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'''Aryan''' is an English word derived from the [[Sanskrit]] ''ārya'' meaning "noble" or "distinguished". In present-day academia the term "Indo-Iranian" and "Indo-European" is preferred, term "Aryan" being now mostly limited to its appearance in the term "Indo-Aryan" to represent speakers of North, West and Central Indian languages.
'''Aryan''' is an English word derived from the [[Sanskrit]] ''ārya'' (meaning "noble" or "distinguished") used by the ancient Indo-Iranian tribes to refer to themselves. In Theosophical literature this term is used to designate the fifth [[Root-Race]].


[[H. P. Blavatsky]] describes it as follows:
== General definition ==
 
The Sanskrit word ''ārya'' is the self-designation used by the Vedic Indic people who migrated into the Indian subcontinent around 1500 BCE. This term has a cognate in the Iranian word ''arya'', which is also a self-designation, connected to the source of the country-name "Iran," from a phrase meaning "Kingdom of the Aryans."<ref>''Ancient History Encyclopedia.'' Published on 06 April 2018 by Cristian Violatti at https://www.ancient.eu/Aryan</ref>
 
After the misuse of this word in Nazism, present-day academia prefers the terms "Indo-Iranian" and "Indo-European" to "Aryan." The latter is now mostly limited to its appearance in the term "Indo-Aryan," to represent speakers of North, West and Central Indian languages.
 
== Theosophical usage ==
 
During the 19th century it was proposed that the term Aryan was not only the Indo-Iranian tribal self-designation, but also the self-designation used by the ancestors of all Indo-Europeans (a theory no longer accepted.) [[H. P. Blavatsky]] protested about this interpretation at the time:


<blockquote>Ârya (Sk.) Lit., “the holy”; originally the title of Rishis, those who had mastered the “Âryasatyâni” (q.v.) and entered the Âryanimârga path to Nirvâna or Moksha, the great “four-fold” path. But now the name has become the epithet of a race, and our Orientalists, depriving the Hindu Brahmans of their birth-right, have made Aryans of all Europeans.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Theosophical Glossary'' (Krotona, CA: Theosophical Publishing House, 1973), 32.</ref></blockquote>
<blockquote>Ârya (Sk.) Lit., “the holy”; originally the title of Rishis, those who had mastered the “Âryasatyâni” (q.v.) and entered the Âryanimârga path to Nirvâna or Moksha, the great “four-fold” path. But now the name has become the epithet of a race, and our Orientalists, depriving the Hindu Brahmans of their birth-right, have made Aryans of all Europeans.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Theosophical Glossary'' (Krotona, CA: Theosophical Publishing House, 1973), 32.</ref></blockquote>


In the [[Theosophy|Theosophical]] literature "Aryan" is the name given to the fifth [[Root-Race]].
However, Blavatsky followed the usage of academics of her time and reluctantly denominated the fifth [[Root-Race]] as "Aryan."


== Notes ==
== Notes ==
<references/>
<references/>



Revision as of 20:03, 9 January 2020

Aryan is an English word derived from the Sanskrit ārya (meaning "noble" or "distinguished") used by the ancient Indo-Iranian tribes to refer to themselves. In Theosophical literature this term is used to designate the fifth Root-Race.

General definition

The Sanskrit word ārya is the self-designation used by the Vedic Indic people who migrated into the Indian subcontinent around 1500 BCE. This term has a cognate in the Iranian word arya, which is also a self-designation, connected to the source of the country-name "Iran," from a phrase meaning "Kingdom of the Aryans."[1]

After the misuse of this word in Nazism, present-day academia prefers the terms "Indo-Iranian" and "Indo-European" to "Aryan." The latter is now mostly limited to its appearance in the term "Indo-Aryan," to represent speakers of North, West and Central Indian languages.

Theosophical usage

During the 19th century it was proposed that the term Aryan was not only the Indo-Iranian tribal self-designation, but also the self-designation used by the ancestors of all Indo-Europeans (a theory no longer accepted.) H. P. Blavatsky protested about this interpretation at the time:

Ârya (Sk.) Lit., “the holy”; originally the title of Rishis, those who had mastered the “Âryasatyâni” (q.v.) and entered the Âryanimârga path to Nirvâna or Moksha, the great “four-fold” path. But now the name has become the epithet of a race, and our Orientalists, depriving the Hindu Brahmans of their birth-right, have made Aryans of all Europeans.[2]

However, Blavatsky followed the usage of academics of her time and reluctantly denominated the fifth Root-Race as "Aryan."

Notes

  1. Ancient History Encyclopedia. Published on 06 April 2018 by Cristian Violatti at https://www.ancient.eu/Aryan
  2. Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, The Theosophical Glossary (Krotona, CA: Theosophical Publishing House, 1973), 32.