MITRA, metra (Sanskrit, meaning friend), an Indian god of light, belonging to the Vedic period. Mitra is the Friend, the personification of Daylight, a bright being beloved of man. His name is coupled with that of Varuna, another bright being. The association between them is so close that they present themselves to the mind as an inseparable pair — Varuna Mina or Mitra-Varuna, — who drive the same golden chariot and think the same thoughts. Together they are the keepers of the Cosmic Order and the Law of Righteousness, and together they watch the deeds and hearts of men, equally all-seeing and all-knowing. The sun is often called the eye of Mitra-Varuna as well as Varuna's alone; and Light is the chariot on which these two inseparable gods ride through space on their appointed path. They are also avengers and forgivers of sin. It is Mitra's particular business to wake men and call them to the duties of a new day. Only one hymn is addressed to Mitra alone.
The general character of the hymns of the Rig-Veda is as follows: "Mitra and Varuna, you mount your chariot, which is golden when the dawn bursts forth and has iron poles at the setting of the sun; from thence you see what is boundless and what is limited, what is yonder and what is here' Varuna and Mitra are both Adityas, that is, sons of Aditi, who, in consequence, is called "Mother of the She probably designates boundless space (aditi, space). Varuna and Mitra are therefore, Sons of Boundless Space, Sons of Eternity, Sons of Beauty and Brightness, for givers of sin, guardians of purity and truth, givers of health. They are thoroughly prac tical and beautiful deities. Mitra is identical with the Iranian Mithra, or Mithras, also a solar deity and the central figure of a sp_ecial cult. Sec MITH RAS ; AVESTA, and vEDIC LITERATURE.