Varuna, Guardian of Cosmic Justice, Lord of the Sky, was once the most revered and powerful deity known to Vedic India. Indra may have been stronger, and the greater hero, with more panache and derring-do, but when it came to ultimate principles, there was no doubt as to who was the great god who sustained the universe. Varuna was a dual god known as Mitra-Varuna, the former ruling the day and the latter the night, but slowly the names became synonyms. Scholars are agreed that Varuna was a sky god like Ouranos; indeed the two names are derived from the same linguistic root. From this elevated position of observation, it was natural for Varuna to become the great Observer of Deeds and punish those that were transgressions of, not the Law, but Ritha, Cosmic Order. The hymns in praise of Varuna are some of the most exalted known to man in any culture. So it is a great surprise that Varuna-worship declined in the catastrophic manner that it finally did. Most Hindus today know him as a minor godling with some power over the waters, not as the great arbiter of justice and order in the cosmos.

His initial myths are all archetypal in nature. They also link up with the mythology of other cultures in a manner that would not be true of later stories. Varuna is credited with finding the sun, hidden in the cosmic waters and setting it in the sky. He also parts the earth and the sky, a creation myth most famous in Egyptian myth as the story of Geb and Nut. He is praised as the king of kings, the first emperor concept in the mind of the Aryans, the one responsible for making it rain. This aspect of kingship would become an inseparable part of Indian culture, the acid test for good rule was if the rains came in time and plentifully. If they did not, then ergo, the king had failed to rule well. He is praised as the great magician too, who strides through space and measures apart the earth with the sun as with a measuring stick. Which also tells something about the technological level of the society that worshipped him.

The hymns rise to a pitch of exaltation when they contemplate the splendor of Varuna, for he is a god who never does a mean or dubious action, unlike Indra, who was always in the grip of his Hero's Destiny and couldn't care less how he attained it. He is "the victory in swift horses, milk in the dawn cows (meaning the essence of light = wisdom, as the word 'go' meant both cow and light) intelligence in the hearts of men and fire in the waters." He is the great friend of man, as the word Mitra literally means 'friend', and he severely punishes all transgressions against friendship. It is a unique note in Indian culture, obsessed as it is with family and deeply suspicious of friends. The loss of the Vedic Weltanschauung really lessened the minds in many ways.

But most of all is Varuna feared as a just judge. For Varuna was entirely without sentiment when it came to transgressions against Ritha. Even his best friend, the sage Vashistha, felt the anger of Varuna flare against him for his wrongdoing. Like generations of mankind to come after him, Vasistha offered remarkably familiar mea culpa. "The mischief was not done of my own free will, O Varuna; wine anger, dice or carelessness led me astray. Even sleep does not avert evil. I would serve the generous god and be free from sin." It is clearly understood that repentance and service to Varuna washes away the sins attracted. It is also clearly understood that there is no use trying to fool Varuna about what you have been up to. "Wherever two together plot, and deem they are alone, King Varuna is there, a third, and all their schemes are known." For liars are especially reserved the dread punishment of the Varuna Pasha, the noose of Varuna. He is the god who is able to prolong life, so it seems only logical to assume that he can cut it short too.

One of his other abilities must have ensured him a long run of popularity, the granting of sons. In later myths this takes a nasty turn and nothing could signify better the dwindled stature of the great god. Harishchandra, King of the Ikshavakus, wishes a son and heir and foolishly promises Varuna that if a boy were granted him, he would sacrifice it to the god. The son was born, and Harishchandra began to suffer from lapses of memory. The angry god afflicted him with dropsy. A compromise was reached with the aid of Vashistha who was the king's guru. A substitute would be acceptable, provided he was consciously willing to be so slaughtered for reasons of state. A middle son of a brahmana, named Shunashepa was found who did so agree. He was disgusted with his parents who were partial to his siblings and wanted to end it all while at the same time securing his family's fortunes, thus doing his duty and leaving them with a burden of guilt that must have been very soothing to his harrowed nerves. Vashistha's great rival, Vishwamitra, 'the friend of the world', and a strangled memory of the original Mitra-Varuna compassion, chances upon this ghastly situation and he teaches the boy some hymns in praise of Varuna to be recited on the chopping block. They so delight the god that he forgoes his dues and exalts Shunashepa above all men. This story is such an outrage upon the Vedic Varuna that I was almost tempted to let it be, but it says a lot as to what men do to gods they no longer worship. Varuna should have reached for his noose and dragged the creators of this disgusting tale off to perdition.

In later myths Varuna is described as the Lord of the Waters. This is a focus on his powers of inducing dropsy, as well as the Vedic description of him as the god who satisfies the thirst of his followers. He is described as being in the midst of the celestial waters as well as being a sky god, a juxtaposition possible only in one spot. Varuna's power over the water as well as the geographical conjunction of ocean waters with the sky at the horizon made sure that his watery aspect would remain, even when his people cast him down from the sky. His names like Jalapati, 'Ruler of Waters' and Yadapti, 'Lord of Aquatic Animals' reflect this changed reality. In an almost forgotten throwback to this Vedic statue he is also called, Prachetas, 'the wise'. Varuna is rarely depicted in images or paintings, but when it is done he is always in the erect posture of perfection, the atibhanga posture, with a noose in his hand. He rides a makara, a fabulous animal with the head and front legs of an antelope and the body and tail of a fish. Best of all, he is supposed to live in a house with a thousand doors, as he is always accessible to man. The cosmic friend still has a little place in the imagination of his people.