Tomorrow is a solar eclipse.
यत्त्वा॑ सूर्य॒ स्व॑र्भानु॒स्तम॒सावि॑ध्यदासु॒रः । अक्षे॑त्रवि॒द्यथा॑ मु॒ग्धो भुव॑नान्यदीधयुः ॥
यत्त्वा सूर्य स्वर्भानुस्तमसाविध्यदासुरः । अक्षेत्रविद्यथा मुग्धो भुवनान्यदीधयुः ॥
yat tvā sūrya svarbhānus tamasāvidhyad āsuraḥ | akṣetravid yathā mugdho bhuvanāny adīdhayuḥ ||
यं वै सूर्यं॒ स्व॑र्भानु॒स्तम॒सावि॑ध्यदासु॒रः । अत्र॑य॒स्तमन्व॑विन्दन्न॒ह्य१॒॑न्ये अश॑क्नुवन् ॥
यं वै सूर्यं स्वर्भानुस्तमसाविध्यदासुरः । अत्रयस्तमन्वविन्दन्नह्यन्ये अशक्नुवन् ॥
yaṃ vai sūryaṃ svarbhānus tamasāvidhyad āsuraḥ | atrayas tam anv avindan nahy anye aśaknuvan ||
Rig Veda 5.40.5, 5.40.9, describing solar eclipses.
The sun plays an all-important part in our lives. In fact, it is the basis of life. Without the sun, we would not exist. The Earth would not exist as it does now.
Its no wonder then that the sun has been worshipped by all ancient cultures. Surya was the prominent deva before the trimurti – Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesha started to become more popular. The Gayatri mantra is dedicated to Savitur – means “Divine Sun” (the ultimate light of wisdom)- or the Surya deva.
Tomorrow is a total solar eclipse, and with it usually comes a lot of conversation – should I see the eclipse, am I able to eat when the eclipse is happening, will it cause misfortune etc.
While I do not wish to delve into these topics at this stage, let it suffice to say that there is no issue following something that can be followed. The eclipse lasts a few minutes, max an hour, so am sure that one can stay hungry during that time, isn’t it? Surely our ancestors thought of a lot of things before coming up with such rules? Well, they didn’t have the net or Netflix to waste their time on, so a lot of actual observation and thinking was possible back then:)
Also starts a long weekend. If you have been following the posts, you must know that I had been trying to go on a staycation for long. Well…I’m still trying:( So will try now to divide my time these four days into meaningful quadrants and get a lot done, both personally and professionally. Wish me luck!