Chapter 60 - The Solar Sphere

Sūta said:

1. It is cited^[1] that the sun is fire and the moon is water. The other five planets are known as lords who move about as they please.

2. Understand the source of origin of the remaining planets which is clearly being recounted now. It is cited that the planet Mars is Skanda (Karttikeya) the commander-in-chief of the army of Devas.

3-5. People of perfect knowledge say that Mercury is lord Nārāyaṇa. O excellent brahmins, the great planet Śanaiścara, the slow-moving Saturn is Yama, the lord of the worlds. The preceptors of Devas and Asuras are the great planets Venus and Jupiter with (refulgent) rays. They are mentioned as the sons of Prajāpati.^[2]

There is no doubt that the three worlds have their source in the sun.

6-8. The entire universe including Devas, Asuras and human beings originates from him. He is the lustre of all luminaries and the universal refulgence. The refulgence of Rudra, Indra, Upendra, the moon, the leading brahmins, the fire and the heaven-dwellers comes from the sun. He is the soul of all. He is the lord of all worlds. He alone is Mahādeva, Prajāpati and the lord of the three worlds. He is the original great deity. Everything originates from him and dissolves in him.

9. The existence and non-existence of the worlds originated from the sun formerly. O brahmins, this refulgent sun of great lustre is an incomprehensible planet.

10-11. All these units of time begin from him and end in him again and again, viz., kṣaṇas (moments), muhūrtas (a unit of 48 mts.), days, nights, fortnights, months, years, seasons and yugas. Hence without the sun there is no reckoning of time.

12-15. Without Kāla (time) there is no order, no initiation, no daily ritual. How can there be the division of the seasons? Whence are these flowers, roots and fruits? Whence is the outcome of plants? How can there be the different kinds of grass and medicinal plants? The dealings of the creatures in heaven and here too will be non-existent without the sun who is the form of Rudra, the scorcher of the universe. He alone is time, fire, Dvādaśātman (one having twelve forms) and Prajāpati. O excellent brahmins, he scorches the three worlds including the mobile and immobile beings. He is the mine of splendour. He is all in all, the whole set of worlds.

16. Adopting the excellent path, he scorches the entire universe from the sides, from above and from below in the course of nights and days.

17. If a bright lamp is hung in the middle of the house, it dispels darkness from the sides, the portion above and the portion below, at the same time.

18. In the same manner the thousand-rayed sun, the king of planets, the lord of the universe, illuminates the entire universe by means of his rays.

19. Seven rays, that are the source of origin of the planets are the most excellent ones among the thousand, rays mentioned by me before.^[3]

20-21. They are Suṣumna, Harikeśa, Viśvakarman, Viśvavyacas, Sannaddha, Sarvāvasu and Svarāṭ.

The sun’s ray Suṣumna makes the southern region flourish.^[4] Suṣumna is glorified as the ray that moves about above, below and on the sides.

22-26. Harikeśa which is in front (in the east) is glorified as the source of origin of constellations.^[5] In the south, the ray Viśvakarmā develops Budha (Mercury). The ray Viśvavyacas which is in the west (behind) is the source of origin of Śukra (Venus). The ray Sannaddha is the source of origin of Mars. The ray Sarvāvasu is the source of origin of Bṛhaspati (Jupiter). The ray Svarāṭ nourishes Śanaiścara (Saturn). Thus it is due to the power of the sun that the constellations, planets and stars are seen in the heaven. This entire universe is sustained by him. The constellations are called Nakṣatras. The word is derived from √kṣi with the prohibitive particle ‘na’ i.e. [na kṣīyante] (i.e. those which do not perish).

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

For the celestial fire as identical with the sun, cf.—[ayaṃ vai svargyo'gniḥ pārayiṣṇuramṛtātmambhūtaḥ]—cited in Śivatoṣiṇī.

[2]:

Śukra (Venus) and Bṛhaspati (Jupiter), the preceptors of Danavas and Devas are respectively the sons of patriarchs Bhṛgu and Aṅgiras.

[3]:

The principal seven rays, Suṣumna etc., of the thousand-rayed sun are the source of energy and movement of stars, planets and constellations. For instance, the solar ray, called Suṣumna, causes the movement of the moon.

[4]:

dakṣiṇāṃ rāśim i.e. the moon. The Liṅgapurāṇa describes vividly the respective functions of the seven solar rays.

[5]:

Each planet or star has its respective sphere (devasthāna) in which its influence reigns supreme. These spheres are established by the Creator in the beginning of a kalpa and they last till the dissolution of that kalpa.