VARUNA - GOD OF THE SEAS

Another son of Kasyapa Prajapati’s, through his wife Aditi, was Varuna. The gods of heaven under the leadership of Indra requested him to take up the lordship of the seas. Brahma the Creator constituted him the guardian of the West, and so, he became an Ashtakdipala, the others being Indra (East), Yama (South), and Kubera (North). He is usually mentioned, in the Rg Veda, as associated with Mitra, another name for the Sun. This association is responsible for causing rains on earth. He is the custodian of riches, jewels, and horses. He supplied sophisticated weapons to gods and men. Though there are no major temples dedicated solely to him now, he is depicted by an icon showing him as a handsome man, riding on a mythical fish, and armed with a lasso-like weapon.

He had several wives and plenty of progeny. Yet, he abducted Bhadra, beautiful wife of sage Utaddhya. The irate ascetic threatened to drink up the ocean, and intimidated, Varuna had to return her to him. Varuna once refused to give a cow that his own father Kasyapa asked for, to sacrifice in a Yaga. Kasyapa stole it, and Varuna complained to Brahma. When Kasyapa still refused to return it, he was cursed to be born in a later incarnation as Sri Krishna, and protect cows throughout his early life. He was known to present gifts of horses to those who found favour with him. He gifted a mace as a weapon to Sruthayudhan, and two wrestlers, along with an elephant to Subrahmanya, son of Siva, when he set out to kill the demons. Significantly, all things cast into the sea are believed to return to Varuna.

But several demons and even humans could defeat him. Ravana attacked the combined forces of all the Dikpalaka gods assembled at a Yaga, and defeated them. Varuna fled, in the disguise of a swan. Ravana challenged him again on the shores of his western ocean; along with his sons, Varuna came to battle, but Ravana defeated all of them. Varuna did not co-operate with Sri Rama when he started building the bridge to Lanka in order to attack Ravana; Rama twanged his bow in preparation to wage battle, and frightened, Varuna appeared with his wives, and rendered all assistance. He had to enter into a diplomatic alliance with Arjuna and present him with the famous bow, Gandiva that was Arjuna’s pride, when the latter allied himself with Agni.

Significantly, Varuna’s association with the west and his command over horses and sophisticated weapons may be a hint that these were brought into Bharatavarsha (that was ancient India) from the West. Though iron was smelted in parts of India even before it was in the Middle East, steel-making was more advanced in the latter region. Varuna gifting these items may be but a mythological and poetic way of saying that they were imported from the Middle East. Mitra, his associate, has close parallels in Middle Eastern mythology.