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Continuing on with the hierarchy of Devata-s, let’s look at the venerable Devata-s in Level 12.
Soorya
Just from a physical perspective…
To see… we need light. While Fire emits light, it is obviously not bright enough to reveal everything with great clarity and especially all the colours. Light emitted by Fire has a far more soothing effect on our eyes than the electric lamps. Even though they may be brighter than Fire and reveal colours much better, the light from electric lamps do not always reveal all colours in great clarity. Interestingly, many western universities even have courses just on the topic of colour science. Some researchers have even developed multi-spectral imaging techniques which reveal what is not ordinarily visible. But nothing is equivalent to seeing any object or form in the bright Sun Light. Overall, it may not be wrong to say that the Abhimaani Devata for Sun Light in particular and light (Tejas) in general, is Soorya.
And…
To see… we need eyes. Everything we are able to see around us is because we have eyes that are fully functional. And just think about the functionality of the eyes. What a wonderful sensory organ it is indeed. We are told that an eagle can spot its prey from far away because of its telescopic vision. It can spot the moment of its prey despite the prey’s camouflaged appearance. The predatory animals can lock their eyesight on their prey’s movement and follow through. A Hawk is said to be able to plunge down at speeds nearing 200 miles per hour and yet focus on its prey at that speed. How are they able to focus so well? How is it that we can distinguish between metal and wood just by looking at them? Be it as stressful as facing the pace bowler in the slog overs of a cricket match or something as mundane as driving a car… How are we able to focus on the objects around us? How are we able to distinguish between the various colours? How are we able to focus our eyes on something that is just a few inches away or the stars that are light years away? How are we able to have our eyes fixated on objects moving at a very high pace? How are we able to see things in poor light? How do the same eyes adjust to seeing objects in bright light? All of the above are some of the functions of the Eyes. And the Abhimaani Devata for the Jnyaanendriya called Netra (sensory organ called Eye) is, again, Soorya.
Spiritually, Soorya is one of the 12 sons of Kaashyapa and Aditi. All children of Aditi are referred to as Aaditya-s. You may’ve heard many people say that, at the time of Pralaya (we’ll learn about Pralaya in the future), 12 Soorya-s will rise. This is not correct. What the scriptures clearly state is that the ones who rise at the time of Pralaya are not 12 Soorya-s, but 12 Aaditya-s. Some of the other names for Soorya are Vivasvaan, Ravi, Amshumaan, Bhaaskara, Divaakara, Dinakara, Prabhaakara, and Ina. Some of the Avataara-s of Soorya are Sugreeva (in Raamaayana) and Karna (in Mahaabhaarata). Back in the 15th century, there lived a great Sanyaasi by name Brahmanya Teertha. He is considered an Avataara of Soorya.
Philosophically, Soorya becomes one of the best icons for Paramaatma. As has been mentioned in earlier articles, the finite Jeevaatma has no way of understanding the Infinite Paramaatma. The finite Jeevaatma can, at best, think of the Infinite Paramaatma as something really, really big and larger, higher, taller, brighter, hotter, etc. than all else. Soorya fits all these attributes very well. Let’s look at a few of them:
- Among all the things we see around us, Soorya is Swayam Prakaashae, something that produces and emits energy on its own. Soorya is brighter, larger, and hotter than everything else around us. There may be stars which are much brighter, larger and hotter than Sun… but they are all so far away that we don’t see much of the light emitted by them or feel the heat radiated from them. Nor can we get any idea about them by merely looking at them with our naked eyes. Soorya does not reflect light or heat, or energy produced elsewhere. Thus, looking at Soorya, we need to think of Paramaatma as Swayam Prakaasha, i.e., someone who has the ability to give without borrowing from someone else.
- The earth is so tiny compared to the size of the Sun, and therefore, can only intercept a small portion of the energy emitted by the Sun. That should tell us that the energy emitted from Soorya is SO intense that even after being so tiny and being over 92 million miles away from Soorya, we can’t bear the heat in summer. Thus, looking at Soorya, we need to think of Paramaatma as way larger than the tiny Jeevaatma, and that the Jeevaatma has to revolve around Paramaatma, and that the Jeevaatma has to maintain a safe distance from & not mess around with Paramaatma.
- Our very existence depends entirely on Soorya. We cannot survive without food. And all that we consume grows, absorbing the energy emitted from Soorya. Even those who eat meat should realize that the animals that were killed to extract the meat grew by eating plants that grow, absorbing energy from sunlight.
In summary, Soorya represents Paramaatma. In the Bhagavad Gita, Shree Krishna likens Paramaatma to Soorya in Chapter 10, Verse 21 by saying “jyotishaam raviramshumaan”. Soorya has been mentioned in several places all through Bhagavad Gita. In fact, Shree Krishna himself mentions that he had taught the entire Yoga elaborated on in the Bhagavad Gita to Soorya.
There are a good number of interesting things to learn about Soorya, but we’ll get back to them after we learn about the next Devata in this hierarchical level of 12.
Chandra
Just as in case of Soorya above… Just from a physical perspective…
Chandra is a satellite revolving around the Earth. It reflects the light from the sun. But the light is not as bright as that of Soorya. It is just bright enough to show the sizes, shapes, locations, and such other details of various objects around us… but not bright enough to reveal to us the colour, lustre, texture, and such details. Unlike the blinding brightness of Soorya, reflected light from Chandra is always pleasant and does not have the intense heat associated with sunlight. While Soorya evaporates the water from the oceans, Soorya does not cause the ebb and flow of the ocean waves. Chandra, on the other hand, causes no evaporation of oceanic waters… but, because of the physical proximity, has a significantly greater effect on the ebb and flow of the waves. Since approximately 60% of our body is made of water, Chandra has a significant effect on us, too.
