The Sun and other luminaries

OM! Glory to Vasudeva! Victory be to you, Pundarikaksha; adoration be to you, Vishvabhavana; glory be to you, Hrishikesha, Mahapurusha, and Purvaja.

Parashara continued,

“Having thus described to you the system of the world in general, I will now explain to you the dimensions and situations of the sun and other luminaries.

The chariot of the sun is nine thousand leagues in length, and the pole is of twice that longitude; the axle is fifteen millions and seven hundred thousand leagues long; on which is fixed a wheel with three naves, five spokes, and six peripheries, consisting of the ever-during year; the whole constituting the circle or wheel of time. The chariot has another axle, which is forty-five thousand five hundred leagues long. The two halves of the yoke are of the same length respectively as the two axles (the longer and the shorter). The short axle, with the short yoke, are supported by the pole-star: the end of the longer axle, to which the wheel of the car is attached, moves on the Manasa mountain. The seven horses of the sun's car are the metres of the Vedas, Gayatri, Brihati, Ushnih, Jayati, Trishtubh, Anushtubh, and Pankti.

The city of Indra is situated on the eastern side of the Manasottara mountain; that of Yama on the southern face; that of Varuna on the west; and that of Soma on the north: named severally Vashwokasara, Samyamani, Mukhya, and Vibhavari.

The glorious sun, Maitreya, darts like an arrow on his southern course, attended by the constellations of the Zodiac. He causes the difference between day and night, and is the divine vehicle and path of the sages who have overcome the inflictions of the world. While the sun, who is the discriminator of all hours, shines in one continent in midday, in the opposite Dwipas, Maitreya, it will be midnight: rising and setting are at all seasons, and are always (relatively) opposed in the different cardinal and intermediate points of the horizon. When the sun becomes visible to any people, to them he is said to rise; when he disappears from their view, that is called his setting. There is in truth neither rising nor setting of the sun, for he is always; and these terms merely imply his presence and his disappearance.

When the sun (at midday) passes over either of the cities of the gods, on the Manasottara mountain (at the cardinal points), his light extends to three cities and two intermediate points: when situated in an intermediate point, he illuminates two of the cities and three intermediate. points (in either case one hemisphere). From the period of his rise the sun moves with increasing rays until noon, when he proceeds towards his setting with rays diminishing (that is, his heat increases or diminishes in proportion as he advances to, or recedes from, the meridian of any place). The east and west quarters are so called from the sun's rising and setting there. As far as the sun shines in front, so far he shines behind and on either hand, illuminating all places except the summit of Meru, the mountain of the immortals; for when his rays reach the court of Brahma, which is there situated, they are repelled and driven back by the overpowering radiance which there prevails: consequently there is always the alternation of day and night, according as the divisions of the continent lie in the northern (or southern) quarter, or inasmuch as they are situated north (or south) of Meru.

The radiance of the solar orb, when the sun has set, is accumulated in fire, and hence fire is visible at a greater distance by night than by day: during the latter a fourth of the rays of fire blend with those of the sun, and from their union the sun shines with greater intensity by day. Elemental light, and heat derived from the sun or from fire, blending with each other, mutually prevail in various proportions, both by day and night. When the sun is present either in the southern or the northern hemisphere, day or night retires into the waters, according as they are invaded by darkness or light: it is from this cause that the waters look dark by day, because night is within them; and they look white by night, because at the setting of the sun the light of day takes refuge in their bosom.

