Suraj ka saatvaan ghoda..

Still remember this title from an obscure movie I had watched on Doordarshan as a kid.
The movie went on to become a classic by Shyam Benegal and the phrase has always stayed
in some corner of my mind.. What could it have meant, the !th "orse of the Sun## $or
that matter, why have seven horses in the first place#
In "indu mythology, Surya travels through the sky on a seven%horse, twelve%spoked
chariot, driven by &run 'the brother of (arud), with its arrival heralded by *sha, the
goddess of Dawn. &s the Sun begins its +ourney in the ,orthern "emisphere '*ttarayan)
again, lets try to decode the mysteries of Surya and his chariot in the current post.
Surya on his chariot
& lot of people might think that this motion of the Sun mentioned in the scriptures refers to
the apparent movement of Sun from -ast to West, but thats not the case % .edic te/ts
clearly mention that the Sun revolves ,0T around the -arth but around 1ount 1eru2
If you check the post 3"eaven at the ,orth 4ole5 you will understand what it means..
1ount 1eru points towards the 4ole Star which, at the time scriptures were written, was a
Star near the (alactic 6enter so effectively, scriptures indicate that our Sun revolves
around the (alactic 6enter and ,0T the -arth.. What an ama7ing insight22
*ttarayan reflects the apparent movement of the Sun towards the ,orthern "emisphere
heralding the decline of winter while causing the opposite effect in the Southern
"emisphere. -arth revolves around the Sun with a tilt of 89.:; degrees and because of this
tilt, it appears that the Sun travels north and south of the e<uator.
Sankrant reflects the change of Season
This in turn causes seasons which are thus dependent on e<uino/es and solstices and the
festival of 1akar Sankranti heralds the onset of a glorious Sun and end of the harsh
winters. In many parts of the country, it is also harvest time so the celebrations take form
of the regional variants like =ohri, Bihu and 4ongal.

&dityas % The >8 Solar gods
0ldest .edic te/ts describe Surya alongwith >> other brothers collectively known as the
&dityas. &dityas form a group of solar deities and are so named because they are the sons
of ?ashyap and &diti. They form the main body of the "indu pantheon and are comprised
of@
&nsh 'Due share),
&ryaman ',obility),
Bhaag 'Due inheritance),
Daksh 'Aitual skill),
DhatriBTvashtar 'Skill in crafting),
1itra '$riendship),
4ushanBAavi '4rosperity),
SavitraB4ar+anya '4ower of word),
SuryaB.ivasvan 'Social law),
.arun '6osmic fate),
.aman '6osmic law).
-arliest scriptures actually mention C or D of them but later in the Brahmanas the number
is given as >8. It isnt difficult to understand that the >8 &dityas correspond to >8 months of
the year2
&ccording to =okmanya Bal (angadhar Tilaks masterpiece called 3&rctic "ome of the
.edas5, the change in their number reflects the gradual migration of &rya rishis from near
the 4ole to the tropics after the Ice &ge2 &s they migrated closer to the tropics, the number
of months when Sun was up kept on increasing till they reached the Indian sub%continent.
Interestingly, in 6hinese mythology as well, there were originally ten suns in the sky, who
were brothers and were supposed to emerge one at a time as commanded by the Eade
-mperor. The >8 &dityas were also adopted into Eapanese Buddhism as guardians of the
monasteries covering the four main directions, four semi%directions, above, below and the
Sun and 1oon. They are known as Devas or Ten F in Eapan 'which literally means "eaven
or 6elestial).
The >8 Eapanese &dityas
& similar depiction is found on a rock%cut cave far away in Ga7ili ?aya in Turkey2 This
rock%cave has multiple depictions of (ods and (oddesses that resemble "indu gods. The
lower chamber in this cave shows a frie7e with >8 gods carved onto it who were worshiped
by the people known as "ittites.
The >8 &dityas from Turkey

