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Varuna God of Order (ṛta), Law, the Sky and the Ocean Devanagari: वरुण Affiliation: Aditya, Asura but later on as a Deva, Guardians of the directions Abode: Celestial ocean (Rasā) Mantra: Oṃ Vaṃ Varuṇāya Namaḥ Weapon: Noose Consort: Varuni Mount: Makara (Hindu mythology) Planet: Venus

In Vedic religion, Varuna (Devanagari:वरुण, IAST:varuṇa) is a god of the sky, of rain and of the celestial ocean, as well as a god of law and of the underworld. He is the most prominent Asura in the Rigveda, and chief of the Gods. Image File history File links Example. ... The Brahmic family is a family of abugidas (writing systems) used in South Asia, Southeast Asia, Tibet, Mongolia, Manchuria. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 550 × 599 pixel Image in higher resolution (561 × 611 pixel, file size: 80 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Varuna ... RTA is a TLA that could mean: Chicagos Regional Transportation Authority (AAR reporting mark RTA) Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority Road Traffic Accident, see car accident Roads and Traffic Authority, in New South Wales, Australia Renal Tubular Acidosis Riverside Transit Agency, in Riverside County, California Rewriting Techniques and Applications... Lady Justice or Justitia is a personification of the moral force that underlies the legal system (particularly in Western art). ... A typical daytime sky. ... Animated map exhibiting the worlds oceanic waters. ... In Hinduism, the s are a group of solar deities, sons of Aditi and Kashyapa. ... // In Hinduism In Hindu mythology, the Asura (Sanskrit: असुर) are a group of power-seeking deities, sometimes misleadingly referred to as demons. ... Deva can refer to: Deva (Hinduism), a Hindu deity. ... The Guardians of the Directions (Sanskrit Aṣṭa-Dikpālas) are the deities who rule the eight directions of space according to Hinduism and Vajrayāna Buddhism - especially Kālacakra. ... Several mythologies have the notion of a celestial ocean or river, enveloping the world both above the heavenly sphere and below the underworld. ... Rasa () means moisture, humitidy in Vedic Sanskrit, and appears as the name of a western tributary of the Indus in the Rigveda (verse 5. ... Varuni (heavenly nectar) is the wife of Varuna and the goddess of wine and intoxication. ... According to Hindu mythology, Makara, a mythical creature, is the vahana of Ganga and Varuna. ... Adjectives: Venusian or (rarely) Cytherean Atmosphere Surface pressure: 9. ... The religion of the Vedic civilization is the predecessor of classical Hinduism, usually included in the term. ... () is an abugida script used to write, either along with other scripts, or exclusively, several Indian languages, including Sanskrit, Hindi, Marathi, Sindhi, Bihari, Bhili, Marwari, Konkani, Bhojpuri, Nepali, Nepal Bhasa from Nepal and sometimes Kashmiri and Romani. ... IAST, or International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration is the academic standard for writing the Sanskrit language with the Latin alphabet and very similar to National Library at Calcutta romanization standard being used with many Indic scripts. ... A typical daytime sky. ... Rain is a source of precipitation which forms when separate drops of water fall to the Earths surface from clouds. ... Several mythologies have the notion of a celestial ocean or river, enveloping the world both above the heavenly sphere and below the underworld. ... Lady Justice or Justitia is a personification of the moral force that underlies the legal system (particularly in Western art). ... // In the study of mythology and religion, the underworld is a generic term approximately equivalent to the lay term afterlife, referring to any place to which newly dead souls go. ... // In Hinduism In Hindu mythology, the Asura (Sanskrit: असुर) are a group of power-seeking deities, sometimes misleadingly referred to as demons. ... The Rigveda (Sanskrit: , a tatpurusha compound of praise, verse and knowledge) is a collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns dedicated to the gods. ...

