Mitra and Varuna: Consciousness and Its Radiant Energy

Commentary on the text “Vedic Gods”

He who has already awakened to knowledge becomes perfect in will; let him speak for us among the gods: all-seeing Varuna and Mitra rejoice in his words. For they are kings, most majestic in light and surpassing all in the farthest reach of hearing; they are the lords of being in every creature, and they are the nurturers of truth within us, for truth belongs to them.

Advancing along the path, I call upon them, both together, ancient and primordial; those who have good steeds—we call upon them, perfect in knowledge, during the journey, that they may grant us all abundance.

Even from the narrowness of our existence, Mitra procures spaciousness for us; he conquers the path to our home, for the perfected mind comes from Mitra when he harmonizes and leads forward toward the goal.

May we enjoy Mitra’s grace, which grants us our perfect vastness; then we are free from harm and sin, cherished by you, children of the lord of spaciousness. And you two, O Mitra, guide this person who walks your path, and lead him fully. Do not place your enclosure around our lords of abundance and seers of truth; protect us when we taste the light.

In this Vedic hymn, the rishi invokes Mitra and Varuna—the two lords of the spiritual path.

Mitra is translated from Avestan as “covenant.” Mitra fills the airspace, upholds heaven and earth, protects both worlds, and punishes sins—so some say of him. On the other hand, Mitra is one of the aspects of Surya Savitar, who has four faces and several aspects: Mitra, Bhaga, Aryaman, Pushan—all of these are his aspects.

One of Mitra’s functions is to activate what Varuna gives. If Varuna is the principle of awareness akin to space, then Mitra is the bringing of the clarity of space into everyday life. One of his functions is the creation of mandalas, the uniting of people into a social structure, and the establishment of harmonious relations within it through a covenant based on the universal order (rita).

The practice of contemplation, purifying our mind, gradually leads to the discovery of the inner gods. The Vedic psychology of the rishis is always connected with the inner gods. If your inner gods reveal themselves, it means that your practice is proceeding successfully, since everything must reveal itself as gods. In the end, all pure and impure states must be recognized as certain divine energies, and if they are not recognized, the signs of realization do not appear.

Mitra within us is recognized when our contemplation gains strength and begins to shine, manifesting through the external.

The Nature of Mitra

If Varuna’s purity, boundlessness, and mighty sovereignty are the fundamental foundation and majestic essence of divine being, then Mitra is its beauty and perfection. To be an all-powerful soul, boundless, pure, and ruling over itself—such must be the nature of the divine human, for in this way he shares in the nature of God.

But the Vedic ideal does not stop at a grand yet unrealized conception of the divine image. This vast continent must have noble and rich contents. The many-roomed dwelling of our being, contained in Varuna, must be governed by Mitra, who establishes the proper harmony of its useful space and possessions. For the deity is abundance as well as boundlessness. Varuna is equally the ocean and the expanse of heaven. Pure and subtle as ether, his rich essence is by no means a tranquil emptiness or an airy uncertainty of inactive repose. Rather, we see in it a growing movement of thought and action. Varuna is described as the center or knot in which all wisdom is concentrated, and as the mountain upon which the primordial indestructible deeds of the gods are founded. King Varuna is the one who does not sleep. He is in eternal vigilance and power. He is the ever-active force and laborer in the name of Truth and the law of Truth. Yet he acts more as the guardian of truth than as the one who creates it, or, more precisely, he establishes it through the actions of other gods, which are founded on Varuna’s vastness and indomitable strength. He guards and even leads the shining herds, but he does not gather them in the pastures. Varuna, rather, sustains our powers and removes obstacles and enemies than arranges the parts of our being.

If Varuna is the principle of sahaja as space, then Mitra is the principle of sahaja-spanda, the energy that emanates this space when this energy harmonizes everything around it.

Who, then, gathers knowledge into this knot or binds the divine action in this sustainer of works? Mitra is the one who harmonizes, who creates, who raises up the light. Mitra is the god who brings about the right union, while his essence and the sphere endlessly growing within itself are represented by Varuna.

