Thus the energy of Vishńu, made up of the three Vedas, and derived from the property of goodness, presides in the sun, along with the seven beings belonging to it; and through the presence of this power the planet shines with intense radiance, dispersing with his beams the darkness that spreads over the whole world: and hence the Munis praise him, the quiristers and nymphs of heaven sing and dance before him, and fierce spirits and holy sages attend upon his path. Vishńu, in the form of his active energy, never either rises or sets, and is at once the. sevenfold sun and distinct from it. In the same manner as a man approaching a mirror, placed upon a stand, beholds in it his own image, so the energy (or reflection) of Vishńu is never disjoined (from the sun's car, which is the stand of the mirror), but remains month by month in the sun (as in the mirror), which is there stationed.

The sovereign sun, oh Brahman, the cause of day and night, perpetually revolves, affording delight to the gods, to the progenitors, and to mankind. Cherished by the Sushumna ray of the sun 3, the moon is fed to the full in the fortnight of its growth; and in the fortnight of its wane the ambrosia of its substance is perpetually drunk by the immortals, until the last day of the half month, when the two remaining digits are drunk by the progenitors: hence these two orders of beings are nourished

by the sun. The moisture of the earth, which the sun attracts by his rays, he again parts with for the fertilization of the grain, and the nutriment of all terrestrial creatures; and consequently the sun is the source of subsistence to every class of living things, to gods, progenitors, mankind, and the rest. The sun, Maitreya, satisfies the wants of the gods for a fortnight (at a time); those of the progenitors once a month; and those of men and other animals daily.

Footnotes

235:1 This mysticism originates in part apparently from a misapprehension of metaphorical texts of the Vedas, such as 'that triple knowledge (the Vedas) shines;' and 'the hymns of the Rich shine;' and in part from the symbolization of the light of religious truth by the light of the p. 236 sun, as in the Gáyatri, p. 222. n. 13. To these are to be added the sectarial notions of the Vaishńavas.

236:2 The formulæ of the Sáma-veda are not to be used along with those of the Rich and Yajush, at sacrifices in general.

236:3 The Váyu, Linga, and Matsya P. specify several of the rays of the sun from amongst the many thousands which they say proceed from him. Of these, seven are principal, termed Sushumna, Harikeśa, Viśwakarman, Viśwakárya, Sampadvasu, Arvavasu, and Swaráj, supplying heat severally to the moon, the stars, and to Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn.

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Hinduism

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