Vedic and other roles

As chief of the Adityas, Varuna has aspects of a solar deity. As the most prominent Asura, however, he is more concerned with moral and societal affairs than a deification of nature. (see: Varuna, the Guardian of Morality in the Rgveda, Colombo: 2007 by Rohana Seneviratne,University of Peradeniya). Together with Mitra – originally oath personified — being master of ṛtá, he is the supreme keeper of order and god of the law. In Hinduism, the Adityas are a group of solar deities, sons of Aditi and Kasyapa. ... It has been suggested that Sun cults be merged into this article or section. ... // In Hinduism In Hindu mythology, the Asura (Sanskrit: असुर) are a group of power-seeking deities, sometimes misleadingly referred to as demons. ... This article is about the Vedic deity Mitra. ... An oath (from Old Saxon eoth) is either a promise or a statement of fact calling upon something or someone that the oath maker considers sacred, usually a god, as a witness to the binding nature of the promise or the truth of the statement of fact. ... (Sanskrit: ऋत) as used in Vedic Sanskrit, or in English Rta, literally means the order or course of things, cognate to Avestan . ... Lady Justice or Justitia is a personification of the moral force that underlies the legal system (particularly in Western art). ...

Varuna and Mitra are the gods of the oath, often twinned or identified as Mitra-Varuna (a dvandva compound). Varuna is also twinned with Indra in the Rigveda, as Indra-Varuna. An oath (from Old Saxon eoth) is either a promise or a statement of fact calling upon something or someone that the oath maker considers sacred, usually a god, as a witness to the binding nature of the promise or the truth of the statement of fact. ... A dvandva or copulative or coordinative compound refers to two or more objects that could be connected in sense by the conjunction and. Dvandvas are common in some languages such as Sanskrit, where the term originates, and Japanese, but less common in English (The term is not often found in... Indra (Sanskrit: इन्द्र or इंद्र, indra) is the god of weather and war, and lord of Svargaloka in Hinduism. ...

As a sky god, Varuna may either correspond to, or rule over, the dark half of the sky — or celestial ocean (Rasā), hence being also a god of rain — or represent the 'dark' side of the Sun as it travels back from West to East during the night. Several mythologies have the notion of a celestial ocean or river, enveloping the world both above the heavenly sphere and below the underworld. ... Rasa () means moisture, humitidy in Vedic Sanskrit, and appears as the name of a western tributary of the Indus in the Rigveda (verse 5. ... Rain is a source of precipitation which forms when separate drops of water fall to the Earths surface from clouds. ... The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. ...

The Atharvaveda^[1] portrays Varuna as omniscient, catching liars in his snares. The stars are his thousand-eyed spies, watching every movement of men. The Atharvaveda (Sanskrit: अथर्ववेद, , a tatpurusha compound of , a type of priest, and meaning knowledge) is a sacred text of Hinduism, and one of the four Vedas, often called the fourth Veda. According to tradition, the Atharvaveda was mainly composed by two groups of rishis known as the Bhrigus and the...

In the Rigveda, Indra, chief of the Devas, is about six times more prominent than Varuna, who is mentioned 341 times. This may misrepresent the actual importance of Varuna in early Vedic society due to the focus of the Rigveda on fire and Soma ritual, Soma being closely associated with Indra; Varuna with his omniscience and omnipotence in the affairs of men has many aspects of a supreme deity. The Rigveda (Sanskrit: , a tatpurusha compound of praise, verse and knowledge) is a collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns dedicated to the gods. ... Indra (Sanskrit: इन्द्र or इंद्र, indra) is the god of weather and war, and lord of Svargaloka in Hinduism. ... It has been suggested that Deva (tribe) be merged into this article or section. ... Worship or deification of fire is known from various religions. ... This article is about the Vedic plant and ritual. ...

Both Mitra and Varuna are classified as Asuras in the Rigveda (e.g. RV 5.63.3), although they can already be addressed to as Devas as well (e.g. RV 7.60.12), possibly indicating the beginning of the negative connotations carried by Asura in later times. // In Hinduism In Hindu mythology, the Asura (Sanskrit: असुर) are a group of power-seeking deities, sometimes misleadingly referred to as demons. ... The fifth Mandala of the Rigveda has 87 hymns. ... Deva can refer to: Deva (Hinduism), a Hindu deity. ... The seventh Mandala of the Rigveda has 104 hymns. ...