Thus, if Varuna is the principle of shambhavi-mudra, the principle of space and wide-open infinite consciousness, then Mitra is the principle of connecting this consciousness with specific situations and actions, when a situation is harmonized and purified as a result of integration.

The Manifestation of Mitra in Practice

A person whose inner deity Mitra is strong is able to turn everything into a path, to make everything a sadhana, bringing purity, harmony, or beauty into whatever they do—into speech, actions, relationships, the external landscape, and so on. This means that their inner space of contemplation begins to manifest and shine, merging with external energies.

Mitra embodies the principle of active pure vision. This is not the artificial pure vision in which we simply create a certain attitude; rather, it is pure vision arising from the depths as a result of a natural state. Mitra embodies the principle of atma-sphurana (the radiance of the higher Self). When the higher Self is revealed as a contemplative space, it opens the inner light, which begins to radiate and illuminate everything around it. Then everything begins to transform, becoming pure vision.

When temples are built in a monastery and iconographic images are created, this signifies the principle of Mitra: spatial consciousness, touching matter, begins to transform it. When harmonious laws operate in the sangha and monks observe vinaya, ethics, and samaya, this also signifies the action of Mitra’s energy—the energy of the covenant.

Conversely, if Mitra within a person is weakened, they fall out of a certain field of covenant, since a covenant is a divine energy symbolizing the principle of Rita (cosmic harmony).

Mitra encourages those who observe covenants attuned to cosmic harmony. As a result of the action of such sahaja-spanda, represented by Mitra, all the energies of impure vision are transformed into a mandala of the pure dimension.

The Union of Mitra and Varuna

These two kings complement each other both in their nature and in their divine works. In them we find, and through them attain, harmony in infinity: we gain insight into the divine and nurture within ourselves immaculate purity, grounding flawless love in wisdom. Thus, these two form the great union of the self-realizing divine nature, and with the help of the Vedic word they are jointly summoned to an even greater sacrifice, to which they come as inseparable creators of ever-growing Truth.

The rishi Madhuchchhandas gives us the central idea of their united divine nature: “I invoke Mitra, pure in judgment, and Varuna, the devourer of the enemy. Mitra and Varuna, multiplying truth through truth, you who come into contact with truth, attain broad action of the will. Seers, dwellers in vastness, born with many births, they uphold judgment in its works.”

In the Vedic hymns, Mitra is usually always invoked together with Varuna, since they are inseparable from one another. The natural state (sahajya) and its creative power (sahaja-spanda) are one and the same. Varuna embodies infinity, while Mitra embodies the radiance of infinity, which touches matter and transforms it.

Transmutation through Sahaja-Spanda

Unveiling the sahaja-spanda within oneself is always accompanied by a transformation of energy, destiny, and karma. At last, you begin to truly taste the fruits of your practice. If the principle of Varuna means that your sadhana opens your spatial awareness and transforms your meanings, goals, and priorities, then the principle of Mitra means transformation: the alchemical transmutation of the subtle body, the pranas, and the external world begins. At last, this begins to shine, to be seen, and to manifest.

For example, you may have contemplated for a long time and experienced a certain openness of consciousness, yet there were no signs of realization in dreams, no pure signs, no visions of inner deities in the channels. Despite the openness of consciousness and the experience of light, you still considered yourself a person conditioned by the relative dimension. But then a moment comes when deities begin to appear in the chakras and channels, deities appear in dreams, elements of pure vision emerge, signs associated with pure vision appear during dark retreats, you experience pure realms, and receive blessings from deities who come and bestow certain darshans. This means that energy has begun to perceive the light of the natural state, and transmutation has begun.

This is the principle of Mitra: sahaja has grown into its radiance, and this radiance begins the transmutation. When such transmutation gains strength, it also manifests outwardly, and then it is called atma-sphurana (the radiance of the inner “Self”).

Atma-sphurana can manifest in many ways: as supernatural powers, creative abilities, extraordinary clarity, and more.

Mitra as Divine Love

When other gods, especially the resplendent Agni, are spoken of as helpers and friends of the person performing the sacrifice, they are called by the name “Mitra,” or it is said that they should be like “Mitra,” or become “Mitra.” We might now say that in this way the divine will-force, or any other force or aspect of the deity, ultimately reveals itself as divine love. Mitra was, in essence, the god of love, the divine friend, the kind helper of humans and immortals. The Veda calls him the most beloved of the gods.

