A Classical Dictionary of Hindu Mythology and Religion, Geography, History, and Literature c5.1995

c5.1995

He is regent of the west quarter and of one of the Nakshatras or lunar mansions. According to the Mahā-bhārata he was son of Kardama and father of Pushkara. The Mahā-bhārata relates that he carried off Bhadrā, the wife of Utathya (q.v.), a Brāhman, but Utathya obliged him to submit and restore her. He was in a way the father of the sage Vasishtha (q.v.). In the Vedas, Varuna is not specially connected with water, but there are passages in which he is associated with the element of water both in the atmosphere and on the earth, in such a way as may account for the character and functions ascribed to him in the later mythology.