SUN OR LIGHT DEITIES.
1. S urya.
S urya and Savitri are two names by which the Sun is
commonly addressed in the Vedic hymns.
Sometimes
one name is used exclusively, sometimes they are used
interchangeably, and sometimes they are used as though
they represented quite distinct objects.
It is supposed
that Savitri refers to the sun when invisible; whilst
Surya refers to him when he is visible to the wor
shippers.
This at any rate gives some reason for the
two names being employed, though it may not explain
the case satisfactorily in every instance.
Although the hymns in which Surya is addressed are
not very numerous, his worship was most common in
the olden time, and has continued to the present hour.
It is to him that the Gayatri, the most sacred text of
the Vedas, is addressed at his rising by every devout
Brahman.
Simple in its phraseology, this short verse
is supposed to exert magical powers.
It is as follows:—
*• Let us meditate on that excellent glory of the divine Vivitier;
May he enlighten (or stimulate) our understandings.” *
As a specimen of the language employed in some of
the later writings in reference to this verse, read the
* “ Indian Wisdom.” p. 20.
following few lines from the “ Skanda Pu.rana” :—
“ Nothing in. the Vedas is superior to the Gayatri.
No
invocation is equal to the Gayatri, as no city is equal to
Kasi (Benares).
The Gayatri is the mother of the
Vedas, and of Brahmans.
By repeating it a man is
saved.
By the power of the Gayatri the Ksbetriya
S U R Y A .
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(Warrior
caste)
Vishvamitra
became a Brahtnarsi
(Brahman saint), and even obtained such power as to
be able to create a new world.
What is there indeed
that cannot be effected by the Gayatri ?
For the Gayatri
is Vishnu, Brahma, and Siva, and the three Vedas.”*
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* Kennedy’s “ Hindu Mythology,” p. 345.
f.
• SUX OR LIGHT DEITIES— SURYA.
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li promise of such blessings, it is not to be wondered
at that the worship of Surya should continue.
The following translation * of hymns from the Rig-
Veda gives a fair specimen of the language used in
addresses to Surya:—
“ Behold the rays of Dawn, like heralds, lead on high
The Sun, that men may see the great all-knowing god.
The stare-slink off like thieves, in company with Night,
Before the all-seeing eye, whose beams reveal his presence,
Gleaming like brilliant, flames, to nation after nation.
With speed, beyond the ken of mortals, thou, 0 Sun!
Dost ever travel oh, conspicuous to all.
Thou dost create the light, and with it dost illume
The universe entire; thou risest in the sight
01 ail the race of men, and all the host of heaven.
Right-giving \ aruna ! thy piercing glance dostsean,
In quick succession, all this stirring, active world,
And penetratelh too the broad ethereal space,
Measuring our days and nights, and spying out all creatures.
Surya with flaming locks, clear-sighted god of day,
! hy seven ruddy mares bear on thy rushing car.
With these, thy self-yoked steeds, seven daughters of thy chariot
Onward thou dost advance.
To thj refulgent orb
Beyond this lower gloom, and upward to the light
Would we ascend, 0 Sun! thou god among the gods,”
Surya, as we have already noticed, is regarded as a
son oi Aditi; at other times he is said to be a son of
Ibyaus.
I shas (the Dawn) is called his wife, though
in another passage lie is said to be produced by the
Dawn.
Some texts state that he is the Vivifier of all
things; whilst others state that he was formed and made
to shine by Indra, Soma, Agni, and others.
I’ rom the character ascribed to Savitri in some hymns,
it seems more natural to regard him as the sun shining-
in his strength, and Surya as the sun when rising and
* “ Indian Wisdom,” p. Iff.
THE VEDIC DEITIES.
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tongued. Savitri is golden-eyed* golden-handed,golden-
He rides in a chariot drawn by radiant, white
footed steeds.
He illuminates the earth; his golden
arms stretched out to bless, infusing energy into all
creatures, reach to the utmost ends of heaven.
He is
leader and king in heaven; the other gods follow him,
and he it is who gives them immortality.