The Vedic hymn-makers associate the concepts of “mayas” and “prayas.” Mayas is the principle of inner bliss, independent of any objects, while prayas is the outpouring of this bliss as the joy and delight of the soul into objects and beings. The Vedic concept of happiness consists precisely in this divine bliss, which brings the gift of pure possession and sinless enjoyment of all objects, founded on the unchanging presence of truth and the law of truth in the freedom of boundless universality.

To engage in spiritual practice means to increasingly discern within oneself a luminous clarity akin to space. Discerning this luminous clarity does not go without consequence, because our false dualistic view recedes; instead of the dictates of ego and karma, we open to the true nondual state. At the relative level, such clarity manifests as continuous bliss, continuous joy, and continuous wakeful awareness. The descent of this clarity and the harmonization of everything are manifestations of the principle of Mitra.

Often we have no joy, no bliss, and no clarity pouring forth, and then we are entitled to ask ourselves: “Why do we not have it at this moment?” Obviously, we lack proper contemplation and sufficient turning inward. We do not find this luminous clarity, do not trust it, and do not rely on it; we are too absorbed in the external. On the one hand, we are absorbed in the external, while on the other hand, the external shapes our perceptions and roots us in them. Such a position is, of course, a fundamental mistake for a yogin, since a yogin continuously strives to balance the external through inner contemplation.

Signs of Mitra’s Activation

When, through inner contemplation, he unveils the inner luminous clarity, he inevitably opens himself to the experience of such joy, bliss, and pure vision. He has no sorrowful, brooding, heavy, gloomy, uncertain, anxious, or agitatedly covetous states; and if such states do arise, they are experienced at the periphery as the self-liberated play of the gunas and tattvas—that is, something arises but immediately disappears. It is rather like residual karmas arising somewhere on the periphery of the channels. In the essence of the mind, however, such states are of course never experienced by him, because the essence of his mind is a pure, clear, transparent experience of bliss. This bliss may depart at night if continuous consciousness has not yet been attained, but it is always restored during the day from the very first second of awakening. And if the yogin has attained very deep absorption, it does not depart even at night; it merely becomes more serene.

By contemplating himself, the yogin can test himself. For example, he gets up in the morning, his soul begins to sing and rejoice, and he thinks: “Wow! How wonderful I feel! I am so fortunate to be alive and to practice the Dharma.” Or he may think: “Such happiness has befallen me! Goodness, how happy I am! This is something extraordinary; someone else might not even believe it, because such happiness comes completely out of nowhere—happiness that makes one want to roll around on the floor, cry, or laugh.” And this happiness accompanies the yogin from the moment he awakens until the moment he falls asleep. When the yogin goes to sleep, he thinks: “I wish I could fall asleep quickly and wake up again, so that this happiness would be even stronger,” because night may take this happiness away if there is no continuous consciousness. It is like a child who has been given a very interesting toy; he was so absorbed in playing with it that, when it is time to sleep, he thinks: “I wish I could wake up quickly and play with it again.”

And the yogin continuously remains in such a state of awakened joy and happiness. Even if he does not show it to others while performing various functions and fulfilling duties, this joy nevertheless permeates all his actions and all his aspects. One may spit in such a yogin’s face, slap him, insult him, deny him prasada or give him utterly disgusting prasada; he may be given prestigious service or unprestigious service, but he will look at all of it and think: “What difference does it make? Compared with inner happiness, none of this plays any role.” This state cannot be taken away from him, because this happiness is unconditioned, and such a yogin feels completely self-sufficient. Something appears, something disappears—what difference does it make? This happiness depends on nothing. He will be happy in any state. He does not think: “How will I live? Will I have a pension when I grow old? Will someone feed me? What will happen to my loved ones without me, and how will I manage without them?” He is completely self-sufficient; he needs only a small mat, a little prasada, and simple clothing, and he is already “happy beyond measure.” If he does something with substantial material resources, it is simply like a game for the sake of others: for the Dharma, for the sangha, or for something else. He himself never connects his happiness with such things.

