VARUNA
Veeraswamy Krishnaraj

Varuna on his mount


August 13, 2016

Varua was intently tearing through in the sky. His object of search was his twin brother Ahura Mazda (Mighty Lord of Wisdom). He wrote in the sky, “Where are you, my twin brother?” Varua and Mazda were brothers separated at birth. He vanished in thin air, unseen by anybody. Varua had the uncanny ability to identify anyone from great distances. Years later, Varua found out Mazda was taken to Persia and became the god of Zoroastrians. He inculcated in his devotees three tenets: Virtue in Thoughts, Words and Deeds. There is a ‘vr’ in Virtue, Virile Man…’Vr’ also means ‘encompass,’ or ‘cover.’ Naturally Varua’s name starts with a ‘Vr.’  He is the Lord of the sky, waters…

Varua sent a sky mail to Ahura and received a reply, moments later, “I am fine, my twin brother. I am quite happy where I am. My devotees adore me. I hear you are doing fine. I am mighty happy about you.”

Varua thought to himself that one day he would meet his twin brother in person. He worked hard to stay at the top of the celestials with Indra and Agni. As his twin brother Mazda, he was the Lord of ta (Dharma), the Law of ethics.

Wherever the sun’s rays reached, Varua had his informants sending dossiers of miscreants and law breakers.  He even boasted he was Viṣṇu.

A liar was pulled up and punished. He was more a friend than a brother with Mitra and Aryaman. Mitra made it his life mission to inculcate a strong work ethic by waking people up with the rising sun and send them to work.  Aditya was their mother. Mitra is ultra-vegetarian and a protector of all beings and objects.

The gods made Mitra and Varua the Upholders of the Law. You can see that Aditya’s sons are noble souls. Mitra’s twin brother was the Greco-Iranian Mithras. I did not know he immigrated to Greece.

Varua and Mitra were handsome and shone like the sun. They imbibed Soma juice for breakfast, lunch and dinner.  They were the celestial stallions. The men implored them to induce love in woman they wanted as partners.

They accompanied the kings in battles for success. They withheld rain from oppressors. Once a king’s daughter had blemishes on her skin. By magic incantation they removed them.

Recalcitrant rogues, they cursed, to develop dropsy by weakening their hearts and liver.

Since Varua is the Lord of waters, he helps those who dowse and divine for water before they dig wells. The Tamil fishermen call him Varunan, the deity of the high seas.

Makara is an acquatic animal, his transport and ride.