Buddha and the word Arya

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Buddha and the word Arya

Buddha taught catvAri Arya satyAni, and the Arya aStAngika mArga, besides other things.

Here we generally understand the word Arya to mean noble.

We learn from the Bhavisya Purana that a tribe of peaceful people called the Aryans, the descendants and followers of aryavati and kas’yapa (not to be mixed up with aditi’s ka’syapa prajApati) came to India in year 1000 Kaliyuga, ie 1000 years after Sri Krishna’s Ascent, ie about 1000 years of after the Mahabharata War. It tells us that Gautama Kaasyapa, introduced Buddhism in 1790 kaliyuga. (If Kaliyuga is 3100 BCE, then this is 1310 BCE. We have the date for Gauthama Buddha range from 1800 BCE to 600 BCE depending on what data is ignored and what data is given weight by the person doing the assessment.) Gauthama Kasyapa Buddha was a descendant of these Aryans, as the per the Bhavishya Purana. (Aryans to Asoka (Bhavishya Purana).

Tracking the Word Arya : The discussion so far : It was always my impression that Kalidasa was among the first to use the word anArya. See Anarya! Dushyantha, Sri Rama, Sri Krishna. Then I found the word arya meaning compassionate in the Rg Veda. See The word arya in the Rg Veda : RV_04.026.02.1 : Gautamo Vamadeva Rshi. I also realised that arya and Arya (aarya) were 2 different words. Based on the records of the Bhavishya Purana and based on the way in which the meaning of the word dora changed in telugu from master to white man to foreigner I proposed that The word arya in the Veda, did not refer to “Indo European – Aryans”. Then I found that Both the words arya and aarya (Arya) are used in Rig Veda, 10th Mandala, 86th Suktham, and the RSi is no less than Indra himself. It does appear at first glance that there were Aryans at the time of this mantra of the Rg Veda and that Indra favoured them over the dAsAs. In the Athava Veda of the mantras refers to young aryaman, with locks on his forehead, as someone who helps young men and women find the right match. (See : Atharva Veda : The First Veda : The Brahma Veda : atharvan, angIrA and brahmA were among the rishis.). In the Bhagavad Gita the word anAryam is used in the same sense as akIrthikaram etc to describe a weak state of mind. See The word “Anaryam” used in Bhagavad Gita (Mahabharata). We also see that Gauthama Kasyapa Buddha used the word Arya.

Thus we note that the word Arya was in use in the Vedas, Bhagavad Gita, Buddha’s work and Kalidasa’s work and in all these contexts, the meaning of “Noble/Good” fits the context very well.

In the post Aryavarta boundaries : VÂSISHTHA DHARMASÂSTRA, we see that the word Arya is used in connection with geography. There are alternate definitions for this geography but they all have the Ganga in common. There are several reasons to conclude that this VÂSISHTHA DHARMASÂSTRA has been edited after the time of Vasishtha Maharshi, the most important of them being that it is in contrast to his life.

The word Arya went from the Vedic meaning “a nice person” to being “a peaceful settler” to “someone who lives near the Ganga area” and then in the Colonial European hands it became “the nomadic conqueror” when used in English. There are Many Indian People who erroneously think of themselves as “Imperial/Conquering Aryans” even today.

See Also :

Aryans