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Mitra as Mithra with Varuna, and a third vague god, Ar-

yaman, belong to an early group of equal deities called the
Adityas, or “Celestial deities”. “It would seem that the
worship of these deities”, says Prof. Arnold, “was already
decaying in the earliest Vedic period, and that many of
them were then falling into oblivion.... In a late Vedic
hymn we find that Indra boasts that he has dethroned
Varuna, and invites Agni to enter his own service instead.
We may justly infer from all these circumstances that the
worship of the ‘celestials’ occupied at one time in the his-
tory of the race a position of greater importance than its
place in the Rigveda directly suggests.

The following extracts from a Mitra-Varuna hymn

indicate the attitude of the early priests towards the “Ce-
lestial deities”:—

To the gods Mitra and Varuna let our praise go forth

with power, with all reverence, to the two of mighty
race.

These did the gods establish in royal power over

themselves, because they were wise and the children of
wisdom, and because
they excelled in power.
 They are protectors of hearth and home, of life and
strength; Mitra and Varuna, prosper the mediations
of your worshippers....

As the sun rises to-day do I salute Mitra and Varuna,

and glorious Aryaman.... The blessings of heaven are
our desire....

Prof. Arnold's translation.

In Babylonian mythology the sun is the offspring of

the moon. The Semitic name of the sun god is Samas (S-
hamash), the Sumerian name is Utu; among other
non-Semitic names was Mitra, “apparently the Persian
Mithra”. The bright deity also “bears the names of his at-
tendants ‘Truth’ and ‘Righteousness’, who guided him
upon his path as judge of the earth”