Varuna later became the god of oceans and rivers and keeper of the souls of the drowned. As such, Varuna is also a god of the dead, and can grant immortality.From the name Varuna comes the name Varun which means thunder. He is attended by the nagas. He is also one of the Guardians of the directions, representing the west. Animated map exhibiting the worlds oceanic waters. ... Río Peralonso - El Zulia (Norte de Santander), Colombia River Gambia flowing through Niokolokoba National Park Nevėžis River in Lithuania A river is a natural waterway usually formed by water derived from either precipitation or glacial meltwater, and flows from higher ground to lower ground. ... Listen to this article · (info) This audio file was created from an article revision dated 2006-7-27, and may not reflect subsequent edits to the article. ... The nagas ( snake) are an ancient race of snake-humanoid beings first depicted in ancient Vedic Hindu mythology and oral folklore from at least 5000 B.C.E. Stories involving the Nagas are still very much a part of contemporary cultural traditions in predominantly Hindu (India, Nepal, and the island... The Guardians of the Directions (Sanskrit Aṣṭa-Dikpālas) are the deities who rule the eight directions of space according to Hinduism and Vajrayāna Buddhism - especially Kālacakra. ...

Later art depicts Varuna as a lunar deity, as a yellow man wearing golden armor and holding a noose or lasso made from a snake. He rides the sea monster Makara. An 18th century drawing of Khoikhoi worshipping the moon In mythology, a lunar deity is a god or goddess associated with or symbolizing the moon: see moon (mythology). ... blue: sea snakes, black: land snakes Superfamilies and Families Henophidia Aniliidae Anomochilidae Boidae Bolyeriidae Cylindrophiidae Loxocemidae Pythonidae Tropidophiidae Uropeltidae Xenopeltidae Typhlopoidea Anomalepididae Leptotyphlopidae Typhlopidae Xenophidia Acrochordidae Atractaspididae Colubridae Elapidae Hydrophiidae Viperidae For other uses, see Snake (disambiguation). ... The word Makara can refer to several different things. ...

Varuna's role may be compared to that of Poseidon in [[Greek_mythology|Greek mythology] This article is about the Greek god. ...

In Zoroastrianism

Varuna is not attested in the texts of the Avesta or in the Zoroastrian Pahlavi literature. The nearest homonymn is Varena, the four-cornered fourteenth region of the world (Vendidad 1.17) and populated by "fiends" and "savage, non-Aryan natives" (Vd 7.10). In Yasht 15, Haoshyangha begs for a boon that he might smite "two-thirds of the daevas of Mazana and of the fiends of Varena". (Yt 15.2.6) An individual who does not follow daena "[the good] religion" is an anya-varena. (Yasna 16.2; Vd 12.21, 15.2) See Avesta Municipality for the Swedish town Yasna 28. ... This article needs to be wikified. ... The Daeva are a fictional clan of vampires in the role-playing game Vampire: The Requiem, published by White Wolf Game Studio . ... Mazandaran (Persian: مازندران) is a province in northern Iran, bordering the Caspian (Mazandaran) Sea in the north. ...

Since the mid-1900s, both Indologists and Iranists have endevoured to project back the respective pantheons into the Indo-Iranian age. Among these efforts are several that attempt to identify what Vedic Varuna's Indo-Iranian predecessor may have been, and then descend via the other branch and so identify what this Indo-Iranian divinity has evolved into. What use such an intellectual exercise might have has been repeatedly questioned (e.g. Wright BSOAS 40.3:633), but ignoring these, present-day consensus considers Vedic Varuna to be descended from an Indo-Iranian *vouruna. What that divinity might have been like, or which divinity he evolved into in Iran remains a matter of debate. It should moreover be stressed that the identification applies to Indo-Iranian *vouruna and not Hinduism's Varuna. Linguistic cognateness does not imply similarity in nature or quality (eg daeva and deva). Map of the Sintashta-Petrovka culture (red), its expansion into the Andronovo culture during the 2nd millennium BC, showing the overlap with the BMAC in the south. ...

