in the pantheon of Vedic Hinduism, one of the gods in the category of Ādityas, or sovereign principles of the universe. He represents friendship, integrity, harmony, and all else that is important in the successful maintenance of order in human existence. He is usually paired with the god Varuṇa, the guardian of the cosmic order, whose powers he complements as guardian of the human order. As spirit of the day he is sometimes attributed with solar characteristics. His Iranian counterpart is Mithra, who eventually came to be worshipped as the god of one of the great mystery cults, Mithraism.