The Religion of the Veda: The Ancient Religion of India (from Rig-Veda to Upanishads) c8.72

c8.72

Finally in man’s activity the *ṛta* manifests itself as the moral law. Here it takes by the hand the closely kindred idea of truth, *satya*. Untruth, on the other hand, is *anṛta*, more rarely *asatya*, the same two words with prefix of negation. The two words *satya* and *anṛta* form a close dual compound, “truth and lie,” “sincerity and falsehood,” both zealously watched over by God Varuṇa.⁴ They remain the standard words for these twin opposites for all Hindu time. Varuṇa is the real trustee of the *ṛta*. When God Agni struggles towards the *ṛta* he is said in a remarkable passage to become for the time being God Varuṇa.⁵