Mitra and Varuna: human contract and cosmic order

In the Rig Veda, Mitra and Varuna form an inseparable pair.
They do not represent gods in the modern religious sense, but two fundamental principles that structure human life and the universe.

Together, they connect:

• human relationships,
• and the deep order of the cosmos.

1. Mitra: the human contract

Mitra is associated with:

• friendship,
• spoken promises,
• agreements,
• trust.

Mitra ensures that commitments are respected.
He represents what makes collective life possible:
the ability to keep one’s word, to cooperate, to live together without constant violence.

Without Mitra, there is no society — only suspicion and conflict.

2. Varuna: cosmic order and truth

Varuna embodies:

• cosmic order (ṛta),
• truth,
• natural law,
• that which surrounds and encompasses everything.

Varuna sees all.
Nothing escapes him — neither actions nor intentions.

He is not a moral judge, but the guardian of balance.
When order is broken, consequences follow naturally.

3. Two levels of the same principle

Mitra and Varuna are not opposites.
They act on two levels of the same system:

• Mitra governs visible human relations,
• Varuna maintains the invisible order that sustains the world.

A just human contract aligns with cosmic order.
An unjust one eventually collapses.

4. Fault and restoration

The hymns to Varuna highlight an essential point:
error is possible, but it can be acknowledged.

Humans can make mistakes, break order, lie, or abuse power.
But recognizing the fault opens the path to restoration.

What matters is not punishment, but the return to balance.

5. A very contemporary message

Today, contracts are everywhere:

• economic contracts,
• political contracts,
• social contracts.

When these contracts no longer respect the order of life,
when they serve a few at the expense of the whole,
they become destructive.

Mitra and Varuna remind us of a simple rule:

• no human contract can last if it violates natural order.