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Rig Veda · 603 of 1027
Mandala 7: HYMN LXXXVII. Varuṇa.
1.VARUNA cut a pathway out for Sūrya, and led the watery floods of rivers onward. The Mares, as in a race, speed on in order. He made great channels for the days to follow.
2.The wind, thy breath, hath sounded through the region like a wild beast that seeks his food in pastures. Within these two, exalted Earth and Heaven, O Varuṇa, are all the forms thou lovest.
3.Varuṇa’s spies, sent forth upon their errand, survey the two world-halves well formed and fashioned. Wise are they, holy, skilled in sacrifices, the furtherers of the praise-songs of the prudent.
4.To me who understand hath Varuṇa spoken, the names borne by the Cow are three times seven. The sapient God, knowing the place’s secret, shall speak as ’twere to teach the race that cometh.
5.On him three heavens rest and are supported, and the three earths are there in sixfold order. The wise King Varuṇa hath made in heaven that Golden Swing to cover it with glory.
6.Like Varuṇa from heaven he sinks in Sindhu, like a white-shining spark, a strong wild creature. Ruling in depths and meting out the region, great saving power hath he, this world’s Controller.
7.Before this Varuṇa may we be sinless him who shows mercy even to the sinner- While we are keeping Aditi’s ordinances. Preserve us evermore, ye Gods, with blessings.
Asked of Guide
Why does the hymn call Varuṇa the maker of “great channels” and the one who “led the watery floods”?
The hymn portrays Varuṇa as the cosmic regulator who shapes order: he “cut a pathway out for Sūrya” and “led the watery floods of rivers onward,” which presents him as the deity who defines routes for sun, water, and time. Those “great channels” are both literal river-paths and metaphors for the laws that let heaven and earth function in sequence—days to follow and rivers to run.
The poem also insists on Varuṇa’s surveillance and moral role—his “spies” who “survey the two world-halves” and his mercy toward the sinner—so his control is administrative and ethical as well as physical. That dual role echoes the Rigveda’s larger theme (compare Mandala 10’s Varuṇa hymns) where cosmic order (ṛta) is enforced by a god who maintains channels of movement and of right conduct.
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