Spiritually, Chandra is one of the most auspicious outcomes of Samudra Mathana. Chandra also incarnated as one of the three children of Rushi Atri (one of the 7 Rushi-s of Svaayambhuva Manvantara as mentioned in an earlier article titled “Devatas in Level 16”) and his consort Anasooyaa.
And… Philosophically… Just as Soorya is a great icon for Paramaatma, Chandra is a great icon for Jeevaatma. How? Well, the relationship between Paramaatma and the Jeevaatma is somewhat like the object and its image in a mirror. The image cannot move on its own. It moves in accordance with the movement of the object. In this example, Paramaatma is like the object and the Jeevaatma is like the image. Since Chandra reflects the light emitted by Soorya, he becomes a good representative of the Jeevaatma.
Chandra is also a great icon for Guru, our spiritual mentor. As mentioned earlier, Chandra sheds enough light on the objects around to reveal to us their presence, their size, their shape, their exact location, and a few other attributes. For example, the light from Chandra is enough for us to know that there is an animal in the backyard. We can clearly know whether that animal is a deer or rabbit or skunk. But we won’t be able to see its skin colour. Another example is when someone is walking on the street, we will know that it is a human walking and we may also be able to tell if it is a man or a woman. But we won’t be able to clearly identify who is walking. What we are able to see in the light from Chandra will become clearer when the light from Soorya reveals it. And, for this to happen… what one must essentially do is Manana. The English equivalent word for Manana that I’ve heard the wise-one’s use is “Contemplation”. Everything that we can see/experience in the light from Chandra should be in our memory. If we see a rabbit or deer or human in the light of Chandra, but forget about it before sunrise, then it is of no use.
Similarly, what the Guru teaches should become a “Template” or a “Spiritual Lens” for us. We should learn to view all things that come to us through all our Jnyaanendriya-s (sensory organs) through the “Template” / “Spiritual Lens” given to us by our Guru. This will help us connect the dots. Guru will teach us how to fight our battle. Guru may even intervene when we are in trouble and may often go out of his/her way to help us. But Guru won’t fight our battles for us or live our lives for us. And sooner or later, Guru will fade away, just like how Chandra fades away on Amaavaashyaa (new moon day). Chandra is the Abhimaani Devata for Manas and Manana. As has been stated very clearly in Purusha Sookta, “chandramaa manaso jaata:”, Chandra originates from the Manas of Paramaatma. In summary, our Guru helps us learn the basic premises about Paramaatma.
Yama
Another Devata in this level 12 is Yama, also referred to as Yama Dharma. Yama originated as the son of Soorya and his consort Sanjnya. As we all know, Yama is Mrutyu Devata. Yama is the one who evaluates a Jeevaatma after it completes its current Janma (meaning after a living being dies). Yama determines what Karma happened through that Jeevaatma in the recently completed Janma, the amount of Punya accumulated and the appropriate rewards. And similarly, Yama evaluates Paapa acquired by that Jeevaatma and the punishments.
In our body, Yama is the Abhimaani Devata for our entire digestive system, which includes the Oesophagus, Stomach, Small Intestine, Liver, Gall bladder, Pancreas, Large Intestine, Rectum, and Anus. Here, it needs to be understood that Western science considers that the food we consume affects only the body. But the Vedic Science teaches us that the food we consume affects both our body and our mind. This should be pretty obvious, considering how alcohol affects our minds. If the western science’s claim were true, then alcohol should have zero effect on our minds. However, we know that it is not true. Vedic Science teaches that the food we consume gets split three ways. The Saatvik essence of the food we consume affects the mind. The Raajasik component of the food is used in reparations and replenishment of muscles, joints, soft tissues, and so on. And the Taamasik component is harmful for the body, and therefore it must be excreted. Obviously, we don’t know what component of the food we consume is Saatvik or Raajasik or Taamasik. The Devata who has the knowledge and ability to process the food we consume and distinguish between the 3 components is Yama.
Yama is one of the Dik Devata-s. He is the Abhimaani Devata for the South direction and protects us from all dangers coming towards us our south direction. And thus, he is also one of the Abhimaani Devata-s for our ears, helping us grasp sounds originating from our south.
Yama took Avataara as Yudhishtira and also as Vidura. In both Avataara-s, he demonstrated exemplarily high moral standards. In fact, the one that we all need to truly refer to as Mahaatma is Vidura because of his Neeti (Ethics/Morals). Again, back in the 15th/16th century, there lived a great Haridaasa by name Kanaka Daasa. He is considered an Avataara of Yama. He has composed great poetic literature in Kannada language, which all professional musicians sing even today.
Shataroopaa
Shataroopa is one of the children that Brahma created. In other words, Shataroopa is the only Brahma Maanasa Putri. Shataroopa is the consort of Svaayambhuva Manu, about whom we’ll learn in the future. They both were created and decreed upon by Brahma that henceforth, they both should continue to expand the process of creation on earth… and also that henceforth the process of reproduction shall happen through the union of male and female. As per the above decree, Svaayambhuva Manu and Shataroopa has 5 children, i.e., 3 daughters and 2 sons. The 3 daughters were Aakooti, Devahooti and Prasooti (as already mentioned in an earlier article titled “Devatas in Level 15”). The 2 sons were Priya Vrata and Uttaanapaada (father of Dhruva).
There are many things to be mentioned pertaining to Soorya and Chandra, such as… Jyotishya, Panchaanga, Grahana and its significance, Ratha Saptami, and so on. We’ll elaborate on them next week. (Unedited copy. Reproduced as the author sent)
