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Dhammapada · narration sample

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Rig Veda · 605 of 1027

Mandala 7: HYMN LXXXIX Varuṇa.

1.LET me not yet, King Varuṇa, enter into the house of clay: Have mercy, spare me, Mighty Lord.

2.When, Thunderer! I move along tremulous like a wind-blown skin, Have mercy, spare me, Mighty Lord.

3.O Bright and Powerful God, through want of strength I erred and went astray Have mercy, spare me, Mighty Lord.

4.Thirst found thy worshipper though he stood in the midst of water-floods: Have mercy, spare me, Mighty Lord.

5.O Varuṇa, whatever the offence may be which we as men commit against the heavenly host, When through our want of thought we violate thy laws, punish us not, O God, for that iniquity.

Asked of Guide

Why does the poet repeatedly beg Varuṇa to “Have mercy, spare me, Mighty Lord”?

The poet uses repeated pleas to Varuṇa to show urgent fear of death and moral error, asking the god to delay entry into the “house of clay” and spare him from punishment. The refrain frames the speaker as vulnerable—“tremulous like a wind-blown skin,” led astray by weakness—and appeals to Varuṇa’s role as law‑keeper who can withhold retribution.

This insistence on mercy also reflects Vedic emphasis on correct ritual and moral order: when the hymn says “through want of thought we violate thy laws,” it locates sin in human carelessness and asks divine clemency. The pattern echoes other Rigveda hymns that balance human frailty and devotion, like Book 1 hymns to Mitra‑Varuṇa that plead forgiveness and preservation.

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