1oving westwards, it is also worthwhile to note that in most Indo%-uropean religions, the
gods worshiped were more or less the same. Thus, the (reeks called their Sun%god "elios
while others named him &pollo.
The (reek Sun%god "eliosB&pollo
$or the Aomans, the cult of Sol Invictus or *ndefeated Sun was supreme. Aoman
-mperor 6onstantine adhered to it so much that even when he embraced 6hristianity,
he changed the day of Sabbath from $riday to S*,%day22
Sol Invictus
During the heyday of the Aoman -mpire, there was also a grand festival of the birth of the
*ncon<uered Sun 'Dies Natalis Solis Invicti) held on the Winter solstice on December 8;th.
This was a sort of Aebirth of the Sun and the same date was later transferred to the Birth
of 6hrist even though Eesus was actually born on the :th of Eanuary22
The worship of Surya was prevalent in other ancient civili7ations of the world as well.
1ayans 'who scared the World with their 8H>8 Doomsday prophecy) called him "unahpu.
The &7tecs named him Tonatiuh, Eapanese revered him as 6hupkamui, and the
Babylonians called him &+a.
The -gyptians worshiped Sun in the form of AeBAa. In -gyptian myths of the afterlife, Aa
rides in an underground channel from west to east every night so that he can rise in the
east the ne/t morning.
-gyptian Sun%god Ae
In .edas, Surya is considered in high esteem and is referred to as Surya ,arayan and at
various times, as the eye of 1itra or .aruna, the cosmic law%keepers. The same is reflected
in Ioroastrianism where the Sun is described as the -ye of &hura.
In India of course different dynasties trace their lineages from the Sun with Shri Aaam as a
descendant of Surya, thus belonging to the Suryavansh or the Solar Dynasty. The Aamayan
also declares Surya as the father of the .anar ?ing Sugriv +ust as the 1ahabharat
describes Karna, as the son of ?unti and Surya. 4erhaps, amongst the &ryans, the blonde,
blue%eyed lineages migrating from the Steppes represented the Descendants%of%the%(olden%
Sun2
"indu Sun%god Surya

Surya has two wives Sangya and 6hhaya 'literally the shadow) and through them has the
folowing children@ Shani 'Saturn), Gamra+ '=ord%of%Death), Gamuna, Tapti, &shwini Twins
and the eldest of these .aivasvat 1anu, the $irst 1an in the current &ge or 1anvantar.
3$or more on the $irst 1an 1anuB&dam check the following post % 1anu, the $irst 1an5
"owever, this is ,0T T0 S&G that the ancient Indians thought of the Star called S*, as a
demigod and did not understand its true significance2 .arious "indu astronomical treatise
describe the heavenly bodies as planets or =okas ruled by different deities.
Surya%=oka, abode of the Sun%(od
The Shatapath Brahman J!.>.>.9!K states that % This World '-arth) is verily spherical and
while installing the (arhapataya altar the ritualists meditate on the same. Similarly, the
shlokas J!.:.>.>HK and JD.>.8.:HK describe the Sun as spherical. The Surya%Siddhant J>8.>8%
8DK e/pressly states that the *niverse itself is shaped like an oblong sphere2
The references to Suryas chariot, in a similar manner, can provide us not only information
about the ancient "indus religious and cosmological beliefs but also about their Science
and &stronomical acumen2 'Gou can find the Sanskrit version at this link 3Surya
Siddhanta.pdf5 and the -nglish version here 3Surya%Siddhanta -nglish.pdf5).
6hariot of the Sun%(od
.arious scriptures describe the 6elestial chariot of the Sun. Aig .eda J>.9;K says@
F FFFFFFFF FFFF FFFFFFFF FFFFFFFFF FFFFF FFFFFFF F F
FFFFFFFFF FFFFF FFFFF FFFF FFFF FFFFFFF FFFFF F
Throughout the dusky firmament advancing,
Laying to rest the immortal and the mortal,
Borne in his golden chariot he cometh,
Savitar, God who looks on every creature.

