Sūrya
Hindu · deity · vedic · Recorded classification
Hindu solar deity; ancient Vedic god (Ṛgveda 1.50). Father of Karṇa by Kuntī in the structurally tragic pre-marriage conception. Conferred the kavacha and kuṇḍala on his son at birth — the divine armor and earrings that made Karṇa invulnerable until Indra extracted them in Vana Parva 308. In other genealogies father of Yama, Yamunā, Manu (the progenitor of humanity), and the Aśvinī twins. Major medieval Sūrya temples at Konārk, Modhera, and Martand.
Children
Domains
- sun and light
Powers
- Grants boons to devotees
- Radiates blinding light and scorching heat
Epithets
- आदित्य Son of Aditi; the radiant solar deityṚgveda 1.50 (Sūrya hymn); Āditya-hṛdayam, Rāmāyaṇa, Yuddha Kāṇḍa 105 (primary)
- सविता The Impeller/Vivifier; the sun as stimulator of lifeṚgveda 3.62.10 (the Gāyatrī, addressed to Savitṛ) (primary)
- विवस्वत् The shining-forth one; father of Yama and ManuṚgveda 10.17; Bhagavad Gītā 4.1 (primary)
- मार्तण्ड The sun born of the dead egg; the solar ĀdityaṚgveda 10.72.8-9; Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa (primary)
- भास्कर The light-makerRāmāyaṇa, Yuddhakāṇḍa 6.105 (Āditya-hṛdaya) (primary)
- दिवाकर The day-makerRāmāyaṇa, Yuddhakāṇḍa 6.105 (Āditya-hṛdaya) (primary)
- सहस्ररश्मि The thousand-rayedRāmāyaṇa, Yuddhakāṇḍa 6.105 (Āditya-hṛdaya) (primary)
Relations
- lover: KuntīPre-marriage union with Kuntī when she tested Durvāsā's mantra in girlhood; fathered Karṇa, who was abandoned in a basket on the river. Conferred on Karṇa the kavacha (divine armor) and kuṇḍala (earrings) at birth — invulnerability granted by paternal gift.Mahabharata, Vana Parva 290-291 (the original Karṇa-conception narrative); Adi Parva 111 (primary)
- father of: KarṇaMahabharata, Vana Parva 290-291 (primary)
- sibling: IndraViṣṇu Purāṇa 1.15 Āditya birth account; no universal genealogy inferred.Viṣṇu Purāṇa 1.15, Wilson translation, Āditya genealogy (primary)
Sources
- existence: Ṛgveda 1.50 (the Sūrya hymn); Mahabharata Vana Parva 290-291; Bhāgavata Purāṇa (primary)