THE MYTH OF INDRA-VARUNA

In the Rig Veda, the embodiment of the visible form of the universe was personified by Indra, the king of the celestial gods. Therefore, the gods presided over by Indra correspond to the stars and galaxies that shine within the body of the visible universe.

Yet Varuna, a deity linked closely to Indra, was often described as standing above the whole world. In the mythological accounts provided by the Vedic Puranas, Varuna was known as the regent of the western ocean. The shining heaven of Indra, which encompasses the visible form of the universe, was often compared to the universal sun, because it appears as a sphere filled with luminous galactic particles. When the enlightened soul ascends beyond the world of Indra, however, and arrives in the higher world of Varuna, the visible universe (or universal sun) sets in its awareness. This may be compared to the sun setting in the western ocean in a blaze of reddish light. For this reason, Varuna, the regent of the western ocean, was described with the term rajasa, which means both “royal” and “reddish.”

The term varuna is derived from the compound va + aruna, with va meaning “ocean” or “pervasive” and aruna signifying the reddish color of the sky at dawn and dusk. The phoneme va serves as the twenty-ninth consonant of the Sanskrit alphabet—which means it represents the twenty-ninth layer above the half measure. Just as the twenty-eighth consonant, la, was viewed as the seed formula of Indra, so va, the twenty-ninth consonant, was viewed as the seed formula of Varuna. The implication is that the world of Indra is supported by the twenty-eighth layer above the half measure, and the world of Varuna is supported by the twenty-ninth layer.

The constant association of Varuna with the term rajasa (royal redness) can be explained in terms of Samkhya philosophy: All created forms of existence are rooted in three fundamental qualities (gunas), called sattva, rajas, and tamas.

These three qualities are codependent—they coexist and act together. Yet the theory tells us that one can predominate over the other two. This means that sometimes the field (kshetra) can appear as a field of matter displaying the quality of tamas. At other times, it can appear as a field of force displaying the quality of rajas. It can also appear as a field of mind displaying the quality of sattva. It is important to note that these times do not necessarily correspond to sequential moments, but they can correspond to different scales of time and space within the overall spectrum of creation. For example, on the scale of the twenty-fourth layer above the half measure, which marks the boundary of the galactic sphere, the field appears to display the quality of dark matter, with tamas dominating over rajas and sattva. Similarly, on the scale of the twenty-ninth layer above the half measure, which marks the boundary of the universal sphere—the boundary of the visible universe—the field displays rajas (red force), with rajas dominating over tamas and sattva.

In the Rig Veda, the universal field of rajas is described as an “upper mass of light,” sustained by Varuna, who is assigned a “reddish” color: “The reddish Varuna of pure vision dwells in the fathomless [space]. He sustains the upper mass of light; the rays [of which] are pointed downwards, while their base is above.”¹

This reddish mass of light represents the proverbial red veil that hides the holy of holies from all mortal eyes and the reddish veil that obscures the higher and larger realities of the universe from all mortal souls—whether they exist in an embodied or disembodied form.