Page:A history of Sanskrit literature (1900), Macdonell, Arthur Anthony.djvu/89

 With the growth of the conception of the creator, Prajāpati, as a supreme deity, the characteristics of Varuṇa as a sovereign god naturally faded away, and the dominion of waters, only a part of his original sphere, alone remained. This is already partly the case in the Atharva-veda, and in post-Vedic mythology he is only an Indian Neptune, god of the sea.

The following stanzas from a hymn to Varuṇa (vii. 89) will illustrate the spirit of the prayers addressed to him:—


 * May I not yet, King Varuṇa,
 * Go down into the house of clay:
 * Have mercy, spare me, mighty Lord.


 * Thirst has come on thy worshipper
 * Though standing in the waters' midst:
 * Have mercy, spare me, mighty Lord.


 * O Varuṇa, whatever the offence may be
 * That we as men commit against the heavenly folk
 * When through our want of thought we violate thy laws,
 * Chastise us not, O God, for that iniquity.

There are in the Rigveda five solar deities, differentiated as representing various aspects of the activity of the sun. One of the oldest of these, Mitra, the "Friend," seems to have been conceived as the beneficent side of the sun's power. Going back to the Indo-Iranian period, he has in the Rigveda almost entirely lost his individuality, which is practically merged in that of Varuṇa. With the latter he is constantly invoked, while only one single hymn (iii. 59) is addressed to him alone.

Sūrya (cognate in name to the Greek Hēlios) is the most concrete of the solar deities. For as his name also designates the luminary itself, his connection with the