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This article is about the Vedic deity Mitra. For other divinities with related names, see the general article Mitra.
Mitra (Sanskrit ') was an important divinity of Indic culture, descended, together with the Zoroastrian yazata Mithra, from a common Proto-Indo-Iranian deity *Mitra''', a god of the oath.
Etymology
The Indo-Iranian word *mitra- could mean either "covenant, contract, oath, or treaty", or "friend". A general meaning of "alliance" might adequately explain both alternatives. The second sense tends to be emphasized in Indic sources, the first sense in Iranian. The word is from a root mi- "to bind", with the "tool suffix" -tra- (compare man-tra-), a contract is thus described as a "means of binding" (compare Ishara).
Early history
The first extant record of Mitra is in the inscribed peace treaty between Hittites and the Hurrian kingdom of the Mitanni in the area southeast of Lake Van, c. 1400 BC. There Mitra appears as one of five deities invoked as witnesses and keepers of the pact, with gods whose names are equivalent to the Vedic Varuna, Indra and the twin horsemen, the Nasatyas, all of whom the rulers of the Mitanni apparently worshipped. (Campbell, 1964 p 256).
In the Vedas
Vedic Mitra is the patron divinity of honesty, friendship, contracts and meetings. He is a prominent deity of the Rigveda distinguished by a relationship to Varuna, the protector of rta. Together with Varuna, he counted among the Adityas, a group of solar deities. They are the supreme keepers of order and gods of the law.
Varuna and Mitra are the gods of the oath, often twinned or identified as Mitra-Varuna (a dvandva compound). In the Vedic hymns, Mitra is often invoked together with Varuna, so that the two are combined in a dvandva as Mitra-Varuna. Varuna is lord of the cosmic rhythm of the celestial spheres, while Mitra brings forth the light at dawn, which was covered by Varuna. Mitra together with Varuna is the most prominent Asura, and the chief of the Adityas, in the Rigveda.
The pairing with Varuna, a god unknown in Iranian religion, is very strong already in the Rigveda, which has few hymns where Mitra is mentioned without Varuna. RV 3.59 is the only hymn dedicated to Mitra exclusively, where he is lauded as a god of order and stability and as a giver of laws (2b, vrata), the sustainer of mankind (6a, carani-dhrt, literally "of cultivators", said also of Indra in 3.37.4c) and of all gods (8c, devān vishvān).
- 3.59.1 Mitra, when speaking, stirreth men to labour: Mitra sustaineth both the earth and heaven.
- Mitra beholdeth men with eyes that close not. To Mitra bring, with holy oil, oblation. (trans. Griffith)
Rigvedic hymns to Mitra-Varuna are RV 1.136, 137, 151-153, RV 5.62-72, RV 6.67, RV 7.60-66, RV 8.25 and RV 10.132.
Where Mitra appears not paired with Varuna, it is often for the purpose of comparison, where other gods are lauded as being "like Mitra", without the hymn being addressed to Mitra himself (Indra 1.129.10, 10.22.1-2 etc.; Agni 1.38.13 etc.; Soma 1.91.3; Vishnu 1.156.1).
In the Shatapatha Brahmana, Mitravaruna is analyzed as "the Counsel and the Power" — Mitra being the priesthood, Varuna the royal power. As Joseph Campbell remarked, "Both are said to have a thousand eyes. Both are active foreground aspects of the light or solar force at play in time. Both renew the world by their deed."
Counterparts of Mitra in other religions
- The Iranian counterpart to the Vedic Mitra was the Avestan yazata (angelic deity) Mithra.
- In the Roman Empire, the name of Mithra was borrowed (as Mithras) in the popular cult of Mithraism.
References
See also
"Mitra (Vedic)"