When the sun has travelled in the centre of Pushkara a thirtieth part of the circumference of the globe, his course is equal in time to one Muhurta; and whirling round like the circumference of the wheel of a potter, he distributes day and night upon the earth. In the commencement of his northern course, the sun passes to Capricornus, thence to Aquarius, thence to Pisces, going successively from one sign of the Zodiac to another. After he has passed through these, the sun attains his equinoctial movement (the vernal equinox), when he makes the day and night of equal duration. Thenceforward the length of the night decreases, and the day becomes longer, until the sun reaches the end of Gemini, when he pursues a different direction, and, entering Cancer, begins his declension to the south. As the circumference of a potter's wheel revolves most rapidly, so the sun travels rapidly on his southern journey: he flies along his path with the velocity of wind, and traverses a great distance in a short time. In twelve Muhurtas he passes through thirteen lunar asterisms and a half during the day; and during the night he passes through the same distance, only in eighteen Muhurtas. As the centre of the potter's wheel revolves more slowly than the circumference, so the sun in his northern path again revolves with less rapidity, and moves over a less space of the earth in a longer time, until, at the end of his northern route, the day is again eighteen Muhurtas, and the night twelve; the sun passing through half the lunar mansions by day and by night in those periods respectively. As the lump of clay on the centre of the potter's wheel moves most slowly, so the polar-star, which is in the centre of the zodiacal wheel, revolves very tardily, and ever remains in the centre, as the clay continues in the centre of the wheel of the potter.

The relative length of the day or night depends upon the greater or less velocity with which the sun revolves through the degrees between the two points of the horizon. In the solstitial period, in which his diurnal path is quickest, his nocturnal is slowest; and in that in which he moves quick by night, he travels slowly by day. The extent of his journey is in either case the same; for in the course of the day and night he passes through all the signs of the Zodiac, or six by night, and the same number by day: the length and shortness of the day are measured by the extent of the signs; and the duration of day and night by the period which the sun takes to pass through them 11. In his northern declination the sun moves quickest by night, and slowest by day; in his southern declination the reverse is the case.

The night is called Usha, and the day is denominated Vyushta, and the interval between them is called Sandhya. On the occurrence of the awful Sandhya, the terrific fiends termed Mandehas attempt to devour the sun; for Brahma denounced this curse upon them, that, without the power to perish, they should die every day (and revive by night), and therefore a fierce contest occurs daily between them and the sun. At this season pious Brahmans scatter water, purified by the mystical Omkara, and consecrated by the Gayatri; and by this water, as by a thunderbolt, the foul fiends are consumed. When the first oblation is offered with solemn invocations in the morning rite, the thousand-rayed deity shines forth with unclouded splendour. Omkara is Vishnu the mighty, the substance of the three Vedas, the lord of speech; and by its enunciation those Rakshasas are destroyed. The sun is a principal part of Vishnu, and light is his immutable essence, the active manifestation of which is excited by the mystic syllable Om. Light effused by the utterance of Omkara becomes radiant, and burns up entirely the Rakshasas called Mandehas. The performance of the Sandhya (the morning) sacrifice must never therefore be delayed, for he who neglects it is guilty of the murder of the sun. Protected thus by the Brahmans and the pigmy sages called Valakhilyas, the sun goes on his course to give light to the world.

Fifteen twinklings of the eye (Nimeshas) make a Kashtha; thirty Kashthas, a Kala; thirty Kalas, a Muhurta (forty-eight minutes); and thirty Muhurtas, a day and night: the portions of the day are longer or shorter, as has been explained; but the Sandhya is always the same in increase or decrease, being only one Muhurta. From the period that a line may be drawn across the sun (or that half his orb is visible) to the expiration of three Muhurtas (two hours and twenty-four minutes), that interval is called Pratar (morning), forming a fifth portion of the day. The next portion, or three Muhurtas from morning, is termed Sangava (forenoon): the three next Muhurtas constitute mid-day: the afternoon comprises the next three Muhurtas: the three Muhurtas following are considered as the evening: and the fifteen Muhurtas of the day are thus classed in five portions of three each. But the day consists of fifteen Muhurtas only at the equinoxes, increasing or diminishing in number in the northern and southern declinations of the sun, when the day encroaches on the night, or the night upon the day. The equinoxes occur in the seasons of spring and autumn, when the sun enters the signs of Aries and Libra. When the sun enters Capricorn (the winter solstice), his northern progress commences; and his southern when he enters Cancer (the summer solstice).

