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| Varuna with his consort Varunani |
Who Is The Indo-Aryan Deity Varuna?
Statue of Varuna at the National Museum in Delhi
In the Vedas, the oldest and most authoritative religious texts, Varuna is a deity associated with the sky, with waters, with justice, and with truth.
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| Statue of Varuna - Lord of knowledge |
Varuna belongs to the earliest layer of the Indo-Aryan
deities; this is clearly shown by comparisons with the Avesta, an ancient
Iranian sacred text that shows many parallels with the Vedas, and with even
older epigraphic sources.
As portrayed in the Vedas, however, Varuna’s influence has
clearly declined—there are far fewer hymns addressed to him than to deities
such as Indra, Agni, and Soma, and he seems to have played a far less important
role than these other deities in Vedic religion.
In the Vedas, Varuna is portrayed as the guardian of rta, the cosmic order through which the world proceeds.
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| Varuna Riding Naga |
As the deity associated with the high heaven, he also
watches over the deeds of human beings and punishes them for any
transgressions.
The best known hymn to Varuna, Rig Veda 7.86, shows Varuna’s
connection with justice, moral order, and the waters.
The hymn is the lament of a person who has committed some
offense against Varuna and whose sin has become visible through being afflicted
with dropsy, in which the body retains its fluids and swells.
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| USS Varuna |
The speaker begs Varuna to reveal the forbidden act,
“committed under the influence of liquor, anger, or heedlessness,” so that
Varuna may be propitiated and the sufferer healed.
Despite his virtual eclipse early in the tradition, in the
later tradition, Varuna retains his association as the god presiding over the
waters.
He is also considered to be one of the eight Guardians of
the Directions, each of which is associated with one of eight points on the
compass.
Varuna presides over the western direction.
You may also want to read more about Hinduism here.
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