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Posted by Harsh Nevatia Feb 11, 2007 |
In Hinduism a collection of deities known as the “Navgrahas” (Navagrahas) play an important role. Navgrahas mean nine planets, though all the nine are not planets. The Navgrahas are Surya - The Sun, Soma - The Moon, Mangal – Mars, Buddh – Mercury, Brihaspati – Jupiter, Shukra – Venus, Shani – Saturn, Rahu - The North (ascending) lunar node and Ketu - The South (descending) lunar node. The first seven of the Navgrahas give their names to the seven days of the week. As in the western calendar Sunday and Monday are named after the sun and the moon respectively. Sunday and Monday are "Ravivar" and "Somavar", after Ravi and Soma, which are one of the names of the sun and the moon. "Var" means day in Hindi. Tuesday to Saturday follow the planets in the above order from "Mangalvar" to "Shanivar".
The Navgrahas play a crucial role in Vedic Astrology. Their positions relative to the Rashis (signs of the Zodiac) at the time and place of birth of an individual determine the destiny of the individual. In all major religious ceremonies the Navgrahas are worshipped prior to the main ritual to obtain their blessings. Each of the Navgrahas has a colorful mythology and it is this aspect that will be presently discussed.
Surya, the Sun demi-God, was the son of sage Kashyap and Aditi. He had three wives - Samjna, Rajni and Prabha. Samjna was unable to bear Surya’s radiance and she created a woman, Chhaya or Shadow, who was identical to her. Samjna left after being replaced by Chhaya. However Surya discovered the switch when Chhaya began to give step-motherly treatment to Samjna’s children. He then went to his father-in-law, Viswakarma who was the architect of the Gods. Viswakarma then shaved off some of Surya’s energy so that people could look at him. With the excess energy he made some weapons for the Gods. The only parts of Surya’s body that were not modified were his feet. Hence generally Surya’s feet are not depicted. Surya then located Samjna and they lived happily ever after. The detailed story can be read at The Origin of the Solar Dynasty.
Soma was the son of sage Atri and Bhadra. Atri put Soma in-charge of the night sky. Soma had a roving eye. Sage Brihaspati, who was the preceptor of the demi-Gods, admonished Soma. In retaliation Soma abducted Brihaspati's wife, Tara. Over this a war broke out between the demi-Gods and Soma, with the demons assisting Soma and Shiva assisted the demi-Gods. Brahma intervened and ordered Soma to return Tara to Brihaspati. Soma did so, but in the meanwhile Tara had already given birth to Soma's son Buddh. The detailed story can be read at The Lunar Dynasty.
The mythology of the Navgrahas will be continued.
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