Word

Rtam

Sanskrit

ऋतम्

IAST

ṛtam

In General

Rtam is the projection of Sathyam on our world. It is the dynamical aspect of Sathyam. This word appears repeatedly in many Vedic hymns. The idea of dharma evolved in a later age out of the idea of rtam.

Veda

The root meaning of Sanskrit letter Ru (ऋ) is move. Rtam and all its case (Vibhakthi) varients have the fixed meaning of, ‘truth of the Devine Being regulating right activity’, ‘truth in movement’, ‘truth that is effective’. It is usually rendered as’ right action’. To render it as ‘eternal order’ may not be precise, as rtam is the ideal projection of truth ‘satya’ into the particular time, place and circumstance

Grifith and Sayana were confused about the meaning of the word rtam and they gave more than 20 different meaning for the word in Rigveda

Note that in the veda the fourth world svar ( or mahas in the Upanishad) between the lower triple ( of anna, prana and mana) and the upper triple ( of tridhatu or sat, cit, ananda) is characterised by the 3 epithet ‘satyam rtam brihat’. The three words occur together only once in the entire veda literature namely AV (12.1.1). However ‘rtam brihat’ occur in 8 RV mantras, 5 of them in connection with Pavamana Soma

Purana

The word Dharma which play a very important part in Purana and Itihasa developed from the Vedic concept of Rtam