59) the kindly sun, his name (Mitra, 'friend') being frequently punned upon.
The point of view taken by Barth deserves comment.

He says:[89] "It has sometimes been maintained that the Varuna of the hymns is a god in a state of decadence.

In this view we can by no means concur; ...

an appeal to these few hymns is enough to prove that in the consciousness of their authors the divinity of Varuna stood still intact." If, instead of 'still intact,' the author had said, 'on the increase, till undermined by still later philosophical speculation,' the true position, in our opinion, would have been given.

But a distinction must be made between decadence of greatness and decadence of popularity.