Fifteen days of thirty Muhurtas each are called a Paksha (a lunar fortnight); two of these make a month; and two months, a solar season; three seasons a northern or southern declination (Ayana); and those two compose a year. Years, made up of four kinds of months, are distinguished into five kinds; and an aggregate of all the varieties of time is termed a Yoga, or cycle. The years are severally called Samvatsara, Parivatsara, Idvatsara, Anuvatsara, and Vatsara. This is the time called a Yuga.

The mountain range that lies most to the north (in Bharata-varsha) is called Shringavan (the horned), from its having three principal elevations (horns or peaks), one to the north, one to the south, and one in the centre; the last is called the equinoctial, for the sun arrives there in the middle of the two seasons of spring and autumn, entering the equinoctial points in the first degree of Aries and of Libra, and making day and night of equal duration, or fifteen Muhurtas each. When the sun, most excellent sage, is in the first degree of the lunar mansion, Krittika, and the moon is in the. fourth of Vishakha, or when the sun is in the third degree of Vishakha, and the moon is in the head of Krittika (these positions being cotemporary with the equinoxes), that equinoctial season is holy (and is styled the Mahavishubha, or the great equinox). At this time offerings are to be presented to the gods and to the manes, and gifts are to be made to the Brahmans by serious persons; for such donations are productive of happiness. Liberality at the equinoxes is always advantageous to the donor: and day and night; seconds, minutes, and hours; intercalary months; the day of full moon (Paurnamasi); the day of conjunction (Amavasya), when the moon rises invisible; the day when it is first seen (Śinivali); the day when it first disappears (Kuhu); the day when the moon is quite round (Raka); and the day when one digit is deficient (Anumati), are all seasons when gifts are meritorious.

The sun is in his northern declination in the months Tapas, Tapasya, Madhu, Madhava, Shukra, and Shuchi; and in his southern in those of Nabhas, Nabhasya, Isha, Urja, Sahas, Sahasya.

On the Lokaloka mountain, which I have formerly described to you, reside the four holy protectors of the world; or Sudhaman and Sankhapad, the two sons of Kardama, and Hiranyaroman, and Ketumat. Unaffected by the contrasts of existence, void of selfishness, active, and unencumbered by dependents, they take charge of the spheres, themselves abiding on the four cardinal points of the Lokaloka mountain.

On the north of Agastya, and south of the line of the Goat, exterior to the Vaishwanara path, lies the road of the Pitris. There dwell the great Rishis, the offerers of oblations with fire, reverencing the Vedas, after whose injunctions creation commenced, and who were discharging the duties of ministrant priests: for as the worlds are destroyed and renewed, they institute new rules of conduct, and reestablish the interrupted ritual of the Vedas. Mutually descending from each other, progenitor springing from descendant, and descendant from progenitor, in the alternating succession of births, they repeatedly appear in different housed and races along with their posterity, devout practices and instituted observances, residing to the south of the solar orb, as long as the moon and stars endure.

The path of the gods lies to the north of the solar sphere, north of the Nagavithi, and south of the seven Rishis. There dwell the Siddhas, of subdued senses, continent and pure, undesirous of progeny, and therefore victorious over death: eighty-eight thousand of these chaste beings tenant the regions of the sky, north of the sun, until the destruction of the universe: they enjoy immortality, for that they are holy; exempt from covetousness and concupiscence, love and hatred; taking no part in the procreation of living beings, and detecting the unreality of the properties of elementary matter. By immortality is meant existence to the end of the Kalpa: life as long as the three regions (earth, sky, and heaven) last is called exemption from (reiterated) death. The consequences of acts of iniquity or piety, such as Brahmanicide or an Ashwamedha, endure for a similar period, or until the end of a Kalpa, when all within the interval between Dhruva and the earth is destroyed.

