskrit वैश्य vaiśya) is a member of the third of the four classes of traditional ". As a noun, ārya- means "an honorable or respectable man", "a master", "an owner", "a member of the three highest varṇas".

The important Sanskrit lexicon Amarakośa (ca. The Amarakosha (from amara "immortal" and kosha "casket pail collection dictionary" also Namalinganushasana ( nama-linga-anu-shasana 450 AD) defines ārya thus: "An ārya is one who hails from a noble family, of gentle behavior and demeanor, good-natured and of righteous conduct. (mahākula kulinārya sabhya sajjana sadhavah. )"

Ārya- was also frequently used as a prefix of honor attached to names, and sometimes as an integral part of a person's name. E. g. , Āryāsaṅga is the name of a Buddhist philosopher and author ^[2], and Āryabhaṭa is the name of an Indian mathematician. Asanga (also called Aryasanga born around 300 CE was an exponent of the Yogācāra school of Buddhist philosophy Āryabhaṭa ( Devanāgarī: आर्यभट (AD 476 &ndash 550 is the first in the line of great mathematician-astronomers from the classical age of Indian mathematics

In general, Ārya is either a term of approbation or refers to one's standing in the varṇa system: an arya is a free man, and not a member of a lower caste or a slave. Roughly, 'arya' is a follower of vedic traditions and take vedas as the nodal point of their religious and social identity. At an early period, the cultural area where the varna system was used, along with the linguistic area where Indic languages were spoken, would have been nearly the same. The Indo-Aryan languages (within the context of Indo-European studies also Indic) are a branch of the Indo-European language family This region (northern and central India; the Indus and Ganges plains) was called Āryāvarta, meaning "abode of the noble people". Aryavarta ( Sanskrit: आर्यावर्त "abode of the Aryans quot is the ancient name for northern and central India, where the culture At present, these cultural and linguistic spheres overlap but are quite distinct from each other. That is how 'aryavarta' is defined in manusmriti. Later the vedic culture spread through much of the Indian subcontinent and the word has come to mean Bharat in general.

The Western interpretation of ārya as the name of a particular race ("Aryans") became known in India in the 19th century and was generally accepted by Hindus and Hindu nationalists, though combined with religious self-identification. The " Aryan race " is a concept in European culture that was influential in the period of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries Hindu nationalism is a nationalist Ideology that sees the modern State of the Republic of India as a Hindu Polity In response to the racial concept Vivekananda remarked: ". Swami Vivekananda (স্বামী বিবেকানন্দ Shami Bibekānondo; स्वामी विवेकानन्द Svāmi Vivekānanda) ( . . it is the Hindus who have all along called themselves Aryas. Whether of pure or mixed blood, the Hindus are Aryas; there it rests. " (Vivekananda, Complete Works vol. 5).

As an aside, mention must be made of a fact that does not lie in the realm of what could be considered Conventional History. Dravidian is an English word which comes from Dravida just as Aryan comes from Arya. Dravidian peoples refers to the peoples that natively speak languages belonging to the Dravidian language family. Now pre-historic traditions from both Dravida and Arya make mention of Dravida being the original homeland of both the Dravidians and the Aryans of India. Dravidian peoples refers to the peoples that natively speak languages belonging to the Dravidian language family. Dravidian peoples refers to the peoples that natively speak languages belonging to the Dravidian language family. Here, however Dravidians are a people on the basis of region and not race, and similarly Aryans are a people on the basis of practiced customs and not race. Dravidian peoples refers to the peoples that natively speak languages belonging to the Dravidian language family. Aryan is an English word derived from the Sanskrit " Ārya " meaning "noble" or "honorable" Here, Dravida means a stretch land from East Africa and Madagascar till South India, and possibly further till Southeast Asia and Australia. Dravidian peoples refers to the peoples that natively speak languages belonging to the Dravidian language family. East Africa is the Easternmost Region of the African Continent. Madagascar, or Republic of Madagascar (older name Malagasy Republic) is an Island nation in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. Both the Dravidian legends and Aryan legends attribute their origins to this sunken continent^[1][2]. Aryan is an English word derived from the Sanskrit " Ārya " meaning "noble" or "honorable"

Iranian airya

The interpretation of the Sanskrit words in Europe was influenced by the cognate words in Avestan:

