Varuna Dev : God of Oceans & Sky

VARUNA DEV : GOD OF OCEANS & SKY

    "Varuna" is a hindi word which means "water"and Varuna Dev is the god of ocean or water.He is also the god of sky. Our body is made up of five elements and water is one of them. We can not imagine our life without water. So Varuna Deva is one of the most important deity of Hindu Culture.

      The god of the sea and the symbol of truth, Varuna Deva is also considered as changer of seasons and day and night. It is considered that history or position of  Varuna Dev is older than that of other deities.

      Position of Varuna Dev is third after Devraj Indra and Agni Dev. Devraj Indra is a great warrior while Varuna Dev is considered as the great nurturer of moral strength. In ancient times, when there was need of rain Varuna Deva was worshipped. 

   Devraj Indra is god of rain or thunder, but he needs Varuna to make the rain happen, this also shows the importance of Varuna Dev. It is believed that Varun dev  have magical powers and name of this magical power is Maya.

    It is also believed that other name Varuna dev is Parcheta which means intelligent. Varuna Deva is guardian of Western Direction.

Parents :

       Varuna Deva is son of Maharishi Kashyapa ( one of the sapt rishis ) and Devi Aditi ( daughter of Daksha and mother of all adityas ).

Abode:

       Home of Varuna Dev is Jal Lok or Ocean.

Vehicle or Mount :

      Vehicle of Varuna Dev is crocodile. But at some places his mount is a charoit lead by seven swans ( hansa ).

Weapon :

      Weapon of Varun dev is Paash or noose.

Consort & Children :

   Wife of God of ocean is Varunani. Children of Varun Dev are named as: Varuni, Daksha Savarni manu and sushena.
    At some places Valmiki who wrote the Epic Ramayana was also the son of Varun Dev.

Temple :

     Temple of Varuna dev is in Karachi,Pakistan.

Relation between Varuna Dev And Mitra Dev:

     Varuna and Mitra are two Deities who are associated to each other. Together they are known as "mitra-varuna". They are considered as the nineth and tenth child of Maharishi kashyap and Devi Aditi. At some places they are also considered as twins.

      In the vedic texts, Mitra Dev is associated with morning and dawn while Varuna Dev is associated with evening and night. It is also considered as Mitra Deva rules deep inside the sea while Varuna Deva reigns upside the sea and rivers.

   In Rigveda, Mitra-Varuna together have same characterstics as Varuna Dev Alone. According to Rigveda, Varuna Dev is more powerful than Mitra Dev but also the second greatest god of Rigvedic Gods after Indra.

    Mitra-Varuna are the protectors of righteous protector of rita. "Rita" means which is responsible for proper functioning of natural and moral sacrifices.

Stories related to Varuna Dev :

     There are various stories related to Varuna Dev, some of them are :

Varuna Dev gave boon to Lord Hanuman:

   Once Lord Hanuman in his childhood fly high in the sky to eat Sun as he considered it as a fruit which was shining high in the sky. Seeing this Rahu tried to stop him but failed. 

     Rahu went to Devraj Indra and told him that someome is going to eat sun. Listening to Rahu, Devraj went to Lord Hanuman and in anger used his Vajra on him due to which Lord fainted. 

    On this, Vayu Dev got angry and soaked up all the air from everywhere. Chaos was created in whole world due to absence of air. All Gods went to Vayu Dev to ask him to restore air. Lord Brahma broke the unconsciousness of Lord Hanuman. 

       After this all deities gave boon to Lord Hanuman.Varuna Dev had given an important boon to Lord Hanuman. He told to Lord Hanuman that ,"even after attaining the age of one million years, your death will not be possible due to water".

Lord Rama's anger on Varun Dev :

   Goddess Sita was abducted by the demon Ravana by deceit.  Lord Rama was going to Lanka - the city of demon king Ravana to kill him and get Goddess Sita back from Ravana's captivity.

  But in his way to Lanka, one big ocean he had to pass to reach Lanka to get Goddess Sita back. So Lord Ram did prayer to Varuna Dev to calm down his tides and give him and his Vanar sena way to reach Lanka.

    But even after praying to varuna dev for few days there was no sign of anything from Varuna deva. On this Lord Ram got angry and walked towards the sea with his bow. 

   Then he pointed an arrow at his bow and while pointing towards the sea, said to Varun Dev that," Varuna Dev, you did not give me a way even after I prayed to you again and again.And now the dam of my patience is broken and now I dry this sea with my fire arrows".

     As soon as Lord Ram made such a decision, Varuna Dev trembled and prayed to Lord Shri Ram to calm down. Then Varuna dev said to Lord Ram that, "Oh Lord, I can't break the laws of the earth by giving you a way,But there are two Vanars named Nal and Neel in their army, if they write your name on a stone and put it in water, then they will start swimming.A bridge will be made from it you and your Vanar sena will lead to Lanka."

    After this, a bridge was created which lead Lord Ram and his Vanar Sena to Lanka. Lord Ram reached Lanka and killed Demon Ravana.

Varuna Dev Mantra:

  ॐ जल बिम्बाय विद्महे नील पुरुषाय धीमहि तन्नो वरुण: प्रचोदयात् 

Thanks for reading. If you have any query please let me know at : shiv14496@gmail.com