The space between the seven Rishis and Dhruva, the third region of the sky, is the splendid celestial path of Vishnu (Vishnupada), and the abode of those sanctified ascetics who are cleansed from every soil, and in whom virtue and vice are annihilated. This is that excellent place of Vishnu to which those repair in whom all sources of pain are extinct, in consequence of the cessation of the consequences of piety or iniquity, and where they never sorrow more. There abide Dharma, Dhruva, and other spectators of the world, radiant with the superhuman faculties of Vishnu, acquired through religious meditation; and there are fastened and inwoven to all that is, and all that shall ever be, animate or inanimate. The seat of Vishnu is contemplated by the wisdom of the Yogis, identified with supreme light, as the radiant eye of heaven. In this portion of the heavens the splendid Dhruva is stationed, and serves for the pivot of the atmosphere. On Dhruva rest the seven great planets, and on them depend the clouds. The rains are suspended in the clouds, and from the rains come the water which is the nutriment and delight of all, the gods and the rest; and they, the gods, who are the receivers of oblations, being nourished by burnt-offerings, cause the rain to fall for the support of created beings. This sacred station of Vishnu, therefore, is the support of the three worlds, as it is the source of rain.

From that third region of the atmosphere, or seat of Vishnu, proceeds the stream that washes away all sin, the river Ganga, embrowned with the unguents of the nymphs of heaven, who have sported in her waters. Having her source in the nail of the great toe of Vishnu's left foot, Dhruva receives her, and sustains her day and night devoutly on his head; and thence the seven Rishis practise the exercises of austerity in her waters, wreathing their braided locks with her waves. The orb of the moon, encompassed by her accumulated current, derives augmented lustre from her contact. Falling from on high, as she issues from the moon; she alights on the summit of Meru, and thence flows to the four quarters of the earth, for its purification. The Shita, Alakananda, Chakshu, and Bhadra are four branches of but one river, divided according to the regions towards which it proceeds. The branch that is known as the Alakananda was borne affectionately by Mahadeva, upon his head, for more than a hundred years, and was the river which raised to heaven the sinful sons of Sagara, by washing their ashes. The offences of any man who bathes in this river are immediately expiated, and unprecedented virtue is engendered. Its waters, offered by sons to their ancestors in faith for three years, yield to the latter rarely attainable gratification. Men of the twice-born orders, who offer sacrifice in this river to the lord of sacrifice, Purushottama, obtain whatever they desire, either here or in heaven. Saints who are purified from all soil by bathing in its waters, and whose minds are intent on Keshava, acquire thereby final liberation. This sacred stream, heard of, desired, seen, touched, bathed in, or hymned, day by day, sanctifies all beings; and those who, even at a distance of a hundred leagues, exclaim "Ganga, Ganga," atone for the sins committed during three previous lives. The place whence this river proceeds, for the purification of the three worlds, is the third division of the celestial regions, the seat of Vishnu.

The form of the mighty Hari which is present in heaven, consisting of the constellations, is that of a porpoise, with Dhruva situated in the tail. As Dhruva revolves, it causes the moon, sun, and stars to turn round also; and the lunar asterisms follow in its circular path; for all the celestial luminaries are in fact bound to the polar-star by aerial cords. The porpoise-like figure of the celestial sphere is upheld by Narayana, who himself, in planetary radiance, is seated in its heart; While the son of Uttanapada, Dhruva, in consequence of his adoration of the lord of the world, shines in the tail of the stellar porpoise. The upholder of the porpoise-shaped sphere is the sovereign of all, Janardana. This sphere is the supporter of Dhruva; and by Dhruva the sun is upstayed. Upon the sun depends this world, with its gods, demons, and men. In what manner the world depends upon the sun, be attentive, and you shall hear.

During eight months of the year the sun attracts the waters, which are the essence of all fluids, and then pours them upon earths (during the other four months) as rain: from rain grows corn; and by corn the whole world subsists. The sun with his scorching rays absorbs the moisture of the earth, and with them nourishes the moon. The moon communicates, through tubes of air, its dews to the clouds, which, being composed of smoke, fire, and wind (or vapour), can retain the waters with which they are charged: they are therefore called Abhras, because their contents are not dispersed. When however they are broken to pieces by the wind, then watery stores descend, bland, and freed front every impurity by the sweetening process of time. The sun, Maitreya, exhales watery fluids from four sources, seas, rivers, the earth, and living creatures. The water that the sun has drawn up from the Ganga of the skies he quickly pours down with his rays, and without a cloud; and men who are touched by this pure rain are cleansed from the soil of sin, and never see hell: this is termed celestial ablution. That rain which falls While the sun is shining, and without a cloud in the sky, is the water of the heavenly Ganges, shed by the solar rays. If, however, rain falls from a bright and cloudless sky While the sun is in the mansion of Krittika and the other asterisms counted by odd numbers, as the third, fifth, &c., the water, although that of the Ganga of the sky, is scattered, by the elephants of the quarters, not by the rays of the sun: it is only when such rain falls, and the sun is in the even asterisms, that it is distributed by his beams.

