RIG VEDIC CONCEPTS AND ALBERT CAMUS'S INDIFFERENT UNIVERSE

                             

                        

Rig Vedic Concepts of Ṛta (ऋत ) ,  Anṛta (अनृत ), and Albert Camus’s  Indifferent Universe 

In the Rigveda, Ṛta is the cosmic law  governing seasons, truth, sacrifice, natural causality. It’s not moral approval; it’s mechanics. The sun rises because of Ṛta, not because the gods favour you. The universe runs on pattern, not compassion. Stated more than 3000 years,  this is Camus’s  “benign indifference” . The cosmos doesn’t hate you. It doesn’t notice you. It functions.Ṛta is the Vedic principle of cosmic order, truth, and natural law that keeps the universe functioning.   According to Vedas, It governs everything from the movement of the sun and seasons to moral conduct and ritual precision.  The gods, especially Varuṇa and Mitra, are called guardians of Ṛta because they uphold this universal harmony. In human life, living according to Ṛta means speaking truth, performing duty, and aligning action with dharma.  Vedic sacrifices were designed to maintain Ṛta, as ritual order was thought to sustain cosmic order.  

Anṛta is falsehood, disorder, the violation of  Ṛta. Crucially, Anṛta isn’t created by the universe ,  it’s created by humans lying, cheating, breaking trust. The Vedas say the cosmos stays ordered; we bring the chaos. Camus says the same: the Absurd is born from the clash between our hunger for meaning and the world’s silence. Anṛta  is what happens when we demand that the indifferent universe be fair, personal, or moral  and then act as if it isn’t. Anrta is disorder , the breaking of Rta, the Vedic order that keeps both cosmos and society aligned. Where Rta is the sun rising on time, the seasons turning without favour, and systems moving  by rule alone, Anrta is the eclipse: the arbitrary, the corrupt, the personal gain placed above duty.  It is the unravelling of trust :  the social drought the Vedas warned would follow when a king, or a responsible person , breaks the cosmic order.

Camus says , “The Absurd is the confrontation between human need and the unreasonable silence of the world.”  

Vedas say : “ Ṛta exists. Anṛta is what humans do when they deny it.” Both start with an impersonal cosmos. Both say suffering comes from our refusal to accept that impersonality. According to Camus, "choosing to act ethically with full knowledge the universe won’t reward you". In Camus's novel ," The Myth of Sisyphus" , Sisyphus pushes the rock anyway.  The Vedas say, "choosing to uphold Ṛta with full knowledge the universe won’t thank you. 

In both, meaning isn’t given by the cosmos :  it’s imposed by humans on an indifferent backdrop. Ṛta is Camus’ universe: lawful but silent. Anṛta is Camus’ Absurd: the noise we make when we expect it to speak. The Rigveda and Camus agree: the universe keeps its order and its silence. Lies, evil, and despair or  Anṛta are what happen when we can’t bear that silence.

( Avtar Mota )

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