6. (a) Does the Rig-Veda concur that the wages sin pays is death? (b) What obligation did writers of the Rig-Veda feel toward Heaven?

⁶ The Rig-Veda shows sin to be a violation of divine law with death as the penalty. We read: “Whatever law of thine, O God, O Varuna, as we are men, Day after day we violate, Give us not as prey to death, to be destroyed by thee in wrath.” (RV. 1. 25. 1, 2) The Vedic writers obviously felt a sense of sin and viewed death as a punishment for sin, and they tried to appease their gods by prayers and sacrifices. Many of the Rig-Veda hymns are taken up with prayers for removing sin, and with sacrifices propitiating their gods. They also made their god Varuna the upholder of moral law, apparently sensing some legal obligation toward Heaven.⁠³

The Rig-Veda portrays Mrtyu as Death personified and as the son of Bhaya (Fear). This suggests the close link between fear and death.