WRITTEN BY London Swaminathan               

Post No.7526

Date uploaded in London – – 2 February 2020

Contact – swami_48@yahoo.com

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Sun is a star according to modern science. There are billions and billions of suns. Most of them are bigger than our sun. Our sun is a yellow colour star, i.e. mediocre one. Blue and red colour stars are more powerful and hotter. The world thought that these are modern discoveries. But it is already in our Vedas!

Before I give my comments read what A A Macdonell and A B Keith said in 1912.

‘Surya – Nakshatra’

“Surya – Nakshatra is found in Satapata Brahmana (2-1-2-19) in a passage where Sayana takes it denoting a nakshatra/star which gives out rays of light like sun. But the real sense (as the Kanva  text helps to show)  is that the sacrificer may take the sun for his nakshatra – i.e. he may neglect the nakshatras altogether and rely on the sun”.

Page 468, volume 2, Vedic Index

My Comments

All the world literature compared stars with fire flies or little lamps at a distance or candle light till the modern science informed the world that our Sun is also a star. But Vedic rishis always associated Sun with Star or Stars with sun. It is amazing to see that the Vedic seers spoke about sun and star at one breadth.

Look at the first sentence ‘star which gives light like Sun’. 200 years ago, if anyone read it, the person would have thought that it is just an exaggeration.

Sayana wrote the commentary in the 14^th century. Satapata Bramana was written around 850 BCE according to the Westerners. But Hindus believe it is older than that.

I don’t jump to conclusion based on a single passage.

 In fact, it is even in Rig Veda, the oldest book in the world.

Macdonell and Keith again,

Nakshatra

Nakshatra is a word of obscure origin and derivation.  The Indian interpreters already show a divergence of opinion as to its primary meaning. The Satapata Brahmana resolves into ‘na- ksatra = no power’ explaining it by a legend. The Niruka refers it to the root ‘nak’s ‘obtain’ following the Taittriya Brahmana

Aufrecht and Weber derived it from ‘nakta-tra’ ‘guardian of night’, and more recently the derivation from ‘nak- ksatra’ ‘having rule over night’, seems  to be gaining acceptance. The generic meaning of the word therefore seems to be star. (English word Night came from Sanskrit ‘Nakt’

English word star is derived from Sanskrit ‘tara’ for star.

xxx

The Nakshatras as stars in the Rig Veda and later-

The sense of star appears to be adequate for all or  nearly all the passages  in which Naksatras occur in the Rig Veda. The same sense occurs in the later Samhitas also; the sun and the Naksatras mentioned together;  or the sun, moon, the Naksatras  or the moon and the Naksatras or  the Naksatras alone .

–Page 409, volume 1, Vedic Index

For al the above, both of them, have given references from the Vedic literature.

MY COMMENTS

I am going to comment on only one thing in the above passage.

There is nothing interesting if some poet sings about ‘twinkle, twinkle little star up above the world so high’.

There is nothing significant if a poet sings about star’ like a diamond in the sky ‘ with moon. A child even can sing about it. Throughout Tamil and Sanskrit literature we read star girls are after moon man, in Hindu mythology moon is masculine and stars are feminine. Moon is always loved by 27 wives/ 27 stars

But when one sings about ‘sun and star together’ one raises one’s eyebrow. One wonders what! stars tiny specs of light in the night and sun is million times brighter in the day!

But  Vedic poets sing them together in

Atharva Veda – 6-10-3; Vajasaneyi Samhita 23-43 and in a few other places.

More important is the Rig Vedic mantra 6-67-6

ता हि कषत्रं धारयेथे अनु दयून दरंहेथे सानुमुपमादिव दयोः |
दर्ळ्हो नक्षत्र उत विश्वदेवो भूमिमातान दयां धासिनायोः ||

tā hi kṣatraṃ dhārayethe anu dyūn dṛṃhethe sānumupamādiva dyoḥ |
dṛḷho nakṣatra uta viśvadevo bhūmimātān dyāṃ dhāsināyoḥ ||6-67-6

Here is Griffith’s translation 100 years ago-

“So, through the days, maintaining princely power, ye  prop the height as it were from loftiest heavens.

The star of al the gods, established filleth the heaven and earth with food of man who liveth”.

Star of All Gods

In the foot note Griffith says,

The Star of all Gods- SUN

In RV 7-86-1, the poet says

धीरा तवस्य महिना जनूंषि वि यस्तस्तम्भ रोदसी चिदुर्वी |
पर नाकं रष्वं नुनुदे बर्हन्तं दविता नक्षत्रम्पप्रथच्च भूम ||RV 7-86-1

dhīrā tvasya mahinā janūṃṣi vi yastastambha rodasī cidurvī |
para nākaṃ ṛṣvaṃ nunude bṛhantaṃ dvitā nakṣatrampaprathacca bhūma |

“Wise, verily, are creatures through his greatness who  stayed ever , spacious heaven and earth asunder;

Who urged the mighty sky to motion, the Star of Old, and spread the earth before him”

Here also Griffith’s foot note says the star = the SUN

Nowadays we praise someone who has achieved something with the words YOU ARE A STAR. Sometimes we comment she is a star or he is a star. This expression is found for the first time in the Rig Veda

It is interesting to see that one compares star with sun another praises sun as star. So, we can boldly conclude that the Vedic rishis knew sun is a star.

Xxx subham xxx