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118
THE SURYASATAKA OF MAYURA
And diffuse a halo about the mountains, as they cling to the
pointed summits,"
And go dancing through the sky, purifying the opening of the
day.
May these rays of the Hot-rayed (Sürya) bestow happiness upon
you!
Notes. 1. Aruna, charioteer of the car of Sürya, is the personified
Dawn. He is especially praised in stanzas 50-61 of the Süryaśataka, and
is mentioned besides in many of the other stanzas. According to the
mythology, he was the son of Kaśyapa and Vinata, and brother of Garuda.
Vinată, in fulfilment of a divine promise that she should become the
mother of twin sons, in course of time gave birth to two eggs. These
she kept warm for 500 years; but then, when no progeny appeared, she
grew impatient, broke the shell of one egg, and brought to light an embryo
Aruna with the lower part of his body in an undeveloped state. From
this latter circumstance, Aruna is called 'thighless' (Anuru). At the
expiration of another 500 years, Garuda was hatched from the second
egg; cf. Mahabharata, 1. 16. 3-25. Another legend tells how Sürya, an-
gered because he received no assistance from the gods when Rähu
attempted to devour him, sought to burn up the worlds. In order to
prevent such a calamity, the gods placed Aruna in the forepart of Surya's
car, to veil that deity's splendor and to absorb some of his heat. Aruna
thus became Sürya's charioteer; cf. Mahabharata, 1. 24. 5-20. 2. Stanzas
44-49 of the Saryaśataka are especially devoted to the praise of Surya's
horses, and stanzas 62-72 to that of the car. The horses were seven in
number; cf. stanzas 45, 57, 92; Rig Veda, 4. 13. 3; 5. 45. 9; Mahabharata,
7.189.54; Markandeya Purana, 107.2 (Pargiter, p. 572); Vişnu Purāṇa,
2.8 (Wilson, vol. 2, p. 239). They are also said to be of a greenish or
tawny (harit) color; cf. stanza 7; stanza 46, note 8; Candiśataka, stanza
8, note 2; Rig Veda, 1. 50.8; 7.60.3. And the Vişnu Purana (2.8) states
that they are identical with the seven meters of the Veda. The car is said
(Vişnu Purana, 2.8) to have been 9,000 leagues in length, with an axle
15,700,000 leagues long. To the car was attached a single wheel; cf.
Saryaśataka, stanza 59; Candiśataka, stanza 99; Rig Veda, 4. 28. 2; 5. 29.
10; Mahabharata, 7. 189. 54; 12. 362. 1; Ratnavali (ed. Parab and Josi,
Bombay, 1888), 3.5; Kavyadarśa, 2. 328; the Madhuban Plate of Harşa
(7th century A.D.), as pub. in Epigraphia Indica, vol. 7, p. 159, note 2.
Synopses of other accounts of the car of Surya, as given in several of
the Purāṇas, are found in Wilson's translation of the Vişnu Purāṇa, vol.
2, p. 237-239, footnotes. 3. Lit. 'in the tossing of [their] heads.'
Lit. diffuse the crownness of the mountains'; for a similar idea, cf.
stanza 74, note 6. 5. Or, 'clinging to the summits of the mountains.'
6. The commentary glosses khacita, 'purified,' by spastikṛta, 'made dis-
tinct'; if this be adopted, we might render 'illuminating the opening of
the day.'
THE SURYASATAKA OF MAYURA
And diffuse a halo about the mountains, as they cling to the
pointed summits,"
And go dancing through the sky, purifying the opening of the
day.
May these rays of the Hot-rayed (Sürya) bestow happiness upon
you!
Notes. 1. Aruna, charioteer of the car of Sürya, is the personified
Dawn. He is especially praised in stanzas 50-61 of the Süryaśataka, and
is mentioned besides in many of the other stanzas. According to the
mythology, he was the son of Kaśyapa and Vinata, and brother of Garuda.
Vinată, in fulfilment of a divine promise that she should become the
mother of twin sons, in course of time gave birth to two eggs. These
she kept warm for 500 years; but then, when no progeny appeared, she
grew impatient, broke the shell of one egg, and brought to light an embryo
Aruna with the lower part of his body in an undeveloped state. From
this latter circumstance, Aruna is called 'thighless' (Anuru). At the
expiration of another 500 years, Garuda was hatched from the second
egg; cf. Mahabharata, 1. 16. 3-25. Another legend tells how Sürya, an-
gered because he received no assistance from the gods when Rähu
attempted to devour him, sought to burn up the worlds. In order to
prevent such a calamity, the gods placed Aruna in the forepart of Surya's
car, to veil that deity's splendor and to absorb some of his heat. Aruna
thus became Sürya's charioteer; cf. Mahabharata, 1. 24. 5-20. 2. Stanzas
44-49 of the Saryaśataka are especially devoted to the praise of Surya's
horses, and stanzas 62-72 to that of the car. The horses were seven in
number; cf. stanzas 45, 57, 92; Rig Veda, 4. 13. 3; 5. 45. 9; Mahabharata,
7.189.54; Markandeya Purana, 107.2 (Pargiter, p. 572); Vişnu Purāṇa,
2.8 (Wilson, vol. 2, p. 239). They are also said to be of a greenish or
tawny (harit) color; cf. stanza 7; stanza 46, note 8; Candiśataka, stanza
8, note 2; Rig Veda, 1. 50.8; 7.60.3. And the Vişnu Purana (2.8) states
that they are identical with the seven meters of the Veda. The car is said
(Vişnu Purana, 2.8) to have been 9,000 leagues in length, with an axle
15,700,000 leagues long. To the car was attached a single wheel; cf.
Saryaśataka, stanza 59; Candiśataka, stanza 99; Rig Veda, 4. 28. 2; 5. 29.
10; Mahabharata, 7. 189. 54; 12. 362. 1; Ratnavali (ed. Parab and Josi,
Bombay, 1888), 3.5; Kavyadarśa, 2. 328; the Madhuban Plate of Harşa
(7th century A.D.), as pub. in Epigraphia Indica, vol. 7, p. 159, note 2.
Synopses of other accounts of the car of Surya, as given in several of
the Purāṇas, are found in Wilson's translation of the Vişnu Purāṇa, vol.
2, p. 237-239, footnotes. 3. Lit. 'in the tossing of [their] heads.'
Lit. diffuse the crownness of the mountains'; for a similar idea, cf.
stanza 74, note 6. 5. Or, 'clinging to the summits of the mountains.'
6. The commentary glosses khacita, 'purified,' by spastikṛta, 'made dis-
tinct'; if this be adopted, we might render 'illuminating the opening of
the day.'