The Online Library of Liberty

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• Preface
• Introduction
• Errata
• Vedic Hymns
• Agnİ
• Savitṛ́
• MarÚtas
• VİṢṆu
• Dyá̄vĀ-pṚthiví̄
• Índra
• RudrÁ
• Apá̄Ṃ NÁpĀt
• MitrÁ
• Bṛ́haspÁti
• UṢÁs
• AgnÍ
• ParjÁnya
• PŪṢÁn
• Á̄pas
• Mitrá̄-vÁruṆĀ
• Sú̄rya
• AŚvÍnĀ
• VÁruṆa
• MaṆḌŪkĀs
• VÍŚve Devá̄Ḥ
• SÓma
• Funeral Hymn
• PitÁras
• Hymn of the Gambler
• PÚruṢa
• Rá̄trĪ
• Hymn of Creation
• YamÁ
• Vá̄ta
• Vocabulary
• Abbreviations

MITRÁ̄-VÁRUṆĀ

This is the pair most frequently mentioned next to Heaven and Earth. The hymns in which they are conjointly invoked are much more numerous than those in which they are separately addressed. As Mitra (iii. 59) is distinguished by hardly any individual traits, the two together have practically the same attributes and functions as Varuṇa alone. They are conceived as young. Their eye is the sun. Reaching out they drive with the rays of the sun as with arms. They wear glistening garments. They mount their car in the highest heaven. Their abode is golden and is located in heaven; it is great, very lofty, firm, with a thousand columns and a thousand doors. They have spies that are wise and cannot be deceived. They are kings and universal monarchs. They are also called Asuras, who wield dominion by means of māyá̄ occult power, a term mainly connected with them. By that power they send the dawns, make the sun traverse the sky, and obscure it with cloud and rain. They are rulers and guardians of the whole world. They support heaven, and earth, and air.

They are lords of rivers, and they are the gods most frequently thought of and prayed to as bestowers of rain. They have kine yielding refreshment, and streams flowing with honey. They control the rainy skies and the streaming waters. They bedew the pastures with ghee (= rain) and the spaces with honey. They send rain and refreshment from the sky. Rain abounding in heavenly water comes from them. One entire hymn dwells on their powers of bestowing rain.

Their ordinances are fixed and cannot be obstructed even by the immortal gods. They are upholders and cherishers of order. They are barriers against falsehood, which they dispel, hate, and punish. They afflict with disease those who neglect their worship.

The dual invocation of these gods goes back to the Indo-Īranian period, for Ahura and Mithra are thus coupled in the Avesta.

vii. 61. Metre: Triṣṭubh.

See Page Number 119, Hymn Number 1 in PDF for Sanskrit Version

• 1

  úd vāṃ cákṣur, Varuṇā, suprátīkaṃ
• deváyor eti Sú̄rias tatanvá̄n.
• abhí yó víśvā bhúvanāni cáṣṭe,
• sá manyúṃ mártieṣu á̄ ciketa.

Up the lovely eye of you two gods, O (Mitra and) Varuṇa, rises, the Sun, having spread (his light); he who regards all beings observes their intention among mortals.

cákṣus: cp. vii. 63, 1, úd u eti . . . Sú̄ryaḥ . . . cákṣur Mitrásya Váruṇasya up rises the Sun, the eye of Mitra and Varuṇa. Varuṇa: has the form of the voc. s., which could be used elliptically; but the Padapāṭha takes it as the shortened form of the elliptical dual Varuṇā (cp. 193, 2 a); cp. deva in 7 a. It is, however, difficult to see why the ā should have been shortened, because it conforms to the normal break (ᴗᴗ–) of the Triṣṭubh line (see p. 441). abhí . . . cáṣṭe: the Sun is elsewhere also said to behold all beings and the good and bad deeds of mortals. manyúm: that is, their good or evil intentions. ciketa: pf. of cit perceive (cp. 139, 4). In d the caesura irregularly follows the third syllable.