While the (reek &pollo used to ride four%horse chariot, .edic te/ts clearly mention Seven
horses of Surya who are called % Gayatri, Brhati, Usnik, Jagati, ristu!, "nustu! and #ankti.
The Aig .eda J>.>L:.>%;K says@
A seven-named horse draws the three naved wheel,
Seven steeds draw the seven-wheeled chariot,
Wise oets have sun a seven-strand tale,
And glorified this !eavenly calf, the Sun.
The immediate <uestion that comes to mind is why S-.-,## It was rare for .edic chariots
to have more than four horses. -ven the chariot of &r+un driven by ?rishna "imself had
only four horses so why would the 6hariot of the Sun have more than four#
1ost scholars believe the seven horses represent Seven days of the week. &ncient Indians
were great astronomers and this could very well be true. "owever, I believe, the seven
horses probably also represent the Seven colors of Sunlight2
There are two reasons I believe this is the case % 0ne, the seven horsesBmares of Suryas
chariot are &== of DI$$-A-,T 6olorsM Secondly, many times, they are represented as
0ne horseBmare with S-.-, "-&DS2 If this is not an allegory to White light splitting into
seven colors, I dont know what is @o)
The seven horses of Surya#

0ther scriptures talk in a similar vein and describe the chariot of the Sun%god in much
detail. &lthough &run%deva sits in front of the sun%god and is engaged in driving the
chariot, he looks backward toward the sun%god. The chariot has a SI,(=- wheel with >8
spokes and is yoked to seven horses.
Si/ty thousand saintly persons named .alkhilyas, each the si7e of a thumb, are located in
front of the sun%god and offer him prayers. The (andharvs and 4annags sing in front of
him, &psaras dance before the chariot while ,ishachars and Gakshas follow and guard it.
These seven groups of fourteen associates arrange the proper times for regular snow, heat
and rain throughout the universe and are responsible for maintaining the Seasons on
-arth2
6hariot of the Sun from a Tan+ore painting
,ot surprisingly, a similar description is found in the description of (reekBAoman Sun (od
&pollos +ourney across the sky and I found a very similar picture depicting this +ourney
through the "eavens.
The Surya Siddhant further states@
"The carriage of the sun-god#s chariot is estimated to $e %,&'',''' yo(ans )* +o(an , *-.& .m/
long and one-fourth as wide. 0n his or$it, the sun-god traverses a distance of 12,*'',''' yo(ans
at the seed of 3,''' yo(ans and two krosas in a moment."
Scholars have used such references to calculate the speed of rotation of the Sun as well as
its revolution2 The Devi Bhagawat 4uraan elaborates further in a description of 1ount
1eru and its surroundings@
4 56rad7 8ont 8eru is situated towards the north of all the 9v:as and ;arshas. So whenever
any erson sees the Sun rise he calls that side <east.= 0f the Sun travels in *2 >fifteen? Ghatik6s,
the distance from 0ndraur: to +amaur:, !e is said to travel within that time a distance e@ual to
3A .otis, *3B lakhs and 32''' +o(ans >33&12''' +o(ans?.
"ere, we also find the relevance of other aspects of the Suns chariot. The SI,(=-
W"--= of the chariot represents 0,- G-&A or the Samvatsar while the >8 spokes
represent >8 months2 The T"A--%naves of the wheel more likely than not represent the
three points of an elliptical orbit2
&ll these poetic allegories thus give a glimpse into the scientific acumen that the ancients
had. The reference to Saturn 'Shani) being the Son%of%Surya could even be a reference to
the planet having been formed from a chunk of the gases escaped from Suns own body
mass2 'Eust like the Sun, Saturn and Eupiter are also gaseous giants unlike other planets of
the Solar System).
$ormation of the Solar System
$ormation of 4lanets
Without the Sun, we wouldnt have e/isted.. not only because of the Solar energy it
provides but the planets including -arth wouldnt have taken form without the
gravitational power of the Sun2
0ur -arth is really tiny compared to the Sun and to share another interesting allegory, you
would be surprised to know that the Sun%-arth distance is roughly >HC Sun diameters and
the diameter of the Sun itself is >HC times that of -arth. The ancient Aishis and 1agi of
"induism <uite possibly knew this relationship as most (odsB(oddesses have >HC names
ascribed to them22
This Sankrant, let us bow to the sages of yore and their 'literally) out%of%the%world insight
while sending a prayer of thanks to the Sun%(od who maintains our Solar System. Wishing
everyone a "appy *ttarayan 8H>9 and a very "appy =ohriBBihuB1aghiB4ongal and 1akar
Sankranti @o)
.
&um Shanti@ Shanti@ Shanti@
.
Posted by Vineet Aman Aggarwal at 11:25 62 comments: Links to this post
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