He is prayed,
to for deliverance from sin, and to conduct the souls of
the departed to the abode of the righteous.
In the Puranic Age, Surya sustains quite a different
character.
He is there called the son of Kasyapa and
Aditi.
He is described as a dark-red man, with three
eyes and four arms: in two hands are water-lilies ; with
one he is bestowing a blessing, with the other he is
encouraging his worshippers.
He sits upon a red lotus,
and rays of glory issue from his body.
In addition to
the daily worship that is offered him by Brahmans in
the repetition of the Gayatri, he is worshipped once a
year by the Hindus of all castes, generally on the first
Sunday in the month of Magh; and in seasons of sick
ness it is no uncommon thing for the low-caste Hindus
to employ a Brahman to repeat verses in his honour,
in the hope that thus propitiated he will effect their
recovery.
In the “ Vishnu Purana” f we find the following
account of Surya.
He married Sangna, the daughter of
Visvakarma; who, after bearing him three children, was
so oppressed with his brightness and glory that she was
compelled to leave him.
Before her departure, she
arranged with Chhsiya (Shadow) to take her place.
For years Surya did not notice the change of wife.
But one day, in a fit of anger, Chhaya pronounced a
curse upon Yarna (Death), a child of Sangna’s, which
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* Muir, 0. S. T., v. 1G2 if.
f Book iii. chap. ii.
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immediately took effect.
As Surya knew that no
mother’s curse could destroy her offspring, he looked into
the matter and discovered that his wife had forsaken him,
leaving this other woman in her place.
Through the
power of meditation, Surya found Sangria in a forest in
the form of a mare; and, in order that he might again
enjoy her society, he changed himself into a horse.
After a few years, growing tired of this arrangement,
they returned in proper form to their own dwelling.
But in order that his presence might be bearable to his
wife, his father-in-law Visvakarma, who was the architect
of the gods, ground the Sun upon a stone, and by this
means reduced his brightness by one-eighth.
The part
thus ground from Surya was not wasted.
From it
were produced the wonder-working discus of Vishnu,
the trident of Siva, the lance of Kartikeya (the god of
war), and the weapons of Kuvera (the god of riches).
The “ Bhavishya Purana ” says, “ Because there is none
greater than he (i.e. Surya), nor has been, nor will be,
therefore he is celebrated as the supreme soul in all the
Vedas.”
Again, “ That which is the sun, and thus called
light or effulgent power, is adorable, and must be wor
shipped by those who dread successive births and deaths,
and who eagerly desire beatitude.”
In the “ Brahma
Parana ” * is a passage in which the sun is alluded to
under twelve names, with epithets peculiar to each, as
though they were twelve distinct sun-deities:—
“ The first form of the sun is India, the lord of the
gods, and the destroyer of their enemies; the second,
Dhata, the creator of all things; the third, Parjanya,
residing in the clouds, and showering rain on the earth
from its beams; the fourth, Twasta, who dwells in all
corporeal forms; the fifth, Pushan, who gives nutriment
* Kennedy’s “ Hindu Mythology,” p. 349.
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THE VETHC DEITIES.
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to all beings; the sixth, Aryama, who brings sacritices
to a successful conclusion ; the seventh derives his name
from almsgiving, and delights mendicants with gifts;
the eighth is called Vivasvan, who ensures digestion;
the ninth, Vishnu; who constantly manifests himself for
the destruction of the enemies of the gods; the tenth,
Ansumah, who preserves the vital organs in a sound
state ; the eleventh, Varuna, who, residing in the waters,
vivifies the universe; and the twelfth, Mitra, who dwells
in the orb of the moon, for the benefit of the three
worlds.
These are the twelve splendours of the sun,
the supreme spirit, who through them pervades the
universe, and irradiates the inmost souls of men.”
Surya is said to have Aruna (Rosy), the Dawn, the
son of Kasvapa and Kadru, as his charioteer.
According to the Ramayana, Sugriva, the king of the
monkey host which assisted Rama in his great expedi
tion to regain possession of Vita his wife, was a son of
Surya by a monkey.
