O Maitreya, while in one insular continent the sun shines in midday, in the opposite Dwipas it will be midnight; rising and setting thus take place at all seasons and are always opposed in the different cardinal and intermediate points of horizon. Wherever the sun is visible he is said to rise there and wherever he disappears from view he is said to be set. In sooth, their is neither rising nor setting of the sun; for he always exists; the appearance and disappearance of the sun are merely called rising and setting.

When the sun is in the cities of Sakra and others, the three cities and two intermediate points are illuminated; and when he is in an intermediate point he extends light to the two cities and three intermediate points. From the time of his rising till midday the rays of the sun gradually increase; and from then he moves towards setting with his diminishing rays. By the rising and the setting of the sun the east and west quarters are ascertained. As far as the sun shines in front so far he shines behind, and thus on both the sides illuminating all the places except the court of Brahmā which is situate on the summit of Meru—the mountain of the celestials. When the rays of the sun reach the court of Brahmā they are repelled and driven back by the radiance which prevails there. Consequently there is the alternation of day and night in northern quarter in as much as all the insular continents are situated on the north of Meru.

The radiance of the sun, after its setting, is deposited in fire and hence fire is visible even at a greater distance in night. During day the rays of fire enter into the sun by virtue of which the sun becomes more brilliant. Elemental light and heat, proceeding respectively from the sun and fire and mixing with each other, prevail in diverse degrees both by day and night. When the sun prevails either in the northern or southern hemisphere day or night goes into waters according as they are attacked by darkness or light; it is for this reason that waters appear dark by day because night is within them and white by night because when the sun is set the light of the day enters therein.

When the sun goes to Pushkara Dwipa, a thirtieth part of the circumference of the globe, his course is equal in time to one Muhurtta; and whirling round like the circumference of the wheel of a potter he alternately spreads day and night on the surface of the earth. At the beginning of his northern course the sun passes to Capricornus, thence to Aquarias, thence to Pisces, successively passing from one sign of the Zodiac to another. After he has gone through them the sun gets at the vernal equinox when he makes the day and night of equal duration. From then the length of the night decreases and the day grows longer until the sun reaches the end of Gemini when he follows a different course and entering Cancer begins his declension to the south. The sun moves quickly on his southern course like the circumference of a potter's wheel revolving respectively. He glides along his course with the velocity of the wind and traverses a great distance in a short time. In twelve Muhurttas it goes through thirteen lunar asterisms and a half during the day, and during the night, it goes through the same distance only in eighteen Muhurttas. As the centre of the potter's wheel revolves more slowly than the circumference so the sun in his northern course revolves with less rapidity and passes over a less space of the earth in a longer time, until at the end of his northern route the day is again eighteen Muhurttas long and the night twelve the sun passing through them by day and night respectively in those periods. As the lump of the clay on the centre of the potter's wheel revolves most slowly, so the polar star, which is the centre of the Zodiacal wheel, moves very slowly and always remains in the centre like the clay. The relative length of the day or night is dependant upon the greater or less motion with which the sun revolves through the degrees between the two points of horizon. During the midday when his diurnal course is quickest his nocturnal is slowest and when he moves quickly by night he moves slowly by day. The length of his journey in both the cases is the same; for during the day and night he travels through all the signs of the Zodiac or six by night and six by day. The length and shortness of the day are measured by the extent of the signs; and the duration of day and night is measured by the period which the sun takes to pass through them. When he declines towards the north the sun moves quickest by night and slowest by day and when he declines towards the south the case is thoroughly the reverse.

