The Religion and Philosophy of the Veda and Upanishads v1.c16.s2.48

v1.c16.s2.48

Apart from the question of Semitic origin the identification of Varuṇa with the moon is absolutely without support. It can only be justified by the later Saṁhitās, which, however, are far more readily explained by the obvious fact that Varuṇa was being superseded in his position of greatness by Indra, Agni, and Prajāpati, and that accordingly it was natural for the priest to seek to find some position for him, which would naturally explain his connexion with Mitra, whose nature as a sun god was never forgotten in Iran or India. With the hypothesis of Varuṇa as a moon god might, of course, be brought into connexion the fact that the Ādityas are seven, which has also been cited for their Semitic origin. But there is no real proof of the existence of any knowledge in Vedic India of a seven-day week,¹ and it may be added that, save for the Jewish seven-day week, no such period is proved² for any Semitic civilization at an early date.