Varuna is the most exalted of those gods whose origin is physical.  His realm is all above us; the sun and stars are his eyes; he sits above upon his golden throne and sees all that passes below, even the thoughts of men.  He is, above all, the moral controller of the universe.

  To VARUNA (i. 25).

Howe’er we, who thy people are,
O Varuna, thou shining god,
Thy order injure, day by day,
Yet give us over nor to death,
Nor to the blow of angry (foe),
Nor to the wrath of (foe) incensed.[66]
Thy mind for mercy we release—­
As charioteer, a fast-bound steed—­
By means of song, O Varuna.

* * * * *

(’Tis Varuna) who knows the track
Of birds that fly within the air,
And knows the ships upon the flood;[67]
Knows, too, the (god) of order firm,
The twelve months with their progeny,
And e’en which month is later born;[68]
Knows, too, the pathway of the wind,
The wide, the high, the mighty (wind),
And knows who sit above (the wind).

  (God) of firm order, Varuna
  His place hath ta’en within (his) home
  For lordship, he, the very strong.[69]
  Thence all the things that are concealed
  He looks upon, considering
  Whate’er is done and to be done. 
  May he, the Son of Boundlessness,
  The very strong, through every day
  Make good our paths, prolong our life.

  Bearing a garment all of gold,
  In jewels clothed, is Varuna,
  And round about him sit his spies;
  A god whom injurers injure not,
  Nor cheaters cheat among the folk,
  Nor any plotters plot against;
  Who for himself ’mid (other) men
  Glory unequalled gained, and gains
  (Such glory) also ’mid ourselves.

  Far go my thoughts (to him), as go
  The eager cows that meadows seek,
  Desiring (him), the wide-eyed (god). 
  Together let us talk again,
  Since now the offering sweet I bring,
  By thee beloved, and like a priest
  Thou eat’st.

  I see the wide-eyed (god): 
  I see his chariot on the earth,
  My song with joy hath he received.

  Hear this my call, O Varuna,
  Be merciful to me today,
  For thee, desiring help, I yearn.

  Thou, wise one, art of everything,
  The sky and earth alike, the king;
  As such upon thy way give ear,
  And loose from us the (threefold) bond;
  The upper bond, the middle, break,
  The lower, too, that we may live.

In the portrait of such a god as this one comes very near to monotheism.  The conception of an almost solitary deity, recognized as watcher of wrong, guardian of right, and primitive creator, approaches more closely to unitarianism than does the idea of any physical power in the Rig Veda.

To the poet of the Rig Veda Varuna is the enveloping heaven;[70] that is, in distinction from Dyaus, from whom he differs toto caelo, so to speak, the invisible world, which embraces the visible sky.  His home is there where lives the Unborn, whose place is unique, above the highest heaven.[71]