See Page Number 119, Hymn Number 2 in PDF for Sanskrit Version

• 2

  prá vāṃ sā, Mitrā-Varuṇāv, ṛtá̄vā
• vípro mánmāni dīrghaśrúd iyarti,
• yásya bráhmāṇi, sukratū, ávātha,
• á̄ yát krátvā ná śarádaḥ pṛṇáithe.

Forth for you two, O Mitra-Varuṇa, this pious priest, heard afar, sends his hymns, that ye may favour his prayers, ye wise ones, that ye may fill his autumns as it were with wisdom.

iyarti: 3. s. pr. of ṛ go. yásya . . . ávāthas = yát tásya ávāthas: on the sb. with relatives see p. 356, 2. sukratū: see note on ṛtá̄varī, i. 160, 1 b. The repeated unaccented word in the Pada text here is not marked with Anudāttas because all unaccented syllables following a Svarita are unmarked. á̄ pṛṇáithe: 2. du. sb. pr. of pṛṇ fill. The meaning of d is not quite certain, but is probably ‘that ye who are wise may make him full of wisdom all his life’. śarádas: autumns, not varṣá̄ṇi rains (which only occurs in the AV.), regularly used in the RV. to express years of life, because that was the distinctive season where the RV. was composed.

See Page Number 119, Hymn Number 3 in PDF for Sanskrit Version

• 3

  prá urór, Mitrā-Varuṇā, pṛthivyá̄ḥ,
• prá divá ṛṣvá̄d bṛhatáḥ, sudānū,
• spáśo dadhāthe óṣadhīṣu vikṣú
• ṛ́dhag yató, ’nimiṣaṃ rákṣamāṇā.

From the wide earth, O Mitra-Varuṇa, from the high lofty sky,O bounteous ones, ye have placed your spies that go separately, in plants and abodes, ye that protect with unwinking eye.

urós: here used as f. (as adjectives in u may be: 98), though the f. of this particular adj. is otherwise formed with ī: urv-í̄. sudānū: see note on sukratū in 2 c. spáśas: the spies of Varuṇa (and Mitra) are mentioned in several passages. dadhāthe: Pragṛhya (26 b). óṣadhīṣu: the use of this word seems to have no special force here beyond expressing that the spies lurk not only in the houses of men, but also outside. yatás: pr. pt. A. pl. of i go. ánimiṣam: acc. of á-nimiṣ f. non-winking, used adverbially, to be distinguished from the adj. a-nimiṣá also used adverbially in the acc. The initial a must be elided for the sake of the metre.

See Page Number 121, Hymn Number 4 in PDF for Sanskrit Version

• 4

  śáṃsā Mitrásya Váruṇasya dhá̄ma:
• śúṣmo ródasī badbadhe mahitvá̄.
• áyan má̄sā áyajvanām aví̄rāḥ;
• prá yajñámanmā vṛjánaṃ tirāte.

I will praise the ordinance of Mitra and Varuṇa: their force presses apart the two worlds with might. May the months of nonsacrificers pass without sons; may he whose heart is set on sacrifice extend his circle.

śáṃsā: this form may be the 2. s. P. ipv. with metrically lengthened final vowel, as the Pada text interprets it; or the 1. s. sb. P. (p. 125). The latter seems more likely because the poet speaks of himself in the 1. prs. (twice) in 6 a, b also. badbadhe: int. of bādh (174 a); cp. vii. 23, 3, ví bādhiṣṭa syá ródasī mahitvá̄ he has pressed asunder the two worlds with his might. mahitvá̄: inst. (p. 77). áyan: 3. pl. pr. sb. of i go (p. 130). aví̄rās: predicative = as sonless; on the accent see p. 455, 10 c α. yajñámanmā: contrasted with áyajvanām (accent p. 455, f. n. 2). prá tirāte: 3. s. sb. pr. of tṝ cross; this cd. vb. is often used in the sense of prolonging life (Ā. one’s own, P. that of others), here of increasing the number of one’s sons (as opposed to aví̄ras in c); cp. prá yé bándhuṃ tiránte, gávyā pṛñcánto áśvyā maghá̄ni who further their kin, giving abundantly gifts of cows and horses (vii. 67, 9).

