Editing Varuna (section)

===== Combined descriptions: ''Mitra–Varuṇa'' =====
Varuṇa is frequently paired with [[Mitra (Hindu god)|Mitra]] in the compound ''[[Mitra–Varuna|Mitra–Varuṇa]]'', appearing prominently in the ''Rigveda''. Together, they preside over moral and cosmic law, and are associated with ritual, rain, and natural cycles.<ref name=":Rig" /> Both deities are referred to as ''[[Asura|Asuras]]'' (e.g., RV 5.63.3), though also addressed as ''[[Deva (Hinduism)|Devas]]'' (e.g., RV 7.60.12), reflecting fluid theological roles.<ref name="Oldenberg1988p95">{{cite book |author=Hermann Oldenberg |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uKeubCiBOPQC&pg=PA95 |title=The Religion of the Veda |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |year=1988 |isbn=978-81-208-0392-3 |pages=95–98}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=David Leeming |url=https://archive.org/details/oxfordcompaniont0000leem |title=The Oxford Companion to World Mythology |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-19-028888-4 |page=[https://archive.org/details/oxfordcompaniont0000leem/page/200 200] |url-access=registration}}</ref>  According to myths, Varuna, being the king of the Asuras, was adopted or made the change to a Deva after the structuring of the primordial cosmos, imposed by Indra after he defeats [[Vritra]].<ref>F. B. J. Kuiper (1975), [https://www.jstor.org/stable/1061926 The Basic Concept of Vedic Religion], History of Religions, Vol. 15, No. 2 (Nov., 1975), pp. 107–120</ref>

Mitra–Varuṇa are described as youthful monarchs clad in glistening garments, residing in a golden palace with a thousand pillars and gates. They are lords of rivers, rain, and heavenly order, sending dew and bountiful waters, and punishing falsehood with disease.<ref name="VR">{{cite book |last=MacDonell |first=Arthur Anthony |title=A Vedic Reader |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1917 |pages=78–83, 118–119, 134}}</ref> Their sun is described as their "eye", and their cosmic chariot moves across the sky via solar rays. Possessing divine spies and secret knowledge (''māyā́''), they maintain ''ṛta'' and oversee oaths and societal order.<ref name="VR" /> According to myth, the sages [[Vasishtha|Vashistha]] and [[Agastya]] were born from their shared semen, which they deposited into a pitcher after seeing the celestial nymph [[Urvashi]].<ref name="G">{{cite book |last=Goodman |first=Hananya |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XF_a3cfrcLQC&q=agastya+vasistha+urvasi+rgveda&pg=PA218 |title=Between Jerusalem and Benares: Comparative studies in Judaism and Hinduism |date=2012-02-01 |publisher=State University of New York Press |isbn=978-1-4384-0437-0 |lang=en}}</ref>

Scholar [[Doris Meth Srinivasan|Doris Srinivasan]] highlights the ambiguous and dualistic nature of Mitra–Varuṇa, comparing it to the [[Rudra]]-[[Shiva]] pairing.<ref name="Macey2010p2">{{cite book |author=Samuel L. Macey |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=G_z_R89DaPkC&pg=PA2 |title=Patriarchs of Time |publisher=University of Georgia Press |year=2010 |isbn=978-0-8203-3797-5 |pages=2–3, 165}}</ref> Both Varuṇa and Rudra are described as omniscient guardians, capable of both wrath and grace. In ''Rigveda'' 5.70, the Mitra–Varuṇa pair is even called ''Rudra''.<ref name="Srinivasan1997p48">{{cite book |author=Doris Srinivasan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vZheP9dIX9wC&pg=PA48 |title=Many Heads, Arms, and Eyes: Origin, Meaning, and Form of Multiplicity in Indian Art |publisher=BRILL Academic |year=1997 |isbn=90-04-10758-4 |pages=48–49}}</ref> According to Samuel Macey and other scholars, Varuna had been the more ancient Indo-Aryan deity in 2nd millennium BCE, who gave way to Rudra in the Hindu pantheon, and Rudra-Shiva became both "timeless and the god of time".<ref name="Macey2010p2" /><ref>{{cite book |author1=J. P. Mallory |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iNUSDAAAQBAJ |title=The Oxford Introduction to Proto-Indo-European and the Proto-Indo-European World |author2=D. Q. Adams |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-19-928791-8 |pages=430–432}}</ref>