The water which the clouds shed upon earth is in truth the ambrosia of living beings, for it gives fertility to the plants which are the support of their existence. By this all vegetables grow and are matured, and become the means of maintaining life. With them, again, those men who take the law for their light perform daily sacrifices, and through them give nourishment to the gods. And thus sacrifices, the Vedas, the four castes, with the Brahmans at their head, all the residences of the gods, all the tribes of animals, the whole world, all are supported by the rains by which food is produced. But the rain is evolved by the sun; the sun is sustained by Dhruva; and Dhruva is supported by the celestial porpoise-shaped sphere, which is one with Narayana. Narayana, the primeval existent, and eternally enduring, seated in the heart of the stellar sphere, is the supporter of all beings.

Between the extreme northern and southern points the sun has to traverse in a year one hundred and eighty degrees, ascending and descending. His car is presided over by divine Ádityas, Rishis, heavenly singers and nymphs, Yakshas, serpents, and Rakshasas (one of each being placed in it in every month). The Aditya Dhatri, the sage Pulastya, the Gandharva Tumburu, the nymph Kratusthala, the Yaksha Rathakrit, the serpent Vasuki, and the Rakshas Heti, always reside in the sun's car, in the month of Madhu or Chaitra, as its seven guardians. In Vaishakh or Madhava the seven are Aryamat, Pulaha, Narada, Punjikasthali, Rathaujas, Kachanira, and Praheti. In Shuchi or Jyeshtha they are Mitra, Atri, Haha, Mena, Rathaswana, Takshaka, and Paurusheya. In the month Shukra or Ashadha they are Varuna, Vasishtha, Huhu, Sahajanya, Rathachitra, Naga, and Budha. In the month Nabhas (or Shravana) they are Indra, Angiras, Vishwavasu, Pramlocha, Shrotas, and Elapatra (the name of both serpent and Rakshasa). In the month Bhadrapada they are Vivaswat, Bhrigu, Ugrasena, Anumlocha, Apurana, Shankhapala, and Vyaghra. In the month of Ashwin they are Pushan, Gautama, Suruchi, Ghritachi, Sushena, Dhananjaya, and Vata. In the month of Kartik they are Parjanya, Bharadwaja, (another) Vishwavasu, Vishwachi, Senajit, Airavata, and Chapa. In Agrahayana or Margashirsha they are Ansu, Kashyapa, Chitrasena, Urvasi, Tarkshya, Mahapadma, and Vidyut. In the month of Pausha, Bhaga, Kratu, Urnayu, Purvachitti, Arishtanemi, Karkotaka, and Sphurja are the seven who abide in the orb of the sun, the glorious spirits who scatter light throughout the universe. In the month of Magha the seven who are in the sun are Twashtri, Jamadagni, Dhritarashtra, Tilottama, Ritajit, Kambala, and Brahmapeta. Those who abide in the sun in the month Phalguna are Vishnu, Vishwamitra, Suryaverchchas, Rambha, Satyajit, Ashwatara, and Yajnapeta.

In this manner, Maitreya, a troop of seven celestial beings, supported by the energy of Vishnu, occupies during the several months the orb of the sun. The sage celebrates his praise, and the Gandharva sings, and the nymph dances before him: the Rakshas attends upon his steps, the serpent harnesses his steeds, and the Yaksha trims the reins: the numerous pigmy sages, the Valakhilyas, ever surround his chariot. The whole troop of seven, attached to the sun's car, are the agents in the distribution of cold, heat, and rain, at their respective seasons.”

