VEDIC DESCRIPTION OF THE SUN

The sun-god, who controls the affairs of the entire universe, especially in regard to heat, light, seasonal changes and so on, is considered an expansion of Narayana. He represents the three Vedas — Rig, Yajur and Sama — and therefore he is known as Trayimaya, the form of Lord Narayana. 

Sometimes the sun-god is also called Surya-Narayana. The sun-god has expanded himself in twelve divisions, and thus he controls the six seasonal changes and causes winter, summer, rain and so on. Yogis and karmis following the varnasrama institution, who practice hatha or astanga-yoga or who perform agnihotra sacrifices, worship Surya Narayana for their own benefit. The demigod Surya is always in touch with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Narayana.

Of all beings on the sun, the principal personality is a god by the name of Vivasvan. He is known as the sun-god Surya-Narayana. (Raja-Vidya, the King of Knowledge)

The sunshine may expand all over the universe, but the source of the sunshine, namely the sun planet or the deity known as Surya-Narayana, is the basis of such radiation. (SB 2.6.17 pp)

Only the predominating deity of the sun, Surya Narayana, is an incarnation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. (SB 5.23.3 pp)

“The sun-god, who is Narayana, or Visnu, the soul of all the worlds, is situated in outer space between the upper and lower portions of the universe. Passing through twelve months on the wheel of time, the sun comes in touch with twelve different signs of the zodiac and assumes twelve different names according to those signs. The aggregate of those twelve months is called a samvatsara, or an entire year. According to lunar calculations, two fortnights — one of the waxing moon and the other of the waning — form one month. That same period is one day and night for the planet Pitrloka. According to stellar calculations, a month equals two and one quarter constellations. When the sun travels for two months, a season passes, and therefore the seasonal changes are considered parts of the body of the year.” (SB 5.22.5)

Residing in outer space, which is in the middle of the universe, between Bhuloka and Bhuvarloka, the sun rotates through the time circle of the zodiac, represented by twelve rasis, or signs, and assumes different names according to the sign he is in. For the moon, every month is divided into two fortnights. Similarly, according to solar calculations, a month is equal to the time the sun spends in one constellation; two months constitute one season, and there are twelve months in a year. The entire area of the sky is divided into two halves, each representing an ayana, the course traversed by the sun within a period of six months. The sun travels sometimes slowly, sometimes swiftly and sometimes at a moderate speed. In this way it travels within the three worlds, consisting of the heavenly planets, the earthly planets and outer space. These orbits are referred to by great learned scholars by the names Samvatsara, Parivatsara, Idavatsara, Anuvatsara and Vatsara.

FROM THE RIG VEDA: “The unageing wheel rolls out on its rim; the ten yoked horses draw it up the outstretched path. All the words are kept in motion on the eye of the sun, that moves on though shrouded in dark space.” “You cross heaven and the vast realm of space, O sun, measuring days by nights, looking upon the generations. Seven bay mares carry you in the chariot, O sun god with hair of flame, gazing from afar.” –The Rig Veda: An Anthology, trans. Wendy Doniger O’Flaherty (New York: Penguin Books, 1981, pp. 77, 190.)

The movement of the sun is confirmed in the Brahma-samhita. The sun orbits around Mount Sumeru, for six months on the northern side and for six months on the southern. This adds up to the duration of a day and night of the demigods in the upper planetary systems. (SB 5.20.31)

The sun is situated [vertically] in the middle of the universe, in the area between Bhurloka and Bhuvarloka, which is called antariksha, outer space. The distance between the sun and the circumference of the universe is twenty-five koti yojanas [two billion miles].

O King, the sun-god and the sun planet divide all the directions of the universe. It is only because of the presence of the sun that we can understand what the sky, the higher planets, this world and the lower planets are. It is also only because of the sun that we can understand which places are for material enjoyment, which are for liberation, which are hellish and subterranean.

All living entities, including demigods, human beings, animals, birds, insects, reptiles, creepers and trees, depend upon the heat and light given by the sun-god from the sun planet. Furthermore, it is because of the sun’s presence that all living entities can see, and therefore he is called drig-isvara, the Personality of Godhead presiding over sight.

VEDIC DESCRIPTION OF THE SUN:

The sun is described in the Vedas as the eyes of the universal form of God, and the moon is His mind’s eye. The sun worshippers that want to be as powerful as God use this all seeing eye symbolism everywhere. Just as Hitler took the good symbol of the swastika and used it as a symbol for racism, horror, and hatred, other sun worshippers have also corrupted these concepts of the sun as the eyes of God and a servant of God.

Here are Vedic descriptions of the sun as God’s eyes:

SB 5.21.13: The chariot of the sun-god has only one wheel, which is known as Saḿvatsara. The twelve months are calculated to be its twelve spokes, the six seasons are the sections of its rim, and the three cātur-māsya periods are its three-sectioned hub.

SB 3.6.15: Thereafter, the two eyes of the gigantic form of the Lord were separately manifested. The sun, the director of light, entered them with the partial representation of eyesight, and thus the living entities can have vision of forms.

BS 5.52: The sun who is the king of all the planets, full of infinite effulgence, the image of the good soul, is as the eye of this world. I adore the primeval Lord Govinda in pursuance of whose order the sun performs his journey mounting the wheel of time.

BG 11.19: You are without origin, middle or end. Your glory is unlimited. You have numberless arms, and the sun and moon are Your eyes. I see You with blazing fire coming forth from Your mouth, burning this entire universe by Your own radiance.

The important role of the sun god:

BG 4:1: The Blessed Lord said: I instructed this imperishable science of yoga to the sun-god, Vivasvan, and Vivasvan instructed it to Manu, the father of mankind, and Manu in turn instructed it to Iksvaku.

SB 5.20.45: O King, the sun-god and the sun planet divide all the directions of the universe. It is only because of the presence of the sun that we can understand what the sky, the higher planets, this world and the lower planets are. It is also only because of the sun that we can understand which places are for material enjoyment, which are for liberation, which are hellish and subterranean.

SB 5.20.46: All living entities, including demigods, human beings, animals, birds, insects, reptiles, creepers and trees, depend upon the heat and light given by the sun-god from the sun planet. Furthermore, it is because of the sun’s presence that all living entities can see, and therefore he is called drig-isvara, the Personality of Godhead presiding over sight.

Srimad-Bhagavatam Introduction to Canto 5, Chapter 21-22
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

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