Guardians of the Truth, you ascend your car and the law of the Truth is yours in the supreme ether.1 He whom here you cherish, Masters of the wideness and the harmony, for him increases full of the honey the rain of heaven.The Second Hymn to Mitra-Varuna
V.63
The Givers of the Rain
[Mitra and Varuna are by their united universality and harmony the guardians of the divine Truth and its divine Law eternally perfect in the ether of our supreme being; thence they rain down the abundance of the heavens and its bliss upon the favoured soul. Seers in man of that world of Truth, as they are, by their guardianship of its law, rulers of all this becoming, they give us its rain of spiritual wealth and immortality. The Life-powers range with the voice of the truth-seeking thought through earth and heaven and the two Kings come to their cry with the brilliant clouds full of the creative waters. It is by the Maya, the divine truth-knowledge of the Lord, that they thus rain down heaven; that divine knowledge is the Sun, the Light, the weapon of Mitra and Varuna ranging abroad to destroy the ignorance. At first the Sun, the body of the Truth, is concealed in the very storm of its outpourings and only the sweetness of their streaming into the life is felt; but the Maruts as Life-Powers and Thought-Powers range abroad seeking in all the worlds of our being for the brilliant rays of the concealed knowledge to be gathered as a shining wealth; the voice of the Rain is full of the flashings of the Light and the movement of the divine Waters; its clouds become robes for the Life-Powers. Through it all by the formative knowledge of the mighty master of Truth and by the law of the Truth, the two kings maintain the divine workings in us, governing by the Truth all our being, and finally set in its sky the Sun, now revealed, as a chariot of the richly varied splendours of the knowledge, the chariot of the journey of the spirit to the highest heavens.]
5.63.1
ऋत॑स्य गोपा॒वधि॑ तिष्ठथो॒ रथं॒ सत्य॑धर्माणा पर॒मे व्यो॑मनि ।
यमत्र॑ मित्रावरु॒णाव॑थो यु॒वं तस्मै॑ वृ॒ष्टिर्मधु॑मत्पिन्वते दि॒वः ॥१॥
ṛtasya gopau adhi tiṣṭhathaḥ ratham satya-dharmāṇā parame vi-omani
yam atra mitrāvaruṇā avathaḥ yuvam tasmai vṛṣṭiḥ madhu-mat pinvate divaḥ
Guardians of the Truth, you ascend your car and the law of the Truth is yours in the supreme ether.1 He whom here you cherish, Masters of the wideness and the harmony, for him increases full of the honey the rain of heaven.
5.63.2
स॒म्राजा॑व॒स्य भुव॑नस्य राजथो॒ मित्रा॑वरुणा वि॒दथे॑ स्व॒र्दृशा॑ ।
वृ॒ष्टिं वां॒ राधो॑ अमृत॒त्वमी॑महे॒ द्यावा॑पृथि॒वी वि च॑रन्ति त॒न्यवः॑ ॥२॥
sam-rājau asya bhuvanasya rājathaḥ mitrāvaruṇā vidathe svaḥ-dṛśā
vṛṣṭim vām rādhaḥ amṛta-tvam īmahe dyāvāpṛthivī iti vi caranti tanyavaḥ
Emperors2, you rule over this world of our becoming, O Mitra and Varuna, in the getting of knowledge you are seers of the realm of Light; we desire from you the rain, the felicitous wealth, the immortality, and lo! the Thunderers3 range abroad through earth and heaven.
5.63.3
स॒म्राजा॑ उ॒ग्रा वृ॑ष॒भा दि॒वस्पती॑ पृथि॒व्या मि॒त्रावरु॑णा॒ विच॑र्षणी ।
चि॒त्रेभि॑र॒भ्रैरुप॑ तिष्ठथो॒ रवं॒ द्यां व॑र्षयथो॒ असु॑रस्य मा॒यया॑ ॥३॥
sam-rājau ugrā vṛṣabhā divaḥ patī iti pṛthivyāḥ mitrāvaruṇā vicarṣaṇī iti vi-carṣaṇī
citrebhiḥ abhraiḥ upa tiṣṭhathaḥ ravam dyām varṣayathaḥ asurasya māyayā
Emperors, strong Bulls of the abundance, Masters of earth and heaven, O Mitra and Varuna, universal in your workings, you approach their cry with your clouds of varied light and you rain down Heaven by the power of the knowledge4 of the Mighty One.5
5.63.4
मा॒या वां॑ मित्रावरुणा दि॒वि श्रि॒ता सूर्यो॒ ज्योति॑श्चरति चि॒त्रमायु॑धम् ।
तम॒भ्रेण॑ वृ॒ष्ट्या गू॑हथो दि॒वि पर्ज॑न्य द्र॒प्सा मधु॑मन्त ईरते ॥४॥
māyā vām mitrāvaruṇā divi śritā sūryaḥ jyotiḥ carati citram āyudham
tam abhreṇa vṛṣṭyā gūhathaḥ divi parjanya drapsāḥ madhu-mantaḥ īrate
This is your knowledge, O Mitra and Varuna, that is lodged in heaven; it is the Sun, it is the Light; it ranges abroad as your rich and varied weapon. You hide it in heaven with the cloud and with the raining. O Rain, full of the honey start forth thy streamings.
