Vedic influence on the Sun-worship in the Puranas
by Goswami Mitali | 2018 | 68,171 words
This page relates ‘Symbolic relevance of the Bull in Sun-worship’ of the study on the Vedic influence of Sun-worship in the Puranas, conducted by Goswami Mitali in 2018. The tradition of observing Agnihotra sacrifice and the Sandhya, etc., is frequently observed among the Hindus. Another important innovation of the Sun-worship in the Puranas is the installation of the images of the Sun in the temples.—This section belongs to the series “Salient Traits of the Solar Divinities in the Veda”.
Part 35 - Symbolic relevance of the Bull in Sun-worship
The bull is another animal fetish of the Sun-god. In the Vedic mythology, the solar divinities Sūrya, Rohita, etc., have been described as the bull.[1] The description of the bull as a ruler of thirty days clearly points out the solar character. A white bullock is offered as the fee for god Savitṛ, the Sun-god.[2] Besides these, in many rites the bull is employed as the symbol of the Sun.[3] It represents the procreative potency of the Sun-god.[4]
Footnotes and references:
[1]:
cf., āyaṃ gauḥ pṛśnirakramīdasadanmātaraṃ puraḥ/ Ibid., 10.189.1
ārohañchukro bṛhatīratandro dve rūpe kṛṇute rocamānaḥ/ citraścikitvān mahiṣo vātamāyā yāvato lokānabhi yadvibhāti// Atharvavedasaṃhitā, 13.2.42
Also vide, Taittirīyasaṃhitā, 1.5.3.1; Śatapathabrāhmaṇa, 2.1.4.29
[2]:
Śatapathabrāhmaṇa, 5.3.1.7
[3]:
Atharvavedasaṃhitā, 4.38;5.7; 6.31
[4]:
Vide, Srivastava, V.C., Op cit., p. 155