The night is called Ushā and the day is called Vyushta and the intervening time between them is called Sandhyā. When the dreadful Sandhya sets in, the awful Rākshasas named Mandehas attempt to devour the sun. O Maitreya, the Patriarch Brahmā imprecated this curse upon them that they should perish by day and revive at other times. For this reason a fierce contest takes place daily between them and the sun. At this time, O great Muni, the pious Brahmins scatter water purified by the mystical Omkāra and consecrated by the Gayatri [239] and by means of this water as by a thunder-bolt the dreadful Rākshasas are destroyed. While during the course of morning rites the first oblation is offered with solemn invocations, the sun, having thousand rays, appears with unclouded splendour. Omkāra is the glorious Vishnu, the essence of the three Vedas, the lord of speech; and by its mention the Rākshasas are slain. The sun is a principal portion of Vishnu and light is his immutable essence, the manifestation of which is made by the mystic syllable Om. Light, spread by the utterance of Omkāra, becomes radiant and burns up completely the Rākshasas denominated as Mandebas. Therefore one should not be dilatory in the performance of Sandhyā sacrifice; for he, who neglects it, is guilty of the murder of the sun. Being thus protected by the Brahmanas called Bālakhilyas the sun proceeds to protect the world.

[239]It is a vedic verse in the shape of a short prayer to the sun.

Fifteen Nimeshas (twinkling of the eye) make a Kāshthā; thirty Kāshthās make one Kalā; thirty Kalās a Muhurtta and thirty Muhurttas a day and night; the divisions of the day become longer or shorter in the way explained before. But as regards increase or decrease Sandhyā is always the same for it is only one Muhurtta. From the time when half of the sun's orb is visible to the expiration of three Muhurttas the interval is called Prātar (morning) forming a fifth portion of the day. The next portion or three Muhurttas from morning is called Sangava (forenoon); the three next Muhurttas make the midday; the three next Muhurttas constitute the afternoon; the three next Muhurttas make the evening; and thus the fifteen Muhurttas of the day are divided into five portions of three each. But the day comprises fifteen Muhurttas only at the Equinoxes and increases and diminishes in number as the sun declines towards the north or the south, when the day encroaches upon the night and the night upon the day. The equinoxes take place during the spring and autumn when the sun enters the signs of Aries and Libra. When the sun enters Capricorn his progress towards the north begins and when he enters Cancer his progress towards the south commences. Fifteen days of thirty Muharttas each are called a Paksha (fortnight); two fortnights make one month and two months a solar season and three seasons make one Ayana (a northern or southern declination) and two Ayanas make one year. Years are made up of four kinds of months [240] and five years make one Yuga or cycle. The years are respectively called Samvatsara, Parivatsara, Idvatsara, Anuvatsara and Vatsara. This is the time called a Yuga.

The mountain that is situate in the north of Bhāratvarsa is called Sringavān for its having three principal horns or peaks, one to the north, one to the south and one in the centre. The last is called equinoctial for the sun goes there in the middle of the two seasons of spring and autumn, arriving at the equinoctical points in the first degrees of Aries and Libra and making day and night of equal duration of fifteen Muhurttas each. When the sun is in the first degree of Kirtikā and the moon in the fourth of Visakhā or when the sun is in the third degree of Visakhā and the moon is in the head of Kirtikā that equinoctial season is holy and is called the Mahāvishubha. At this time devout persons should make offering to the celestials and the manes and gifts to the Brahmans, for such gifts produce happiness. Liberality at the equinoxes is always fruitful to the donor, and day and night seconds, minutes and hours, intercalary months, the day at full moon (Paurnamāsi); the day of conjunction, when the moon rises invisible, the day when it is first seen, the day when it first disappears, the day when the moon is quite round and the day when one digit is deficient are the seasons when gifts prove meritorious.

[240] The Saura containing the sun's passage through a sign of zodiac; (b) Chandra containing thirty lunations; (c) Savana containing thirty days of sunrise and sunset; (d) Nakshatra or the moon's revolution through the twenty-eight lunar mansions.
  1. The Saura containing the sun's passage through a sign of zodiac; (b) Chandra containing thirty lunations; (c) Savana containing thirty days of sunrise and sunset; (d) Nakshatra or the moon's revolution through the twenty-eight lunar mansions.