Maitreya said,

“You have related to me, holy preceptor, the seven classes of beings who are ever present in the solar orb, and are the causes of heat and cold: you have also described to me their individual functions, sustained by the energy of Vishnu: but you have not told me the duty of the sun himself; for if, as you say, the seven beings in his sphere are the causes of heat, cold, and rain, how can it be also true, as you have before mentioned, that rain proceeds from the sun? or how can it be asserted that the sun rises, reaches the meridian, or sets, if these situations be the act of the collective seven?”

Parashara said,

“I will explain to you, Maitreya, the subject of your inquiry. The sun, though identified with the seven beings in his orb, is distinct from them as their chief. The entire and mighty energy of Vishnu, which is called the three Vedas, or Rik, Yajush, and Saman, is that which enlightens the world, and destroys its iniquity. It is that also which, during the continuance of things, is present as Vishnu, actively engaged in the preservation of the universe, and abiding as the three Vedas within the sun. The solar luminary, that appears in every month, is nothing else than that very supreme energy of Vishnu which is composed of the three Vedas, influencing the motions of the planet; for the Riks (the hymns of the Rig-veda) shine in the morning, the prayers of the Yajush at noon, and the Brihadrathantara and other portions of the Saman in the afternoon. This triple impersonation of Vishnu, distinguished by the titles of the three Vedas, is the energy of Vishnu, which influences the positions of the sun.

But this triple energy of Vishnu is not limited to the sun alone, for Brahma, Purusha (Vishnu), and Rudra are also made up of the same triform essence. In creation it is Brahma, consisting of the Rig-veda in preservation it is Vishnu, composed of the Yajur-veda; and in destruction Rudra, formed of the Sama-veda, the utterance of which is consequently inauspicious.

Thus the energy of Vishnu, 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. Vishnu, 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 Vishnu 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, 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.

The Moon and other planets

The chariot of the moon has three wheels, and is drawn by ten horses, of the whiteness of the Jasmine, five on the right half (of the yoke), five on the left. It moves along the asterisms, divided into ranges, as before described; and, in like manner as the sun, is upheld by Dhruva; the cords that fasten it being tightened or relaxed in the same way, as it proceeds on its course. The horses of the moon, sprung from the bosom of the waters, drag the car for a whole Kalpa, as do the coursers of the sun. The radiant sun supplies the moon, when reduced by the draughts of the gods to a single Kala, with a single ray; and in the same proportion as the ruler of the night was exhausted by the celestials, it is replenished by the sun, the plunderer of the waters: for the gods, Maitreya, drink the nectar and ambrosia accumulated in the moon during half the month, and from this being their food they are immortal. Thirty-six thousand three hundred and thirty-three divinities drink the lunar ambrosia. When two digits remain, the moon enters the orbit of the sun, and abides in the ray called Ama; whence the period is termed Amavasya. In that orbit the moon is immersed for a day and night in the water; thence it enters the branches and shoots of the trees; and thence goes to the sun. Consequently any one who cuts off a branch, or casts down a leaf, when the moon is in the trees (the day of its rising invisible), is guilty of Brahmanicide. When the remaining portion of the moon consists of but a fifteenth part, the progenitors approach it in the afternoon, and drink the last portion, that sacred Kali which is composed of ambrosia, and contained in the two digits of the form of the moon. Having drunk the nectar effused by the lunar rays on the day of conjunction, the progenitors are satisfied, and remain tranquil for the ensuing month. These progenitors (or Pitris) are of three classes, termed Saumyas, Barhishadas, and Agnishwattas. In this manner the moon, with its cooling rays, nourishes the gods in the light fortnight, the Pitris in the dark fortnight; vegetables, with the cool nectary aqueous atoms it sheds upon them; and through their development it sustains men, animals, and insects; at the same time gratifying them by its radiance.