5.63.5
रथं॑ युञ्जते म॒रुतः॑ शु॒भे सु॒खं शूरो॒ न मि॑त्रावरुणा॒ गवि॑ष्टिषु ।
रजां॑सि चि॒त्रा वि च॑रन्ति त॒न्यवो॑ दि॒वः स॑म्राजा॒ पय॑सा न उक्षतम् ॥५॥
ratham yuñjate marutaḥ śubhe sukham śūraḥ na mitrāvaruṇā go-iṣṭiṣu
rajāṃsi citrā vi caranti tanyavaḥ divaḥ sam-rājā payasā naḥ ukṣatam
The Life-Powers yoke their happy car for the bliss, even as might a hero for battle, O Mitra and Varuna, in their seekings for the herds of Light; thundering they range the varied worlds, and you pour out on us, rulers imperial, the water of Heaven.
5.63.6
वाचं॒ सु मि॑त्रावरुणा॒विरा॑वतीं प॒र्जन्य॑श्चि॒त्रां व॑दति॒ त्विषी॑मतीम् ।
अ॒भ्रा व॑सत म॒रुत॒: सु मा॒यया॒ द्यां व॑र्षयतमरु॒णाम॑रे॒पस॑म् ॥६॥
vācam su mitrāvaruṇau irā-vatīm parjanyaḥ citrām vadati tviṣi-matīm
abhrā vasata marutaḥ su māyayā dyām varṣayatam aruṇām arepasam
O Mitra and Varuna, the Rain speaks its language6 rich and varied and full of the light and the movement; the Life-Powers have put on your clouds for raiment. Utterly by the knowledge you rain down Heaven ruddy-shining and sinless.
5.63.7
धर्म॑णा मित्रावरुणा विपश्चिता व्र॒ता र॑क्षेथे॒ असु॑रस्य मा॒यया॑ ।
ऋ॒तेन॒ विश्वं॒ भुव॑नं॒ वि रा॑जथ॒: सूर्य॒मा ध॑त्थो दि॒वि चित्र्यं॒ रथ॑म् ॥७॥
dharmaṇā mitrāvaruṇā vipaḥ-citā vratā rakṣethe iti asurasya māyayā
ṛtena viśvam bhuvanam vi rājathaḥ sūryam ā dhatthaḥ divi citryam ratham
O Mitra and Varuna illumined in consciousness, by the Law, by the knowledge of the Mighty One you guard the workings;7 by the Truth you govern widely all the world of our becoming; you set the Sun in heaven, a chariot of various splendour.
1 The infinity of the superconscient being.
2 Samrāṭ, having perfect kingship over the subjective and objective existence.
3 The Maruts, Life-Powers and Thought-Powers who find out the light of truth for all our activities. The word may also mean formers or builders.
4 Maya, the creative knowledge-will of the Deva.
5 Asura, a word used in the Veda as in the Avesta for the Deva (Ahuramazda), but also for the gods, His manifestations; it is only in a few hymns that it is used for the dark Titans, by another and fictitious derivation, a-sura, the not-luminous, the not-gods.
6 Here we see the subjective sense of the thunder in the symbol of the storm; it is the outcrashing of the word of the Truth, the Shabda, as the lightning is the outflashing of its sense.
7 vratāni, called the Aryan or divine workings, those of the divine law of the Truth to be revealed in man. The Dasyu or un-Aryan, whether human or superhuman, is he who is void of these diviner workings, opposes them in his darkened consciousness and tries to destroy them in the world. The Lords of Darkness are therefore called Dasyus, the Destroyers.