Etymology
Ṛta is thought to be derived from the Proto-Indo-European stem *h2r-to- "properly joined, right, true", the latter being formed from the root *h2ar- "to join properly" (also found in *h2ar-yo-; cf. Skt. आर्य ā́rya "noble"). This root survives in Sanskrit as ṛ- "to go, move, rise, tend upwards", and the derivative noun ṛtam is defined as "fixed or settled order, rule, divine law or truth". As Mahony (1998) notes, however, the term can just as easily be translated literally as "that which has moved in a fitting manner", abstractly as "universal law" or "cosmic order", or simply as "truth". The latter meaning dominates in the Avestan cognate to Ṛta, aša.
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