• airya meaning "nobly born" and "respectable", but also "Iranian"
• airyana or "Iranian"

"Iranian", as used above, refers to all Iranian peoples, at the time not yet differentiated from each other at the time of the composition of the Zoroastrian Yashts texts, where Zarathustra is described to have lived in Airyanem Vaejah meaning "Land of Aryans". Avestan is an Eastern Old Iranian language that was used to compose the sacred hymns and canon of the Zoroastrian Avesta. The Iranian people are a collection of Ethnic groups defined along linguistic lines as speaking Iranian languages. The ae Yashts ( ae Yašt s are a collection of twenty-one hymns in Younger Avestan. Airyanəm Vaējah, which approximately means "expanse of the Aryans," is a reference in the Zoroastrian Avesta ( Vendidad, Farg The word "Iran" (Ērān) itself comes from Proto-Iranian *Aryānām - (land) of the Aryas. Airya was distinguished from anairya, non-Iranian, and is clearly to be understood as the name of a self-identified nation, ethnic group, or linguistic group. The word and concept of Airyanem Vaejah is present in the name of the country Iran (lit. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Iran topics. Land of Aryans) which is a modern-Persian form of the word "Aryana" (lit. Country of Aryans). ^[3] Aryana in ancient history was also a name of a part of present-day Afghanistan.

The word "arya" (in the form āriyā, آریا), in the modern Persian language, also means "noble", "Aryan", or "Iranian" The word is both related to language and ethnicity and is found in various forms of boys' and girls' names. "Arya" is also a common Hindu name. A Hindu ( Devanagari: हिन्दू is an adherent of the philosophies and scriptures of Hinduism, a set of religious, Philosophical

In the Avesta, apart from the Airyanem Vaejah, "Airya-shayana" (abode of the Aryans) is also addressed. It is the entire homeland of the Aryans as opposed to the root-land.

Religious uses

The term 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. The religions of India are sometimes called collectively ārya dharma, a term that includes the religions that originated in India (e. g. Hinduism (Sanatana Dharma), Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism). Hinduism is a religious tradition that originated in the Indian subcontinent. Hinduism is a religious tradition that originated in the Indian subcontinent. Buddhism is a family of beliefs and practices Jainism, traditionally known as Jain Dharma / Shraman Dharma (जैन धर्म is an ancient religion of India. Sikhism ( IPA: or; ਸਿੱਖੀ sikkhī, IPA:) founded on the teachings of Nanak and nine successive gurus in fifteenth century

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" (Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 3. The Bhagavata Purana (also known as Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, or simply Bhāgavatam) is one of the Puranic texts of Hindu literature 33. 7).

In the Vedas

The term Arya is used 36 times in 34 hymns in the Rig Veda. The Rigveda ( Sanskrit sa ऋग्वेद ṛgveda, a compound of ṛc "praise verse" and veda "knowledge" 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). ^[4]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. Indian epic poetry is the Epic poetry written in the Indian subcontinent. 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. Vanara (वानर literally "human with the tail of a Monkey " A rakshasa ( Sanskrit: राक्षसः rākṣasaḥ; alternately rakshas, Malay: raksasa, Bengali: rakshosh The monkey king Surgriva is called an Arya (Ram: 505102712) and he also speaks of his brother Valin 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. The Rāmāyaṇa ( Devanāgarī: sa रामायण is an ancient Sanskrit epic attributed to the Hindu sage ( Maharishi) Valmiki Rama ( IAST: rāma Devanāgarī: राम Khmer: Phreah Ream Thai: Phra Ram Lao: Phra Lam Tagalog: "

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). Dushasana (दुश्यासन Duśśāsana in IAST transliteration and sometimes written Duhshasana and Dushyasana) was the second son of the blind In the Ancient Indian epic Mahābhārata, Krsnā Draupadī (Devanagari कृष्णा द्रौपदी; approx The term Kaurava ( Sanskrit:कौरव is a Sanskrit term that means a descendant of Kuru, a legendary king who is the ancestor of many of the characters 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. Vidura ( Sanskrit: विदुर vidūra) was half-brother to Dhritarashtra and Pandu. Vyāsa ( Devanāgarī: व्यास is a central and revered figure in the majority of Hindu traditions The Pandavas called themselves "Anarya" in the Mahabharata (0071670471) when they killed Drona through deception. In the Hindu epic Mahābhārata, the Pandava (or Pandawa brothers ( Sanskrit: पाण्‍डव pāṇḍavaḥ are the five acknowledged sons of In the epic Mahābhārata, Drona ( Sanskrit: द्रोण droNa) or Dronacharya (द्रोणाचार्य droNāchārya

