Home > 2009 Issues > February 15, 2009

Kids? Org Surya's Scorching Heat By Manju Gupta Aruna, the goddess of dawn, was fast asleep when she was suddenly jolted out of her slumber by a voice telling her, ?Take care and keep a watch on the movements of your son, Surya, (the Sun God) or else he will leave you and go elsewhere in space.? Visibly shaken, Aruna sat up with a start, for that meant Surya would stop shining and the universe would get engulfed in darkness forever. That very morning, in a strange coincidence, Surya said to Aruna, ?Mother, I am going for a walk in space and will return after some time. As it is, the clouds have gathered and it is about to rain.? Aruna replied, ?My son, it is a very good idea. I too have been sitting at home for long, so I too would like to accompany you. Since I am adept at handling the horses of your chariot, I will drive you wherever you want to go.? Though Surya was not very pleased at the idea of taking his mother along, he however relented. So he went and sat in the chariot, while his mother Aruna climbed on to the charioteer?s seat, took charge of the reins and with a confident flick of the whip, started the chariot. The chariot went flying through space. Suddenly Aruna?s eyes fell on a beautiful young maiden, singing and strolling in the garden. Seeing his mother gaze intently towards her left, Surya too turned to see what had caught her attention. Lo and behold, he beheld a lovely maiden from whom he could not take off his eyes. He said to his mother that he wanted to marry her. Aruna replied, ?Yes, I know her. She is named Sanjana and is the daughter of Vishwakarma, the architect of gods.? Aruna and Surya returned home and Aruna decided to go and meet Vishwakarma. She took her son?s proposal for marriage to his daughter. Vishwakarma readily agreed to the marriage. Soon Surya and Sanjana were married. On the first day of their marriage, when Surya went and sat near Sanjana, his rays emitted such intense heat that Sanjana could not withstand it and promptly fainted. Since this happened every time when Surya drew near her, Sanjana decided to leave him. Taking her maids into confidence, she made her escape from Surya?s chamber and returned to her garden. Surya was too shocked to hear of his wife?s departure and went in search of her. On reaching the garden, he approached her and told her that he loved her and asked her why she had left him. Sanjana told him about the heat that he emitted and which made it impossible for her to stay with him. Surya changed himself into a horse and drew near her. Sanjana was happy to see that her husband no longer emitted heat rays. Both decided to live there together. Meanwhile the universe got clouded in darkness as Surya had left and begun to live with Sanjana. A worried Aruna went to Vishwakarma and said, ?What shall we do now? For how long can we survive in darkness like this? Now that Surya has gone to live with Sanjana, there is no sunshine or daylight for us.? Vishwakarma suggested, ?I know what can be done. I will chisel away Surya?s rays so that the intensity of the heat emitted by his rays would reduce and will no longer singe Sanjana. They will then come and live here as husband and wife.? Vishwakarma went to the garden where Surya was living happily with Sanjana and began to chip away slowly and gradually at the rays till Surya was left with only one-eighth of his rays. With the intensity of heat thus reduced, Sanjana agreed to return to Surya?s home and live happily with his mother Aruna. The fine chippings that had fallen to the ground became Vishnu?s disc and Shiva?s trident.

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