| Savitra | |
|---|---|
God of the Sunrays[1] | |
| Member ofAdityas | |
| Abode | Sun |
| Mantra | Gayatri mantra |
| Genealogy | |
| Parents | |
| Consort | Pṛśni(according toBhagavata Purana)[2] |
| Children |
|
Savitṛ (Sanskrit:सवितृIAST:Savitṛ,nominativesingular:सविताIAST:Savitā, also rendered asSavitur),[3] in Vedic scriptures is anAditya (i.e., an "offspring") of theVedic primeval mother goddessAditi. His name inVedic Sanskrit connotes "impeller, rouser, vivifier."
He is sometimes identified with—and at other times distinguished from—Surya, "the Sun god". When considered distinct from the Sun proper, he is conceived of as the divine influence or vivifying power of the Sun. The Sun before sunrise is called Savitr, and after sunrise until sunset it is called Sūrya.[4]Savitr is venerated in theRig Veda, the oldest component of the Vedic scriptures. He is first recorded inbook three of the Rigveda; (RV 3.62.10) later called theGayatri mantra. Furthermore, he is described with great detail in Hymn 35 of the Rig Veda, also called the Hymn of Savitr.[5] In this hymn, Savitr is personified and represented as a patron deity. He is celebrated in eleven whole hymns of the Rig Veda and in parts of many others texts, with his name being mentioned about 170 times in aggregate..
Savitr disappeared as an independent deity from theHindu pantheon after the end of theVedic period, but is still worshiped in modernHinduism and is referred to asSāvitrī.
Savitr is a deity whose name primarily denotes an agent, in the form of a noun derived from a verbal root with the agent suffix-tṛ added.The name of Savitr belongs to a class of Vedic theonyms, together with Dhatṛ, Tratṛ andTvastr. These names denote that these are agent gods, who create, protect, and produce, respectively.[6]
Savitr has golden arms, and is broad-handed or beautiful-handed. He is also pleasant tongued or beautiful-tongued, and is once called iron-jawed. His eyes are golden as well. He is yellow-haired, an attribute shared withAgni andIndra. He dons on a tawny garb. He has a golden chariot with a golden axle, which is omni-form, just as he himself is capable of assuming all forms. His channel is analogized as a resplendent chariot drawn by two radiant steeds or by two or more bronze, white-footed stallions. Mighty splendour ("amati") is preeminently attributed to Savitr, and mighty "golden" splendour to him only. Such splendour he stretches out or diffuses. He illumines the air, heaven and earth, the world, the spaces of the earth, the vault of heaven.
LikePushan andSurya, he is lord of that which is mobile and is stationary. Savitr has been attributed to as upholding the movables and immovable, which signifies the maintenance ofṚta. Savitr is a beneficent god who acts as protector of all beings, who are provident and guard the world of spirits. Being anAditya, Savitr is true to the Eternal Order and act as the score exacter.[7]
His primordial pathways in the air are dustless and sleekly traversed, on them he is besought to fortify his invokers. He is prayed to convey the departed soul to where the righteous dwell. Savitr bestows immortality on the gods as well as length of life on man. He also bestowed immortality on theRbhus, who by the greatness of their deeds advanced to his dwelling. Like other gods, Savitr is a supporter of the cosmos. Also, he holds the whole world, a role which was also assigned toVishnu in the Vedas.
There are two classes of deities in theRig Veda whose nature is founded on abstraction.
The class, judged by the evolution of the mythological creations of theVeda, does not represent direct abstractions, but appears in each case to be derived from an epithet applied to one or more deities, illustrating a particular aspect of activity or character. Such epithets gradually become detached, finally attaining an independent status. ThusRohita, the 'Red One' (whose female form isRohinī), originally an epithet of the sun, as a separate deity in the capacity of a Creator.[citation needed]
... [the] second class of gods, who may be called 'abstract', is afforded by the agent gods – such asDhatr – whose name expresses a function which they perform; ... they can be called 'functional gods'. In all the cases which are to be found in theVedic literature we are able to say with a fair degree of plausibility that the conception formed itself from the use of the epithet in question, in the first place, of some concrete god; ... after denoting that deity in the special field of action, it was gradually made into a separate deity, concerned merely with the sphere of action in question. This, however, cannot be proved beyond doubt: It will, for instance, always be open to question whetherSavitr is really an aspect of the sun, or whether he is god of stimulation, who by reason of similarity of nature has been made 'like to the sun'. In other cases there can be less doubt: The godVisnu cannot really be explained as a god of 'wide stepping' – he is a sun god, who happens to have a special sphere of activity ...[8]
Savitr is never mentioned as having part in theSoma sacrifice
a fact which is doubtless fair evidence that theRig Veda did not know him as having a place in the rite, and that he was later brought in, perhaps because of his growing importance, perhaps as anAditya."[9]
According toYaska, Sanskrit scholar of the 5th century BCE, who made various attempts to interpret difficultVedic mythologies in his workNirukta (Etymology) (12, 12), the time of Savitr’s appearance is when darkness has been removed.Sayanacharya (onRig Veda) remarks that before his rising the sun is called Savitr, but from his rising to his setting, Surya. But Savitr is also sometimes spoken of as "sending to sleep", and must therefore be connected with evening as well as morning. He is, indeed, extolled as the setting sun in one hymn (2, 38); and there are indications that most of the hymns addressed to him are meant for either a morning or an evening sacrifice. He brings all two-footed and four-footed beings to rest and awakens them. He unyokes his steeds, brings the wanderer to rest; at his command night comes; the weaver rolls up her web and the skilful man lays down his unfinished work. Later the west was wont to be assigned to him, as the east toAgni, and the south toSoma.
