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HandWiki. Mitra (Vedic). Encyclopedia. Available online: https://encyclopedia.pub/entry/30464 (accessed on 20 October 2026).
HandWiki. Mitra (Vedic). Encyclopedia. Available at: https://encyclopedia.pub/entry/30464. Accessed October 20, 2026.
HandWiki. "Mitra (Vedic)" Encyclopedia, https://encyclopedia.pub/entry/30464 (accessed October 20, 2026).
HandWiki. (2022, October 20). Mitra (Vedic). In Encyclopedia. https://encyclopedia.pub/entry/30464
HandWiki. "Mitra (Vedic)." Encyclopedia. Web. 20 October, 2022.
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Mitra (Sanskrit Mitrá) is a divinity of Indic culture, whose function changed with time. In the Mitanni inscription, Mitra is invoked as one of the protectors of treaties. In the Rigveda, Mitra appears primarily in the dvandva compound Mitra-Varuna, which has essentially the same attributes as Varuna alone, e.g. as the principal guardian of ṛtá "Truth, Order", breaches of which are punished. In the late Vedic texts and the Brahmanas, Mitra is increasingly associated with the light of dawn and the morning sun (while Varuna becomes associated with the evening, and ultimately the night). In the post-Vedic texts – in which Mitra practically disappears – Mitra evolved into the patron divinity of friendship, and because he is "friend", abhors all violence, even when sacred.
divinity
rigveda
varuna
References
- Mayrhofer, Manfred (1996) (in DE). Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Altindoarischen. II. Heidelberg: Winter. pp. 354–355.
- In Sanskrit dvandva compounds, the shorter name always appears first, regardless of seniority, hence 'Mitra-Varuna' even though Varuna is the more important of the two.
- MacDonell, Arthur Anthony (1917). A Vedic Reader. Oxford University Press. pp. 78–83, 118–119, 134.
- Lüders, Heinrich (1951). Alsdorf, Ludwig. ed (in DE). Varuna und das Wasser. Varuna. I. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht.
- Lüders, Heinrich (1959). Alsdorf, Ludwig. ed (in DE). Varuna und das Rta. Varuna. II. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht.
- York, Michael (2005). "Mitra". in Cush, Denise; Robinson, Catherine; Foulston, Lynn et al.. Encyclopedia of Hinduism. Routledge. p. 503.
- Læssøe, Jørgen (1963). People of Ancient Assyria: Their inscriptions and correspondence. Routledge. p. 86.
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