A Classical Dictionary of Hindu Mythology and Religion, Geography, History, and Literature c5.1996

c5.1996

Dr. Muir thus sums up in the words of the hymns the functions and attributes of Varuna:—"The grandest cosmical functions are ascribed to Varuna. Possessed of illimitable resources (or knowledge), this divine being has meted out (or fashioned) and upholds heaven and earth, he dwells in all worlds as sovereign ruler; indeed the three worlds are embraced within him. He made the golden and revolving sun to shine in the firmament. The wind which resounds through the atmosphere is his breath. He has opened out boundless paths for the sun, and has hollowed out channels for the rivers, which flow by his command. By his wonderful contrivance the rivers pour out their waters into the one ocean but never fill it. His ordinances are fixed and unassailable. They rest on him unshaken as on a mountain. Through the operation (of his laws) the moon walks in brightness, and the stars which appear in the nightly sky mysteriously vanish in daylight. Neither the birds flying in the air, nor the rivers in their ceaseless flow can attain a knowledge of his power or his wrath. His messengers behold both worlds. He knows the flight of birds in the sky, the paths of ships on the ocean, the course of the far-travelling wind, and beholds all the things that have been or shall be done. No creature can even wink without him. He witnesses men's truth and falsehood. He instructs the Rishi Vasishtha in mysteries; but his secrets and those of Mitra are not to be revealed to the foolish." "He has unlimited control over the destinies of mankind. He has a hundred thousand remedies, and is supplicated to show his wide and deep benevolence and drive away evil and sin, to untie sin like a rope and remove it. He is entreated not to steal away, but to prolong life, and to spare the suppliant who daily transgresses his laws. In many places mention is made of the bonds or nooses with which he seizes and punishes transgressors. Mitra and Varuna conjointly are spoken of in one passage as being barriers against falsehood, furnished with many nooses, which the hostile mortal cannot surmount; and, in another place, Indra and Varuna are described as binding with bonds not formed of rope. On the other hand, Varuna is said to be gracious even to him who has committed sin. He is the wise guardian of immortality, and a hope is held out that he and Yama, reigning in blessedness, shall be beheld in the next world by the righteous.”