According to the Mahabharata, a person's behaviour (not wealth or learning) determines if he can be called an Arya ^[5]. ^[6]

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. For other uses of Manu see Manu In Hinduism, Manu is a title accorded the progenitor of mankind, first king to rule ' 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. This page is about the founder of the Arya Samaj. For others known by the same name please see Swami Dayananda (disambiguation Arya Samaj ( Sanskrit ārya samāja sa आर्य समाज " Noble Society" is a Hindu reform movement founded in India

It is also used a popular name, including among Dravidian groups. For example there were Telugu and Tamil films titled Arya. Arya (ఆర్య is a Telugu (Dubbed into malayalam as the same title) film which released on May 7, 2004 and was directed by Sukumar

Jainism

The word Arya is also often used in Jainism. Jainism, traditionally known as Jain Dharma / Shraman Dharma (जैन धर्म is an ancient religion of India. The word occurs frequently in the Jain text Pannavanasutta.

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. Pali ( ISO 15919 / ALA-LC: Pāḷi is a Middle Indo-Aryan language or Prakrit of India. Buddha's Dharma and Vinaya are the ariyassa dhammavinayo. The Sanskrit term ( Devanāgarī: धर्म Pali transliteration dhamma) is an Indian spiritual and religious The Vinaya (a word in Pāli as well as in Sanskrit, with literal meaning 'leading out' 'education' 'discipline' is the regulatory framework for the Buddhist The Four Noble Truths are called the catvāry āryasatyāni (Sanskrit) or cattāri ariyasaccāni (Pali). Background Why the Buddha is said to have taught in this way is illuminated by the social context of the time in which he lived Sanskrit (sa संस्कृता वाक् saṃskṛtā vāk, for short sa संस्कृतम् saṃskṛtam) is a historical 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".

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, ārya is translated as 聖 (approximately, "holy, sacred", pinyin shèng, on'yomi sei). Pinyin, more formally Hanyu pinyin, is the most common Standard Mandarin Romanization system in use are the Chinese characters that are used in the modern Japanese logographic writing system along with Hiragana (ひらがな 平仮名 Katakana

The spiritual character of the use of the term ārya in Buddhist texts can also be seen in the Mahavibhasa and in the Yogacarabhumi. The Mahāvibhasa ^[7] states that only the noble ones (āryas) realize all four of the four noble truths (āryasatyāni) and that only a noble wisdom understands them fully. The same text also describes the āryas 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". Dukkha ( Pāli दुक्ख Sanskrit दुःख duḥkha; according to grammatical tradition derived from dus-kha "uneasy" Impermanence ( Sanskrit: अनित्य anitya; Pāli: अनिच्चा anicca; Tibetan: མི་​རྟག་​པ་ In Buddhist philosophy, anatta ( Pāli) or anātman ( Sanskrit) refers to the notion of "not-self" ^[8]. In another text, the Yogācārabhūmi (Taishō 1579, vol. Yogācārabhūmi-śāstra, also known as "Discourse on the Stages of Yogic Practice" is the encyclopaedic and definitive text of the Yogācāra xx, 364b10-15), the āryas are described as being free from the viparyāsas (misconceptions).

