model for others to use. For further con-
sideration see Robert D. Baird (ed.),
Religion in Modern India, 1998.
Rta
In the Vedas (the oldest and most
authoritative Hindu texts) rta is the cos-
mic order and regularity that allows the
rhythms of time and the seasons to
occur in orderly succession. According
to the texts, rta also had a moral dimen-
sion, which human beings had an oblig-
ation to support. One such moral
dimension was truth, which was seen
as upholding the cosmos, whereas its
opposite, anrta, came to signify false-
hood. The connection between natural
and moral world came through the
Vedic god Varuna, who was both
the guardian of rta and the deitywho
punished untruth, usually by affliction
with dropsy.
Rtvij
In the Hindu sacred texts (Vedas), one
of the priests who officiated at sacri-
fices. The four chief priests at sacrifices
were the hotr, udgatr, adhvaryum,
and brahman.
Rudra
(“howler”) Fearsome deity who first
appears late in the Vedas, the oldest
Hindu religious texts, later identified
with the god Shiva. Several hymns in the
Rg Vedaare dedicated to Rudra, where
he is identified with the storm-god
Indra, and the fire-god Agni. A more
developed picture of Rudra appears in
the Shvetashvatara Upanishad, one of
the later speculative texts known as the
Upanishads. In the third chapter
(adhyaya) of this text, Rudra is identified
as the ruling power in the universe and
the source and origin of the gods them-
selves. Rudra’s depiction in this upan-
ishad shows considerable ambivalence,
both mentioning the destructive arrows
that he bears and imploring him to
appear in a form that is auspicious
(shivam)and peaceful. This ambivalence
perhaps reflects the religious tension
associated with the figure of Shiva, who
was a deity outside the Vedic sacrificial
cult but was gradually absorbed into
established religion and is now one of
the primary Hindu deities.Rudraksha
(“eye of Rudra”) The dried seed of the
tree Elaeocarpus ganitrus, which is con-
sidered sacred to the god Shiva.
Rudrakshas are often strung into gar-
lands and worn by Shiva’s devotees
(bhakta). The seed itself is round with a
knobby, pitted surface, with a natural
channel in the middle through which a
thread can easily be drawn. Each seed
also has natural longitudinal lines run-
ning from top to bottom, which divide
the seed into units known as “faces”
(mukhi). The most common rudrakshas
have five faces, but they can have up to
fourteen. Each differing number of faces
has been given a symbolic association
with a particular deity. The rarest form
is the ekmukhi rudraksha, which has no
faces at all and is considered to be a
manifestation of Shiva himself. This
rudraksha is so valuable that street sell-
ers routinely make counterfeit versions
by carving them out of wood. Another
rare form is the Gauri-Shankar, in
which two rudraksha seeds are longitu-
dinally joined; this is considered a
manifestation of Shiva and Shakti.
Aside from the number of “faces,” the
quality of rudrakshas is judged by their
color and size. The color runs from
reddish brown to a light brown, with the
former considered more desirable, while
the smaller sizes are preferable to the
larger ones.Rudranath
Temple and sacred site (tirtha) in the
Garhwalregion of the Himalayasin the
valley between the Mandakini and the
Alakanandarivers, about thirty miles from
the district headquarters at Chamoli. The
temple’s presiding deityis the god Shivain
his manifestation as “Lord Rudra.”Rta