See Page Number 122, Hymn Number 5 in PDF for Sanskrit Version

• 5

  ámūrā, víśvā, vṛṣaṇāv, imá̄ vāṃ,
• ná yá̄su citráṃ dádṛśe, ná yakṣám.
• drúhaḥ sacante ánṛtā jánānāṃ:
• ná vāṃ niṇyá̄ni acíte abhūvan.

O wise mighty ones, all these (praises) are for you two, in which no marvel is seen nor mystery. Avengers follow the falsehoods of men: there have been no secrets for you not to know.

The interpretation of this stanza is uncertain. Following the Padapāṭha I take ámūrā to be a du. m. agreeing with vṛṣaṇau, but víśvā for víśvās (contrary to the Pada) f. pl. N. agreeing with imá̄s these (sc. stutáyas). ná citrám: that is, no deceit or falsehood. dádṛśe: 3. s. pf. Ā. with ps. sense, as often (cp. p. 342 a). drúhas: the spies of Varuṇa (cp. 3 c). ná niṇyá̄ni: explains c: there is nothing hidden from you. a-cíte: dat. inf. (cp. 167, 1 a).

See Page Number 122, Hymn Number 6 in PDF for Sanskrit Version

• 6

  sám u vāṃ yajñáṃ mahayaṃ námobhir;
• huvé vāṃ, Mitrā-Varuṇā, sabá̄dhaḥ.
• prá vāṃ mánmāni ṛcáse návāni;
• kṛtá̄ni bráhma jujuṣann imá̄ni.

With reverence I will consecrate for you the sacrifice; I call on you two, Mitra-Varuṇa, with zeal. (These) new thoughts are to praise you; may these prayers that have been offered be pleasing.

sám mahayam: 1. s. inj. cs. of mah. huvé: 1. s. pr. Ā. of hū call. sabá̄dhas: note that the pcl. sa is separated in the Pada text, though the privative pcl. a is not. prá . . . ṛcáse: dat. inf. from arc praise (see p. 192, b 1; cp. p. 463, notes 2 and 8). návāni: the seers often emphasize the importance of new prayers. bráhma: n. pl.; see 90, p. 67 (bottom) and note 4. jujuṣan: 3. pl. sb. pf. of juṣ (140, 1).

See Page Number 123, Hymn Number 7 in PDF for Sanskrit Version

• 7

  iyáṃ, devā, puróhitir yuvábhyāṃ
• yajñéṣu, Mitrā-Varuṇāv, akāri;
• viśvāni durgá̄ pipṛtaṃ tiró no.
• yūyáṃ pāta suastíbhiḥ sádā naḥ.

This priestly service, O gods, has been rendered to you two at sacrifices, O Mitra-Varuṇa. Take us across all hardships. Do ye protect us evermore with blessings.

This final stanza is a repetition of the final stanza of the preceding hymn (vii. 60); d is the refrain characteristic of the hymns of the Vasiṣṭha family, concluding three-fourths of the hymns of the seventh Maṇḍala.

deva: voc. du., shortened for devā (cp. Varuṇa in 1 a) as restored in the Pada text. yuvábhyām: note the difference between this form and yúvabhyām, dat. du. of yúvan youth. Mitrā-Varuṇau: note that in the older parts of the RV. the du. ending au occurs only within a Pāda before vowels, in the Sandhi form of āv. akāri: ps. ao. of kṛ do. pipṛtam: 2. du. ipv. pr. of pṛ put across. yūyám: pl., scil. devās, because the line is a general refrain addressed to the gods, not to Mitra-Varuṇa.