290 
Mitra, on the other hand, is hardly ever hymned alone. 
Varuna and Mitra together are styled sun-eyed, kings, strong, 
terrible (rudra), divine ( asura ), upholders of the earth and 
sky, placers of the sun in heaven, guardians of the world, 
awful divinities, haters of the lie, acquainted with heaven and 
earth, lords of truth and light who made wise the simple, and 
avengers and removers of sin.* * * § In a word, Yaruna is the 
Asura, God Almighty ; and Mitra is the high and holy Sun- 
god, ever in the closest union and harmony with him. Yaruna 
can only be beheld in beatific vision : — 
“ When I have obtained a vision of Yaruna, 
I have regarded his lustre as resembling that of AgniV+ 
As Sir G. W. Cox well observes “ a pure monotheistic convic- 
tion is pre-eminently seen in the following prayer 
“ Let me not )'et, 0 Yaruna, enter into the house of clay, 
Have mercy, almighty, have mercy. 
If I go along trembling like a cloud driven by the wind, 
Have mercy, almighty, have mercy. 
Whenever we men, 0 Varuna, commit an offence before 
the heavenly host, 
Whenever we break thy law through thoughtlessness, 
Have mercy, almighty, have mercy. 
And here we may inquire. Is Varuna, the Asura, identical 
with Ahuramazda ? Windischmann thought not, and Prof. 
Spiegel seems inclined to agree with him ; but, on the other 
hand, Profs. Roth and Whitney are strongly in favour of the 
identity, which certainly is not denied either by Prof. Miiller 
or Dr. Muir ; whilst in my opinion, the recent researches of 
M. Darmesteter|| demonstrate their unity beyond reasonable 
doubt. With the degradation of Varuna, the gradual process 
by which he was at length reduced to complete insignificance, 
I am not here concerned. 
27. The Ameshaspentas and the Adityas. 
As Ahuramazda stands at the head of six divine personages, 
the Good-mind, Truth, Power, Piety, Health, and Immortality, 
the whole forming a sevenfold aspect of the One ; so, Asura- 
Yaruna stands at the head of six personages, the Friend, the 
Favourer, the Sympathizer, the Distributer, the Intelligent, 
* I omit for brevity references to texts in support of each of these state- 
ments. f Big-Veda, VII. lxxxviii. 2. 
J Mythology of the Aryan Nations, i. 331. 
§ Translated by Prof. Miiller in his History of Sanskrit Literature, 540. 
|| Ormazd el Ahriman, 1877. 
