“Sraddha” means “faith” “belief” “trust” an uncertain etymology, it seems to be composed of “Srad” which many translate as “heart” and “Dha” meaning “to put” “to place” as in “to put your heart into it” or to “place your heart”.

~

Sraddha is different from todays conception of “faith” and “belief” which is an imposition placed upon those travelling downstream to have “faith” and start swimming upstream. Ancient civilisations put their heart into their culture and natural surroundings, and their subsequent conclusions regarding the nature of life would be the real meaning of “Sraddha” being “that which they put their heart into".

~

In the Rig Veda “Sraddha” is the daughter of Surya the Sun God. She is the “faith” through which the fire of sacrifice is kindled, the ghee is offered, the wealth obtained and that which is offered morning, midday and night, a “faith” which is intimately connected to the Gods.

~

In Europe this “Srad” and “Sraddha” meaning “faith” “trust” becomes the Latin “ced” and “credo” meaning “to believe” “to trust”. The Sanskrit “S” becomes a European “C” and as often happens the Sanskrit “A” becomes a European “E” and so the “Sra-dha” becomes the Latin “cre-do”. From this comes the words “credible” “incredible” “credibility” “credulous” “credit” “discredit” “creed” “creedence” “grant” “credential”.

~

We also get “miscreant” meaning “pagan” “infidel” “non Christian” the “mis” meaning “wrong” as in “mis-take” and the “creant” is this Latin “credo” meaning “belief” the word meaning “the wrong belief” all of which are very much related to this Sanskrit “Sraddha” meaning “faith” “trust” “belief” and whose broader meaning is to “put ones heart into” as in “devotion”.(sanskrit the language of God)

~

“ Faith is the bird that feels the light when the dawn is still dark " - Sri Aurobindo.