Surya Dev : God of Sun

 

SURYA DEV : GOD OF SUN

   Surya means Sun- the biggest star of the world and source of energy which lights up the whole world. In Indian Culture, Surya Dev is considered as an important deity and he is the god of Sun. He is one of the nine planets named as Navagarha and the king of those planets. He is one of five important deities which are known as Panchdeva. Surya Dev is not Sun itself, he is god of Sun.

  

Parents :

    Sun god is the son of Maharishi Kashyapa ( one of the seven great sages ) and Devi Aditi.He is one of the Adityas ( sons of Devi Aditi are known as Aditya's ).

Abode :

   The abode or house of Surya Dev is Suryalok.

Consert ( wife ) & Children :

    Surya Dev had two wives : Devi Sangya and Devi Chhaya ( she is shadow form of devi Sanjna ).

    Childrens of Surya Dev are named as vaishavata manu ( who was the first manu ), yamaraj ( god of Death), Yami or Yamuna, Shani or Shani Dev ( god of Justice ), Tapati ( goddess of river Tapti ), Ashvins or Ashvin Kumars, Sugriva ( brother of Bali and commander of Vanar sena during Ramayana ) and Karna ( Great Archer and king of Anga durning Mahabharata ).

Vehicle or Mount :    

     Mount of Surya Dev is a Chariot with Seven Horses which is lead by charioteer Aruna.Name of Seven Horses of Surya Dev are -Gayatri, Brihati, Ushnik, Jagati, Trishtup, Anushtup and Pankhti.

Weapon :

     Weapon of Surya Dev is Trishula, Chakra ,Gada ,Conch Shell and Wand.

Temple :

   There are various temples of Surya Dev are located in india like in Konark,Modhera, Martand, Gwalior, Unao, Rachi, Katarmal and many more. Out of which Sun god temple of Konark is very famous.

Stories :

     Their are various stories related to Surya Dev. Some of these stories are as follows:

BIRTH OF SURYA DEV: 

   According to some stories, Devi Diti and Devi Aditi were the wives of Maharishi Kashyap ( one of great seven rishis or saptrishi ). Sons of Rishi Kashyap born from Devi Diti were known as Demons or Daityas and sons from Devi Aditi were named as Adityas Or Gods.

    From starting their was fight between Gods and Demons. Sometimes Gods defeat Demons and sometimes demons defeat gods. Once Demons created chaos between gods due to which Devi Aditi was very sad. 

    So did hard penance of Sun to get a son as bright as the sun. Being happy by penance of Devi Aditi, after sometime a boy bright like Sun was born to Devi Aditi and he helped Devas or Gods to overpower or defeat Demons.

SURYA DEV and LORD HANUMAN :

   Surya Dev was the spiritual teacher of Lord Hanuman. Once when Lord Hanuman became young he went to Surya Dev to get knowledge of Vedas. But Surya Dev said to Lord Hanuman that," I cannot stop even for a moment, nor can I get down from the chariot. How can I give you the knowledge of the scriptures in such a situation?".

  Then Lord Hanuman said to Surya Dev that ," Surya Dev, You give me knowledge without reducing your speed. I can match your speed so in this stage, I will acquire knowledge while walking with you". 

     Listening this, Suryadev got ready to provide knowledge to Lord Hanuman . After this, Suryadev started teaching the secret of Vedas and scriptures and Lord Hanuman was understanding and accepting the things of knowledge while walking with him. In this way Hanumanji got knowledge only by the grace of Suryadev.

   In other story, Once Lord Hanuman was hungry and he seen Sun rays as a golden fruit between the leaves of tree. To get the fruit, he went high in the sky and went to Sun. 

      Seeing Lord Hanuman coming towards him Sun god subdued his heat, when Devraj Indra came to know about this, he in anger went and struck Lord Hanuman with his Thunderbolt ( Vajra ). After that Lord Hanuman fainted and fell on the ground.

    Then on anger of Varun Dev all Gods went to Varun Dev and blessed Lord Hanuman with various boons.

      Surya Dev gave one hundredth part of his effulgence to Lord Hanuman and said that, "when the power to study scripture comes in him, then I will give it the knowledge of the scriptures, so that he will be a good speaker and there will be no one to equate it in the knowledge of scriptures".

SURYA DEV and SHANI DEV :

   According to ancient texts, Sangya-the wife of Surya Dev and daughter of Lord Vishwakarma , could not bear the effulgence of Suryadev. Time passed and both of them had childrens. It was becoming impossible for the Devi Sangya to bear the brilliance of the Surya Dev.

   Devi Sangya found a way to stay away from this problem. Devi Sangya left her shadow named as Chhaya with Surya Dev and went away . 

     Suryadev did not doubted Chhaya and both started living their life happily and they had childrens named Savarnya Manu, Tapati and Shani - God of justice.

    When Shani Dev was in Devi Chhaya's womb, Devi Chhaya used to do penance. It is said that due to her penance, the color of Shani Dev turned black.

     When Surya Dev went to meet his wife Chhaya to see his son and looked with his divine vision and found that his son was black. He got confused that this could not be his son. Due to this confusion and Anger , he abandoned his wife Chhaya. Because of this, Shani Dev became a enemy and hater of his father.

      In his hatred for his father, Shani Dev did severe penance to please Lord Shiva. Lord Shiva pleased by his penance, asked him to ask for a boon,then Shani said that,"My father Surya Dev has harassed my mother Devi Chhaya by disrespecting her, so hey Mahadev give me the boon to be more powerful and worshiped than my Father".

    Lord Shiva gave him a boon to Shani Dev that along with getting the best position, you will be the god of justice.

               || Om Surya Devaye Namah ||

Thanks for reading. If you have any query let me know at : shiv14496@gmail.com