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Rig Veda · 580 of 1027
Mandala 7: HYMN LXIV. Mitra-Varuṇa.
1.YE Twain who rule, in heaven and earth, the region, clothed be your clouds in robes of oil and fatness. May the imperial Varuṇa, and Mitra, and high-born Aryaman accept our presents.
2.Kings, guards of rrtighty everlasting Order, come hitherward, ye Princes, Lords of Rivers. Send us from heaven, O Varuṇa and Mitra, rain and sweet food, ye who pour down your bounties.
3.May the dear God, and Varuṇa and Mitra conduct us by the most effective pathways, That foes may say unto Sudās our chieftain, May, we, too, joy in food with Gods to guard us.
4.Him who hath wrought for you this car in spirit, who makes the song rise upward and sustains it, Bedew with fatness, Varuṇa nd Mitra ye Kings, make glad the pleasant dwelling-places.
5.To you this laud, O Varuṇa and Mitra is offered like bright Soma juice to Vāyu. Favour our songs of praise, wake thought and spirit. Preserve us evermore, ye Gods, with blessings.
Asked of Guide
Why are Mitra and Varuṇa asked together for rain, food, and protection in this hymn?
The hymn pairs Mitra and Varuṇa because each governs complementary aspects of cosmic order: Varuṇa oversees moral law and the heavens, Mitra oversees agreements and the daylight; together they are invoked as “Kings, guards of rrtighty everlasting Order” to secure material and social well‑being. The poem asks them jointly to “send us from heaven… rain and sweet food” and to “conduct us by the most effective pathways,” linking sacrificial praise with tangible blessings.
This coupling echoes how the Rig Veda treats divine pairs as functional teams; see earlier hymns where allied deities combine forces to sustain rta (order) and community prosperity. Calling them with Aryaman and Vāyu follows a familiar Vedic pattern of assembling allied gods to bless the sacrificers and their chieftain, Sudās.
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