The Rig Veda Blog
Journeys into Vedic Thought
Long-form, researched essays on the deities, language, ritual and history of the Rig Veda. All free to read.
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Mitra: The Contract God and the Oldest Dated Witness to a Vedic Name
Mitra owns exactly one hymn in the Rigveda, yet his name is the earliest dated trace of any Vedic deity, scratched into a Hittite treaty around 1380 BCE. This is the story of a god who binds, and what a clay tablet in Anatolia tells us about when the Veda was young.
Varuna: The Watchful God and the Invention of Cosmic Guilt
Varuna is the only Rigvedic god who makes his worshippers feel guilty. A close reading of his hymns, his thousand-eyed surveillance network, his noose, and the strange arc from supreme cosmic sovereign to minor water deity.