The chariot of the son of Chandra, Budha or Mercury, is composed of the elementary substances air and fire, and is drawn by eight bay horses of the speed of the wind. The vast car of Shukra (Venus) is drawn by earth-born horses, is equipped with a protecting fender and a floor, armed with arrows, and decorated by a banner. The splendid car of Bhauma (Mars) is of gold, of an octagonal shape, drawn by eight horses, of a ruby red, sprung from fire. Brihaspati (Jupiter), in a golden car drawn by eight pale-coloured horses, travels from sign to sign in the period of a year: and the tardy-paced Shani (Saturn) moves slowly along in a car drawn by piebald steeds. Eight black horses draw the dusky chariot of Rahu, and once harnessed are attached to it for ever. On the Parvas (the nodes, or lunar and solar eclipses), Rahu directs his course from the sun to the moon, and back again from the moon to the sun. The eight horses of the chariot of Ketu are of the dusky red colour of Lac, or of the smoke of burning straw.

I have thus described to you, Maitreya, the chariots of the nine planets, all which are fastened to Dhruva by aerial cords. The orbs of all the planets, asterisms, and stars are attached to Dhruva, and travel accordingly in their proper orbits, being kept in their places by their respective bands of air. As many as are the stars, so many are the chains of air that secure them to Dhruva; and as they turn round, they cause the pole-star also to revolve. In the same manner as the oil-man himself, going round, causes the spindle to revolve, so the planets travel round, suspended by cords of air, which are circling round a (whirling) centre. The air, which is called Pravaha, is so termed because it bears along the planets, which turn round, like a disc of fire, driven by the aerial wheel.

The celestial porpoise, in which Dhruva is fixed, has been mentioned, but you shall hear its constituent parts in more detail, as it is of great efficacy; for the view of it at night expiates whatever sin has been committed during the day; and those who behold it live as many years as there are stars in it, in the sky, or even more. Uttanapada is to be considered as its upper jaw; Sacrifice as its lower. Dharma is situated on its brow; Narayana in its heart. The Ashwins are its two fore feet; and Varuna and Aryamat its two hinder legs. Samvatsara is its sexual organ; Mitra its organ of excretion. Agni, Mahendra, Kashyapa, and Dhruva, in succession, are placed in its tail; which four stars in this constellation never set.

I have now described to you the disposition of the earth and of the stars; of the insular zones, with their oceans and mountains, their Varshas or regions, and their inhabitants: their nature has also been explained, but it may be briefly recapitulated.

From the waters, which are the body of Vishnu, was produced the lotus-shaped earth, with its seas and mountains. The stars are Vishnu; the worlds are Vishnu; forests, mountains, regions, rivers, oceans are Vishnu: he is all that is, all that is not. He, the lord, is identical with knowledge, through which he is all forms, but is not a substance. You must conceive therefore mountains, oceans, and all the diversities of earth and the rest, are the illusions of the apprehension. When knowledge is pure, real, universal, independent of works, and exempt from defect, then the varieties of substance, which are the fruit of the tree of desire, cease to exist in matter. For what is substance? Where is the thing that is devoid of beginning, middle, and end, of one uniform nature? How can reality be predicated of that which is subject to change, and reassumes no more its original character? Earth is fabricated into a jar; the jar is divided into two halves; the halves are broken to pieces; the pieces become dust; the dust becomes atoms. Say, is this reality? though it be so understood by man, whose self-knowledge is impeded by his own acts. Hence, Brahman, except discriminative knowledge, there is nothing any where, or at any time, that is real. Such knowledge is but one, although it appear manifold, as diversified by the various consequences of our own acts. Knowledge perfect, pure, free from pain, and detaching the affections from all that causes affliction; knowledge single and eternal--is the supreme Vasudeva, besides whom there is nothing. The truth has been thus communicated to you by me; that knowledge which is truth; from which all that differs is false. That information, however, which is of a temporal and worldly nature has also been imparted to you; the sacrifice, the victim, the fire, the priests, the acid juice, the gods, the desire for heaven, the path pursued by acts of devotion and the rest, and the worlds that are their consequences, have been displayed to you. In that universe which I have described, he for ever migrates who is subject to the influence of works; but he who knows Vasudeva to be eternal, immutable, and of one unchanging, universal form, may continue to perform them, as thereby he enters into the deity."