Several Buddhist texts show that the ārya dharma was taught to everybody, including the āryas, Dasyus, Devas, Gandharvas and Asuras. Dasa ( IAST dāsa) is a Sanskrit term Under the primary meaning 'enemy' sometimes relates to tribes identified as the enemies of the Aryan Deva (देव in Devanagari script pronounced as /'d̪evə/ is the Sanskrit word for "god Deity " In Hinduism In Hinduism, the Gandharvas ( Sanskrit: गंधर्व gandharva) are male nature spirits husbands of the Apsaras In Hinduism In Hinduism, the Asura ( Sanskrit: असुर are a group of power-seeking deities sometimes referred to as Demons or sinful The Bhaiṣajyavastu (from the Mūlasarvāstivādavinaya) describes a story of Buddha teaching his dharma to the Four Heavenly Kings (Catvāraḥ Mahārājāḥ) of the four directions. Sarvastivada is an early school of Buddhism that held to 'the existence of all Dharmas in the past present and future the 'three times' In the Buddhist faith, the Four Heavenly Kings are four guardian gods each of whom watches over one Cardinal direction of the world In this story, the guardians of the east (Dhṛtarāṣṭra) and the south (Virūḍhaka) are āryajatiya (āryas) who speak Sanskrit, while the guardians of the west (Virūpākṣa) and the north (Vaiśravaṇa) are dasyujatiya (Dasyus) who speak Dasyu languages. Sanskrit (sa संस्कृता वाक् saṃskṛtā vāk, for short sa संस्कृतम् saṃskṛtam) is a historical Vaiśravaṇa ( Sanskrit वैश्रवण or Vessavaṇa ( Pāli वेस्सवण is the name of the chief of the Four Heavenly Kings 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 āryas and Dasyus alike. ^[9] The Karaṇḍavyūha (a Mahāyāna sūtra) describes how Avalokiteśvara taught the ārya Dharma to the asuras, yakṣas and rakṣasas. Mahayana ( Sanskrit: mahāyāna, Devanagari: महायान 'Great Vehicle' is one of the two main existing schools of Buddhism and a term for Avalokiteśvara ( Nepali: अवलोकितेश्वर, lit In Hinduism In Hinduism, the Asura ( Sanskrit: असुर are a group of power-seeking deities sometimes referred to as Demons or sinful Yaksha ( Sanskrit यक्ष yakṣa, yakkha in Pāli) is the name of a broad class of nature-spirits usually benevolent who are A rakshasa ( Sanskrit: राक्षसः rākṣasaḥ; alternately rakshas, Malay: raksasa, Bengali: rakshosh ^[10]

See also

• Aryan
• Dharma

Notes

References

• Bhaisajavasta in Mulasarvastivadavinaavastu. In Gilgit Mansuscripts, Vol. III, Part I. Edited by Nalinaksha Dutt. The Kashmir Series of Texts & Studies, No. LXXI (E). 1947. Srinagar: Research Departement.
• J. Bronkhorst and M. M. Deshpande. 1999. Aryan and Non-Aryan in South Asia. Ann Arbor, University of Michigan Press.
• Bryant, Edwin: The Quest for the Origins of Vedic Culture. Edwin Bryant is an Author and Indologist. He received a PhD in religion from Columbia University in 1997 The Quest for the Origins of Vedic Culture is a book by Edwin Bryant published at Oxford University Press (ISBN 0-19-513777-9 2001. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-513777-9
• Elst, Koenraad Update on the Aryan Invasion Debate. Koenraad Elst (born 7 August 1959) is a Belgian Writer and Orientalist (without institutional affiliation Update on the Aryan Invasion Debate is a book by Koenraad Elst. 1999. ISBN 81-86471-77-4 [3], [4]
• Fussman, G. ; Kellens, J. ; Francfort, H. -P. ; Tremblay, X. : Aryas, Aryens et Iraniens en Asie Centrale. (2005) Institut Civilisation Indienne ISBN 2-86803-072-6
• Karandavyuha. In Mahayanasturasamgraha. Edited by P. L. Vaidya. Parts I-II. Buddhist Sanskrit Texts, Nos. 17 and 18. 1961 and 1964 Darbhanga: The Mithila Institute.
• Mahabharata. The electronic text of the B. O. R. I. Critical Edition, prepared by Muneo Tokunaga.
• Ramayana. The Rāmāyaṇa ( Devanāgarī: sa रामायण is an ancient Sanskrit epic attributed to the Hindu sage ( Maharishi) Valmiki Electronic version of the Baroda Critical Edition, prepared by Muneo Tokunaga.
• Sethna, K.D. 1992. Kaikhosru Dadhaboy (KD Sethna (born 26 November 1904) is an Indian poet scholar writer philosopher and cultural critic The Problem of Aryan Origins. New Delhi: Aditya Prakashan.
• Trautmann, Thomas R. 1997, Aryans and British India. Berkeley: University of California Press.

External links

• 'Arya': Its Significance (Aurobindo in 'Arya', September 1914)