Surya

Surya is the Sun God. His followers consider Him to be Brahma in the morning, Vishnu during the day and Shiva at night. He is portrayed sitting on a chariot with seven horses. Surya is pictured with svastika, too, as it is the sign of the sun. Surya represents an independent direction (denomination) of followers along with the mainstream shakta, shaiva and vaishnava streams. Surya is a Vedic God. He is the chief solar deity, one of the Adityas - the son of Kashyapa and Aditi (mother of all Gods in Rig Veda). His followers are called sAuram or Shaoram.

In the Slavic religion, Surya is known as Zora (with a similar pronunciation), which is a Slavic word used even today - it means the dawn - the time when the sun arises. Slavic languages have many similarities with Sanskrit - for example, catúr, which is pronounced as "chetyre" in Russian and "shtyri" in Slovak. Zora was a Slavic deity. The English word "four" (4) does not sound to have a connection with Sanskrit; however, the English number nine - návan in Sanskrit, is closer to Sanskrit than the Slavic word for the number 9 (the word "devyat" could be, on the other hand, derived from the Sanskrit word "devi").

With growing expansion of vaishnavism some 300 years before Christ, Surya lost His prominent place among the highest Gods similarly like Brahma. Adityas were a group of solar deities (their mother was Aditi; Diti, on the other hand, was Aditi's bad sister, who was the mother of Daityas - the race of giants like Titans in the Greek mythology. Rig Veda speaks about seven of Adityas: 1) Varuna, 2) Mitra, 3) Aryaman, 4) Bhaga, 5) Daksha, 6) Ansha, 7) Surya. Yajur Veda speaks about eight solar deities. Sanjana and Chhaya are two Surya's wives (consorts). Big dynasties of Indian kings maintained that they had descended from this God. Thus, a dynasty of "Suryavanshis" is known in the Indian history with lineage from the ancient times up to the times of God Rama (and later). Surya has several sons. He is the father of great Sugriva, a younger brother of Vali. Sugriva was a chief of the monkey kingdom Kishkindha where Hanuman has his roots.

Hanuman begged Surya to accept him as His pupil. Surya refused. Hanuman did not stop begging and enlarged his body; Surya finally agreed. Surya's father is Kashyapa - an ancient rishi, a father of the Nagas and of humankind. Surya is a very powerful God and His omnipresent glow was the cause of Sanjana's (His wife) escape. However, Surya found her in the woods and made love with her there.

Surya is also the father of Karna (Mahabharata). He conceived him with Kunti, the mother of the eldest three Pandava brothers. Kunti spoke up a mantra and evoked Surya, who then made love with her (spiritually). Kunti was a virgin mother.

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