This means that the principle of Mitra has begun to become active within him. But it is not only the principle of Mitra; it is several deities at once: Mitra, Pushan, Bhaga, Savitar, and various other deities—all of them together begin to blossom in this way.

Mitra as the Source of Divine Bliss

Mitra is the most beloved of the gods, because he makes this divine delight accessible to us and leads us to this perfect happiness.

Varuna is directly connected with power. We uncover a certain power and will, boundless in their purity. Aryaman, striving and ascending, gains support and protection for the expansion of his might in Varuna’s infinity. He performs his great labors and carries out the great movement of the energies of Varuna’s universality.

Mitra, however, is directly connected with bliss. Bhaga—the enjoyer—is established in flawless possession and divine delight through the all-harmonizing harmony of Mitra, his purifying light of true discernment, and his firmly established law. Therefore it is said of Mitra that all souls who have attained perfection are devoted to, or firmly hold to, the bliss of this beloved one in whom there is no deficiency.

Thus, Mitra embodies the bliss that arises as a result of practice. He also embodies a certain covenant. When we contemplate correctly and samyoga (inner balance, the unity of awareness with the pranas) is established within us, and we observe this samyoga, maintaining inner mindfulness as a covenant, such bliss arises.

Mitra also embodies the subtle discriminating wisdom that understands how contemplative presence should work with the pranas and external objects so that energy is not lost but grants bliss, so that objects are transformed from a “worldly wife” into “a mother who nourishes the son of awareness, energy, and bliss.”

The Law of Mitra

In Mitra there is neither sin, nor damage, nor decline. All the joys of mortals contain mortal danger; only immortal light and law grant and sustain joy without fear in the human soul.

“That mortal,” says Vishvamitra, “who learns the laws of Mitra, the laws of this son of infinity, possesses the joy that the soul tastes in existence. Such a soul cannot be killed, cannot be overcome, and no evil can take possession of it, whether from near or far. For Mitra forms in gods and humans those impulses through whose action all the soul’s aspirations are spontaneously fulfilled.”

Thus, the law of Mitra is the law of samyoga, that is, the law of the balance of prana and awareness, which leads to the purification and sublimation of the subtle bodies and mind and leads to bliss. It is a continuous life in correct transmutation, when energy is not squandered but accumulated. And Vishvamitra says that one who follows the law of Mitra surpasses mortals and becomes like the gods.

When you perform shambhavi mudra, uniting with the energies in the chakras and joining bliss with emptiness, if you catch samyoga (the subtle balance of prana and mind), if you manage to activate the process of sublimation and this process works, revealing within you the blossoming of qualities and bliss, this means that you have grasped the principle of the law of Mitra—the law of universal harmony and balance. And the task is not to fall out of this law.

The one-pointedness of contemplation and the fourteen vows—all of this is veneration of the energy of Mitra, which leads to immortality.

This joyful freedom of all-possession comes to us from the universality of this deity, from his harmonizing, luminous inclusion of all that exists within himself. Mitra expresses the principle of harmony, thanks to which all the many acts of truth accord with one another, becoming an inseparably connected unity.

Natural Harmonization through Immersion in Svabhava

When you are in your center, in your inner nature (svabhava), when you are deeply immersed in divine pride, in the natural state, the harmonization of the pranas, external elements, situations, and relationships occurs naturally, by itself. This means that atma-sphurana (the radiance of the higher Self) is strong and such harmonization takes place naturally.

It often happens that we are not deeply immersed in sahaja-bhava but are, as it were, pulled outward. And then we can easily be caught off guard: as soon as something arises, we may immediately become startled. But when we are deeply immersed in the natural state, no challenges involving energy, time, or situations can catch us off guard, because, upon merging with the field of our awareness, they are instantly recognized, pacified, harmonized, and appear as deities. The recognition and purification of any energies is the function of sahaja-spanda, which is represented here as Mitra.

To possess sahaja-spanda means to have the right response to everything; it means a preemptive presence that penetrates through the past and the future, that self-liberates negative situations and purifies them in advance; it means having such total clarity that radiates onto everything: the chakras, channels, pranas, external elements, situations and relationships, surroundings, and so on.