MITHRA or Mithras, the sun, the object of worship of the ancient Aryans, the Bactrian sun god. Mithra is not mentioned in the Gatha of Zoroaster. In the Vedas he is rarely invoked alone, but generally along with (Ouranos) Varuna, the heavenly vault. In the later Iranian religion, Mithra is included as one of the Yayata, and in the Mithra prayers he addresses Ahura-mazda. It appears that there were two forms of worship in Vedic India,—the one domestic, universal, celebrated three times a day, the other rare and exceptional, but both blended by a compromise into one incongruous whole. The worship of the elements was clearly the national faith, with its offerings of the fruits of the earth, soma juice, barley, milk, and butter. Animal sacrifice came from without, corrupted more and more, and at last losing sight altogether of its original import. Indra and fire-worship was the later form on Indian ground. The aboriginal tribes to the present day sacrifice buffaloes and other animals, and there is no trace of fire-worship among them.
On the other hand, the Viswamitra or Agnisara claim the honour of having been the first to introduce the worship both of Agni and Indra in various sakta of the Veda. Viswat Mithra, how ever, was the name of a body of immigrants ; Viswamitra, the men or people of Mithra.
Agastya, a native of Tibet, is a Mahe, Muni, of great celebrity in the legends of Southern India. He methodized the Tamil language, and is the chief Tamil medical authority. He is estimated to have lived in the 6th century s.c. According to IIindu legend, Agastya was the son of Mithra and Varuna conjointly, and born in a water-jar along with Vasisht'ha. Having com manded the Vindhya mountain to lie prostrate till his return, he repaired to the south of India, to Kolhapur, where he continued to reside, and appears to have been mainly instrumental in introducing the Hindu religion into the Peninsula. —Wilson's Hind. Theat. i. p. 313 ; Rev. W. Taylor; Dr. Caldwell; As. Soc. Trans. iii. p. 213.