The word Rita is derived from the Sanskrit word ‘rta.’ In contemporary Hindi, the vocalic ‘r’ of Sanskrit is changed into ‘ri.’ Hence the word Rita has been a popular female name in India.
According to the Vedas, the ancient sacred scriptures of Hinduism, Rita is a concept. It is a physical order of the universe which governs, for example, the sun and moon making their journeys across the sky. Or the regulation of seasons in their rotating order. Logistics of the universal phenomena are under this conception.
Rita is an eternal and cosmic order. At the same time, it is a divine order of moral living in harmony with the systems of the universe.
Rita is the disciplinary principle for everything which exists or is contained in this universe. From atoms to humans, animals and plants, rivers, oceans to mountains, stars, sun and moon, and everything else observable or non-observable must function per Rita’s guidelines. If not, it is ‘anrita,’ representing complete disorder or disaster. The law of karma joins here as for as human behaviour is concerned. “As you sow, so shall you reap.”
By Promod Puri
Progressive Hindu Dialogue 