Two Words, Two Practices: Upavāsa and Uposatha in Ancient India — Etymology, Historical Divergence, the Aśokan edicts, the Scholarly Debate, and a Contemplative Reading
International Journal For Multidisciplinary Research September 7, 2026 Adv. Rajiv Shinde
In much popular writing, uposatha is glossed simply as "fasting day," collapsing it into upavāsa ("fasting"). This paper argues that the two words denote two distinct — though historically intertwined — practices. Etymologically, upavāsa (upa + √vas) lexicalizes the act of abstaining from food, a dietary discipline shared across Vedic, Ayurvedic and devotional traditions; upavasatha (Pāli...