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Rig Veda · 423 of 1027
Mandala 5: HYMN LXIX. Mitra-Varuṇa.
1.THREE spheres of light, O Varuṇa, three heavens, three firmaments ye comprehend, O Mitra: Waxed strong, ye keep the splendour of dominion, guarding the Ordinance that lasts for ever.
2.Ye, Varuṇa, have kine who yield refreshment; Mitra, your floods pour water full of sweetness. There stand the Three Steers, splendid in their brightness, who fill the three world-bowls with genial moisture.
3.I call at dawn on Aditi the Goddess, I call at noon and when the Sun is setting. I pray, O Mitra-Varuṇa, for safety, for wealth and progeny, in rest and trouble.
4.Ye who uphold the region, sphere of brightness, ye who support earth’s realm Divine Ādityas, The Immortal Gods, O Varuṇa and Mitra, never impair your everlasting statutes.
Asked of Guide
Why are Mitra and Varuṇa praised together with three-fold imagery of spheres and steers?
The hymn links Mitra and Varuṇa as co-rulers who maintain cosmic order by sustaining three “spheres of light” and the “Three Steers.” Those images name their shared function: they keep the world’s cyclic provisions — light, water, nourishment — flowing across three realms.
Praising them together emphasizes a balanced governance: Varuṇa provides the sweet waters and kine, Mitra secures the social and luminous ordinance that “lasts for ever.” This pairing echoes other Vedic hymns where the Ādityas act collectively to hold the cosmic law, as in other Mandala 5 passages that portray divine pairs sustaining order.
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