rd in explanation. Varuna's traits, as shown in other parts
of the Rig Veda, are so persistent that they must be characteristic of
his original function. It does not follow, however, that any one hymn
in which he is lauded is necessarily older than the hymn cited from
the first book. The earliest stage of religious development precedes
the entrance into the Punj[=a]b. It may even be admitted that at the
time when the Vedic Aryans became Hindus, that is, when they settled
about the Indus, Varuna was the great god we see him in the great hymn
to his honor. But while the relation of the [=A]dityas to the spirits
of Ahura in Zoroaster's system points to this, yet it is absurd to
assume this epoch as the starting point of Vedic belief. Back of this
period lies one in which Varuna was by no means a monotheistic deity,
nor even the greatest divinity among the gods. The fact, noticed by
Hillebrandt, that the Vasishtha family are the chief praisers of
Varuna, may also indicate that his special elevation was due to the
theological conceptions of one clan, rather than of the whole people,
since in the other family books he is worshipped more as one of a
pair, Varuna and Mitra, heaven and sun.

ADITI.

The mother of Varuna and the luminous gods is the 'mother of kings,'
Boundlessness (_aditi_)[90] a product of priestly theosophy. Aditi
makes, perhaps, the first approach to formal pantheism in India, for
all gods, men, and things are identified with her (i. 89. 10). Seven
children of Aditi are mentioned, to whom is added an eighth (in one
hymn).[91] The chief of these, who is, _par excellence_ the [=A]ditya
(son of Aditi), is Varuna. Most of the others are divinities of the
sun (x. 72). With Varuna stands Mitra, and besides this pair are found
'the true friend' Aryaman, Savitar, Bhaga, and, later, Indra, as sun
(?). Daksha and Anca are also reckoned as [=A]dityas, and S[=u]rya is
enumerated among them as a divinity distinct from Savitar. But the
word _aditi,_ 'unbound,' is often a mere epithet, of Fire, Sky, etc.
Moreover, in one passage, at least, _aditi_ simply means 'freedom' (i.
24. 1), less boundlessness than 'un-bondage'; so, probably, in i. 185.
3, 'the gift of freedom.' Anca seems to have much the same meaning
with Bhaga, _viz.,_ the sharer, giver. Daksha may, perhaps, be the
'clever,' 'strong' one ([Greek: dexios]), abstract Strength; as
another name of the sun (?). Aditi herself (according to Mueller,
Infinity; accordi