Chapter 362

“The Brahmana said, ‘Thou goest away for dragging the one-wheeled car ofVivaswat according to thy turn. It behoveth thee to describe to meanything wonderful that thou mayst have noticed in those regions throughwhich thou sojournest!’

“The Naga said, ‘The divine Surya is the refuge or home of innumerablewonders. All the creatures that inhabit the three worlds have flowed fromSurya. Innumerable Munis, crowned with ascetic success, together with allthe deities, reside in the rays of Surya like birds perching on thebranches of trees. What, again, can be more wonderful than this that themighty Wind, emanating from Surya, takes refuge in his ray and thenceyawns over the universe? What can be more wonderful than this, Oregenerate Rishi, that Surya, dividing the Wind into many portions fromdesire of doing good to all creatures, creates rain that falls in therainy season? What can be more wonderful than this that the Supreme Soul,from within the solar disc, himself bathed in blazing effulgence, lookethupon the universe? What can be more wonderful than this that Surya has adark ray which transforms itself into clouds charged with rain and poursshowers of rain when the season comes? What can be more wonderful thanthis that drinking up for eight months the rain he pours down, he poursit down once again in the rainy season? In certain rays of Surya, theSoul of the universe is said to reside. From Him is the seed of allthings, and it is He that upholds the Earth with all her mobile andimmobile creatures. What can be more wonderful, O Brahmana, than this,that the foremost of Purushas, eternal and mighty-armed, endued withexceeding effulgence, eternal, and without beginning and without end,resides in Surya? Listen however, to one thing I shall tell you now. Itis the wonder of wonders. I have seen it in the clear sky, in consequenceof my adjacence to Surya. In former times, one day at the hour of noon,while Surya was shining in all his glory and giving heat to everything webeheld a Being coming towards Surya, who seemed to shine with effulgencethat was equal to that of Surya himself. Causing all the worlds to blazeup with his glory and filling them with his energy, he came, as I havealready told thee, towards Surya, rending the firmament, as it were, formaking his path through it. The rays that emanated from his body seemedto resemble the blazing effulgence of libations of clarified butterpoured into the sacrificial fire. In consequence of his energy andsplendour he could not be looked at. His form seemed to be indescribable.Indeed, he appeared to us to be like a second Surya. As soon as he camenear, Surya extended his two hands (for giving him a respectfulreception). For honouring Surya in return, he also extended hisright-hand. The latter then, piercing through the firmament, entered intoSurya’s disc. Mingling then with Surya’s energy, he seemed to betransformed into Surya’s self. When the two energies thus met together,we were so confounded that we could not any longer distinguish which waswhich. Indeed, we could not make out who was Surya whom we bore on hiscar, and who was the Being that we had seen coming through the sky.Filled with confusion, we then addressed Surya, saying,–‘O illustriousone who is this Being that has mixed himself with thee and has beentransformed into thy second self?’