The epithet "sūrya-raśmi" is used in theRig Veda only once, and it is applied to Savitr:
"Radiating with the beams of the Sun, golden-haired, Savitr raises up His effulgence continually from the east."
LikeSurya, Savitr is implored to remove evil nightmares and to render men sinless. Savitr drives away sorcerers and antagonism. He observes fixed laws. The waters and the wind are subject to his ordinance. He leads the waters and by his propulsion they flow broadly. The other gods follow his lead. No being, not evenIndra,Varuna,Mitra,Aryaman,Rudra, can resist his will and independent dominion. His praises are celebrated by theVasus,Aditi,Varuna,Mitra andAryaman. He is lord of all things worthy, and bestows blessings pervading heaven, air, earth.
... the connection of Savitr with the sun is fairly close. It is at least possible, therefore, that in its origin Savitr was not an independent creation, but was an epithet of Surya, but that question is of little importance: The essential feature of the god is not his original basis, but his function as the inspirer or impeller to holy sacrifice: The ritual act is repeatedly said in the Yajur Veda to be done ‘on the instigation of the god Savitr’.[10]
In several passages of theRig Veda, Savitr andSurya appear simultaneously. It may even appear based onA.B. Keith's opinion that the terms Savitar and Surya are used interchangeably in certain hymns of theRig Veda. However it is worth noting that several other deities are directly associated with the epithet of Savitar in theFamily Books. They include Indra who is paired alongside Savitar,[11] and Tvastr who is compounded with Savitar.[12] Furthermore, Savitar is unambiguously identified with Bhaga.[13] Savitar is also unambiguously called Pusan and Mitra.[14] While Savitar certainly has directly been charged with using Surya's rays, Savitar has a much more direct congruence with other deities. TheVedic poet observes:
"[G]od Savitr has raised aloft his brilliance, making light for the whole world; Surya shining brightly has filled heaven and earth and air with his rays."[citation needed]
In another hymnSurya is spoken of in termsPrasavitṛ (Vivifier)[citation needed], an adjective usually applied to Savitr, and in the third verse[citation needed] Savitr is apparently mentioned as the same god asSurya. In other hymns also, it is hardly possible to separate the two deities.[citation needed] In certain passages, Savitr combines with the rays of the sun or shines with the rays of the sun.
Savitr has a major role in creation. The relevant hymn mentions that:"Indra measured six broad spaces, from which no existing thing is excluded: He it is who made the wide expanse of earth and the lofty dome of the sky, even he." Savitr assistedIndra in shaping the universe.[15]
[T]here are in the last book of theRig Veda some hymns which treat the origin of the world philosophically rather than mythologically. Various passages show that in the cosmological speculation of theRig Veda The sun was regarded as an important agent of generation. Thus he is called the soul (atma) of all that moves and stands. Statements such as that he is called by many names though one indicate that his nature was being tentatively abstracted to that of a supreme god, nearly approaching that of the later conception of Brahma. In this sense the sun is once glorified as a great power of the universe under the name of the golden embryo, hiranya-garbha, inRig Veda. It is he who measures out space in the air and shines where the sun rises. In the last verse of this hymn, he is calledPrajapati, lord of created beings , the name which became that of the chief god of the Brahmanas. It is significant that in the only older passage of theRig veda in which it occurs,Prajapati is an epithet of the solar deity Savitr, who in the same hymn is said to rule over what moves and stands.[16]
The Vedas do not specifically identify the Ādityas as there is no classification of thethirty-three gods, except for in the Yajurveda (7.19), which says that there are eleven gods in heaven (light space), eleven gods in the atmosphere (intermediate space), and eleven gods on earth (observer space). In some passages of theSatapatha Brahmana, the number of Ādityas is eight, and in other passages twelve Ādityas are mentioned.
Savitr disappears in post-Vedic literature and is absent from the corpus ofPauranic Hinduism.[18][19]
Some modern Hindu spiritual thinkers assign symbolism to the Vedic deities like Savitr. The Vedic deities are not only forces of nature, but also forces that exist within the human intellect and psyche, and help the individual in spiritual progress.[20]
According toSri Aurobindo, the Vedic depictions are deeper than mere imagery. The gods, goddesses and the evil forces mentioned in the Vedas represent various cosmic powers. They play a significant role in the drama of creation, preservation, and destruction in the inner world of a human being.[20]
Once the senses are controlled and the mind is stabilized through slaying of all the dark powers, comes the awakening, the goddess Ushas, who brings along with her Ashvins into the world of inner consciousness. After Ushas appears Aditi, the Primal Sun, the God of Light: First as Savitr, who represents the divine grace essential for all spiritual success, and then as Mitra, who as the divine love is considered as a friend of the illumined mind (Indra) and his associates (the other gods). The Sun is of Truth, after which appearRta (Truth in Action) and Rtachit (Truth consciousness).[20]
InDC Comics'The Flash comics andThe CW'sThe Flash TV series, thespeedsterSavitar is an enemy of the Flash who named himself after theHindu god.[21]
In a fiction by author Ryan Sequeira, called "EvOLv", where Savitr has been named as one of the Supreme Gods - parallel withShiva - The God Savitr is referred to as the source of light in the multiverse.[citation needed]
In the Dark-Hunter fantasy series by authorSherrilyn Kenyon, Savitar is a Chthonian god killer who is thousands of years old and was responsible for policing the Atlantean pantheon.[citation needed]
For the second and all subsequent seasons of the television seriesBattlestar Galactica,Richard Gibbs composed new opening music whose words come from theSāvitrī Mantra.[22] A literal translation of the verse can be given as: "May we attain that excellent glory of Savitar the god: so may he stimulate our prayers."[23]
They are known as 'Fivers' in Islam. The five first Imams or Teachers.
Quotations related toSavitr at Wikiquote