Rig Veda · 418 of 1027
Mandala 5: HYMN LX1V. Mitra-Varuṇa
HYMN LXIV. Mitra-Varuṇa
1.You, foeman-slaying Varuṇa and Mitra, we invoke with song, Who, as with penfold of your arms, encompass round the realm of light.
2.Stretch out your arms with favouring love unto this man who singeth hymns, For in all places is sung forth your evergracious friendliness.
3.That I may gain a refuge now, may my steps be on Mitra’s path. Men go protected in the charge of this dear Friend who harms us not.
4.Mitra and Varuṇa, from you may I, by song, win noblest meed. That shall stir envy in the homes of wealthy chiefs and those who praise.
5.With your fair splendours, Varuṇa and Mitra, to our gathering come, That in their homes the wealthy chiefs and they who are your friends may thrive.
6.With those, moreover, among whom ye hold your high supremacy, Vouchsafe us room that we may win strength for prosperity and wealth.
7.When morning flushes, Holy Ones! in the Gods’ realm where white Cows shine, Supporting Arcananas, speed, ye Heroes, with your active feet hither to my pressed Soma juice.
Asked of Guide
Why do the poet and community call on Mitra and Varuṇa together?
The hymn treats Mitra and Varuṇa as a paired divine power who ‘‘encompass round the realm of light’’ and offer protection and favour; the poet asks them jointly to ‘‘stretch out your arms’’ and grant refuge, prosperity, and success in song. The couple appears as complementary patrons of social order and friendship—Mitra as the dear Friend and Varuṇa as the foeman-slayer whose splendour brings blessing—so invoking them together seeks both protection and the social rewards of divine favour.
This pairing echoes other Rig Veda hymns where the two act as a legal and moral dyad enforcing cosmic order; compare Mandala 3, Hymn 59, where Mitra-Varuṇa together maintain ṛta and reward worshippers. The hymn’s requests for ‘‘noblest meed’’ and thriving homes show the poets expect their paired authority to secure both individual refuge and communal prosperity.
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