Dumezil (Tarpeia 1947:33-113) sees Varuna represented as the Amesha Spenta Asha Vahishta "Best Righteousness", an opinion - with extensions - that Widengren (Die Religionen Irans, 1965:12-13) and Nyberg (Die Religionen des alten Iran, 1938:282ff) also follow. In Zoroastrianism, Amesha Spentas are the Holy Immortals, the equivalent of Archangels in Christian theology. ...

Kuiper (IIJ I, 1957) proposes that none less than Ahura Mazda is a development from *vouruna-*mitra. The basis of Kuiper's proposal is that the equivalent of Avestan mazda "wisdom" is Vedic medhira, described in Rigveda 8.6.10 as the "(revealed) insight into the cosmic order" that Varuna grants his devotees. In Kuiper's view, Ahura Mazda is then a compound divinity in which the propitious characteristics of *mitra negate the unfavorable qualities of *vouruna. From the name Varuna comes the name Varun It has also been observed that Varuna has the by-name Bhaga, that is - as Baga - attested in the Avesta. (eg Zimmer, Münchner Studien 1984:187-215) This would then be a cult epithet, the proper name having been forgotten - a not uncommon occurrence. This may be seen to be reflected in Artaxerxes III's invocation of ahuramazda ura mithra baga "Ahura Mazda, Mithra and the Baga" (Boyce, Acta Iranica 21, 1981:59-73). Ahura Mazda is the Avestan language name for an exalted divinity of ancient proto-Indo-Iranian religion that was subsequently declared by Zarathustra (Zoroaster) to be the one uncreated creator of all (God). ... Artaxerxes III ruled Persia from 358 BC to 338 BC. He was the son of Artaxerxes II and was succeeded by Arses of Persia (also known as Artaxerxes IV). ...

In the Gathas, the hymns considered to have been composed by Zoroaster himself, the poet does not specify which of the divinities (aside from Ahura Mazda) he considers to be ahuras. While Ahura Mazda is uniformly "the mightiest Ahura" (eg Yasna 33.11), in the only two occurences of the term where the word does not refer to Ahura Mazda, the poet uses the expression mazdasca ahurano (Yasna 30.9, 31.4). This phrase, generally understood to mean "the Wise [Mazda] One and the (other) Ahuras", is is in "common opinion" (so Boyce 1984:159) recognized as being archaic and in which the other Ahuras are *mitra and *varouna. Boyce (Mithra the King and Varuna the Master, 2001) sees this supported by the younger Avestan dvandvah expression mithra ahura berezanta "Mithra and the High Lord", the latter being unambiguously Apam Napat, the third member of the Ahuric triad. (Gray, Foundations, 1929:15) The Gathas (Gāθās) are the most sacred of the texts of the Zoroastrian faith, and are traditionally believed to have been composed by Zarathushtra (Zoroaster) himself. ... Ahura Mazda is the Avestan language name for an exalted divinity of ancient proto-Indo-Iranian religion that was subsequently declared by Zarathustra (Zoroaster) to be the one uncreated creator of all (God). ... Burz is the middle Persian name for the Indo-Iranian divinity of waters. ...

For each of the above identifications there are numerous counter-identifications and it is unlikely that a shared opinion will crystallize in the near future.

Notes

1. ^ Shaunakiya Atharvaveda 4.16, corresponding to Paippalada 5.32.

See also

• Rigvedic deities
• Mitra (Vedic)
• Adityas
• Guardians of the directions
• The king and Varuna

There are 1028 hymns in the Rigveda, most of them dedicated to specific deities. ... This article is about the Vedic deity Mitra. ... In Hinduism, the Adityas are a group of solar deities, sons of Aditi and Kasyapa. ... The Guardians of the Directions (Sanskrit Aṣṭa-Dikpālas) are the deities who rule the eight directions of space according to Hinduism and Vajrayāna Buddhism - especially Kālacakra. ... The king and the god ( -) is the title of a short dialogue composed in the Proto-Indo-European language. ...

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