Surya and Shani

Surya and Shani

Surya is also called Aditya, was born to Sage Kashyap from his wife Aditi. He is often depicted moving through the sky in his chariot, pulled by 7 horses. His children are worshipped as deities themselves, one of which was Vaivasvata Manu (7th Manu according to the Puranas). Manu, the father of mankind had four other siblings- Yama, god of death, Yomi, the spirit goddess of the Yamuna, and the Ashwini Kumaras, the horse twins that serve as the doctors for Devas. They were born from his wife Sangya. One day, Surya’s heat and brightness became too much for Sangya to bear and she left her shadow, Chhaya, in her place. This change went unnoticed and Chhaya gave birth to Savarni Manu (8th Manu) and Tapti, the river goddess.

When she was pregnant with Shani, she was observing a fast to appease Shiva. The effect of the intense heat combined with no intake of food or water made the child dark in colour. Seeing his complexion, Surya rejected him as his child and questioned Chhaya. The insult made Shani furious and he decided to keep distance from his father forever. Chhaya’s fast, though, worked in his favour as he gained powers from her devotion.

Chandra and his phases

Chandra, the Lord of the night is often described as a young man born thrice. First, he was created by Brahma, next he emerged from the eyes of Sage Atri and the third time he was reborn when he was churned from the Samudra Manthan, as Lakshmi’s brother. He is also known as the husband of the 27 constellations or Nakshatras. Rohini was the favourite wife who got most of his attention. Upset with this arrangement, the others complained to their father, Daksha. He cursed Chandra that his powers would gradually fade away and he would never glow again. Scared that he might be deemed powerless one day, Chandra begged Daksha to take the curse back. Upon realizing what his impulse had made him do, he apologized and asked Chandra to worship Shiva, for only he could help. The hermit god appeared before him and offered a compromise; while he could not withdraw the complete effect of the curse, he could lessen it. Hence, Chandra was blessed with increasing brightness (waxing) as he neared Rohini, termed the Shukla Paksha. His brightness faded for the next fortnight as he moved away from her, called the Krishna Paksha.

Another version of this story originates from Ganesha’s curse that turned Chandra grey, because the Moon God laughed at his fall. The solution was the same, given by Shiva himself.