Svarbhānu

Svarbhānu or Swarbhanu (Sanskrit: स्वरभानु, lit. Splendour of Radiance)[1] is a Hindu Asura traditionally held responsible for solar eclipses in Vedic mythology. The name is also used as an attribute of the demon Rahu and Ketu in Puranic mythology,[1] who are also connected to Solar Eclipse and Lunar Eclipse.

Svarbhanu
Asura of Solar and Lunar Eclipses; Original combined form of Rahu and Ketu[1]
Vishnu cuts the head of immortal Svarbhanu, leading to creation of Rahu and Ketu
AffiliationAsura, Two Graha, divided into Rahu and Ketu
AbodePatala
PlanetNorth Node and South Node
GenderMale
Personal information
Parents
ChildrenPrabha (wife of Ayus and Mother of Nahusha)

Mythology
Rahu

Svarbhānu is described as an asura twice in the Family Books of the Rig Veda.[2] Svarbhānu is described to strike Surya dev, overshadowing the sun with darkness.[3] Stella Kramrisch considers this act as Svarbhānu as a deity greater than the sun.[1] The Rig veda further narrates after this, the king of heaven - Indra struck down Svarbhānu and sage Atri found the hidden sun and replaced it in the sky.[2][4] Svarbhanu again appears in the Yajurveda and the Brahmanas.[2] According to the Brahmanas, Svarbhānu with darkness pierced Āditya (the Sun), whom, however, the gods set free by means of svara (accents).[5]

An assistant of Shukra, Svarbhānu was the teacher of the asuras and god of the planet Venus. He deceitfully quaffed the amrita proffered by Mohini, thereby achieving immortality as two beings despite being beheaded immediately after: his head as Rahu and his body as Ketu.[6][7]

According to the Mahabharata, the sun god Surya is also described as an "enemy of Svarbhānu".[8][9] Svarbhānu was said to strike both the sun and moon with arrows, the celestial bodies being revived by Atri as in the Rigveda.[4]

According to the text Hari-vaṃśa,[10] Svarbhānu ushered Kalanemi through the galaxy. In a Purana, Svarbhānu is described as a son of the goddess Siṃhikā (marjar or cat) ('Little Lioness').[11]

Notes
  1. Kramrisch, Stella; Burnier, Raymond (1976). The Hindu temple. 2. Motilal Banarsidass Publ. pp. 325–6. ISBN 978-81-208-0224-7.
  2. Wash Edward Hale (1986). Ásura- in early Vedic religion. Motilal Banarsidass. pp. 63–6. ISBN 978-81-208-0061-8.
  3. Mitchiner 1982, p. 258
  4. Antonio Rigopoulos. Dattātreya: the immortal guru, yogin, and avatāra. pp. 3–4.
  5. Jaiminīya Brāhmaṇa 2:386; Maitrāyaṇi Brāhmaṇa 4:5:2
  6. Chander 2000, p. 2
  7. B S Shylaja, H R Madhusudan (1999). Eclipse. Universities Press. p. 2. ISBN 978-81-7371-237-1.
  8. "Sambhava" parvan, Section LXVII
  9. Johannes Adrianus Bernardus van Buitenen (1981). The Mahabharata. 2. University of Chicago Press. pp. 242, 784. ISBN 978-0-226-84664-4.
  10. 1:47:52
  11. Kāla-Sarpa Yoga

References
  • J. Sarat Chander : "Ketu and its Forms". 2000.
  • Sukumari Bhattacharji : The Indian Theogony. Cambridge University Press, 1970.
  • John E. Mitchiner : Traditions of the Seven Rishis. Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi, 1982.

See also
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