The Religion and Philosophy of the Veda and Upanishads v1.c16.s2.5

v1.c16.s2.5

With Mitra, or alone, Varuṇa is often styled a king; he is king of both gods and men, of all that exists, of the whole world. He bears also the title of independent ruler (*svarāj*) which is more specially Indra’s, and, much oftener than Indra, he is called universal monarch (*samrāj*), a title found a few times also of Agni. With Mitra and twice also with Aryaman, he is accorded the attribute of sovereignty (*kṣatra*) which is elsewhere given but once each to Agni, Bṛhaspati, and the Açvins; similarly the term ruler is given to him in four of its five occurrences, and but once to the gods in general.⁵ He and Mitra are the noble lords of the gods, and the epithet Asura⁶ is given to him in proportion far oftener than to Indra and Agni.