According to the Mahabhfirata,
the hero Kama also was the son of this deity ; and when
he was in the form of a horse, he became father of the
Asvins, and communicated the white Yajur-Veda.
When speaking of the planets, Surya will be noticed
again under the name of Ravi.
Among the many names and epithets by which this
deity is known, the following are the most common :—
Dinakara, “ The Maker of the day.”
Bhaskara, “ The Creator of light.”
Vivaswat, “ The Radiant one,”
Mihira, “ He who waters the earth; ” i.e. he draws up
the moisture from the seas so that the clouds are formed.
Grahapati, " The Lord of the stars.”
Karmasakshi, “ The Witness of (men’s) works.”
Martanda, “ A descendant of Mritanda.”
SUN OR LIGHT DEITIES—SURYA. ^ I j
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2. PUSHAST.
Pushan is the name of a sun-god to whom some hymns
are exclusively addressed, and whose praise at other
times is sung in connection with that of Indva and othei
gods.
defined. In these hymns his character is not very clearly
He is said * to behold the entire universe; is
addressed as the guide of travellers, and the protector
of cattle.
He is called upon to protect his servants in
battle, and to defend them as of old.
He is invoked in
the marriage ceremonial, and asked to take the bride’s
hand, to lead her away, and to bless her in her conjugal
relations.
He is said also to conduct the spirits of the
departed from this world to the next.
In one text he is
called “ the nourisher,” as Vishnu in later times was
called “ the preserver.”
By far the greater number of
prayers addressed to him seem to' regard him as the
guide and protector of travellers, both along the ordinary
journeys of life and in the longer journey to the other
world; and as he is supposed to be constantly travel
ling about, he is said to know the road by which they
have to go.
The following is a specimen of the hymns addressed
to Pushan in the Rig-Veda
“ Conduct us, Pushan, over
our road; remove distress, son of the deliverer; go on
before us.
Smite away from before us the destructive
and injurious wolf which seeks after us.
Drive away
from our path the waylayer, the thief and the robber.
Tread with thy foot upon the burning weapons of that
deceitful wretch, whoever he be.
O wonder-working
and wise Pushan, we desire that help of thine wherewith
thou didst favour our fathers !
0 god, who bringest all
blessings, and art distinguished by the golden spear,
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THE VEDIC DEITIES.
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* Muir, 0. S. T., v. 171 ff.
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y67V 0R LIGHT DEITIES— MITRA AND
make wealth easy of acquisition!
Convey us past our
opponents; make our paths easy to travel; gain strength
for us here.
Lead us over a country of rich pastures;
let no new trouble (beset our) path.
'Bestow, satiate,
grant, stimulate us; fill our belly.
W e do not reproach
Pushan, we praise him with hymns; and we seek riches
from the wonder-working god.” *
“ May wo, O Pushan !
meet with a wise man who will straightway direct us
and say, ‘ It is this.’
May Pushan follow our kine;
may he protect our horses; may he give us food. . . .
Come hither, glowing god, the deliverer, may we meet.” f
In the Puranas Pushan occupies a far less exalted
position.
It seems almost like a burlesque to see him,
who in the Yedas is reverently approached as the giver
of good to his worshippers, described as being obliged to
feed upon gruel, because bis teeth have been knocked
out of his mouth. The earliest form of the legend describ
ing this event is found in the Taittiriya Sanhita. Kudra,
the name by which Siva was then known, not being in
vited to a great sacrifice that Daksha, his father-in-law,
was celebrating, in his anger shot an arrow which pierced
the sacrificial victim.
Pushan ate his share, and in
doing so broke his teeth.
In describing .Daksha,} an
account of this sacrifice will be given.
In the “ Vishnu
Parana ” Pushan appears as one of the Adityas.
3. Mitra and Varuna
These deities are most frequently named together in
the hymns; Varuna is often addressed alone, but Mitra
very seldom.
The idea of the older commentators was
that Mitra represented and ruled over the day, whilst
Varuna was ruler of the night.
