{"collection":"Hinduism","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/browse/hin/vp/vp068.htm","path":"hin/vp/vp068.htm","source_url":"https://sacred-texts.com/hin/vp/vp068.htm","text":"The Vishnu Purana, translated by Horace Hayman Wilson, [1840]\nNames of the twelve \u00c1dityas. Names of the Rishis, Gandharbhas, Apsarasas, Yakshas, Uragas, and R\u00e1kshasas, who attend the chariot of the sun in each month of the year. Their respective functions.\nPAR\u00c1\u015aARA.--Between the extreme northern and southern points the sun has to traverse in a year one hundred and eighty degrees, ascending and descending 1. His car is presided over by divine \u00c1dityas, Rishis, heavenly singers and nymphs, Yakshas, serpents, and R\u00e1kshasas (one of each being placed in it in every month). The \u00c1ditya Dh\u00e1tri, the sage Pulastya, the Gandharba Tumburu, the nymph Kratust\u0301hal\u00e1, the Yaksha Rathakrit, the serpent V\u00e1suki, and the R\u00e1kshas Heti, always reside in the sun's car, in the month of Madhu or Chaitra, as its seven guardians. In Vai\u015b\u00e1kh or M\u00e1dhava the seven are \u00c1ryamat, Pulaha, N\u00e1reda, Punjik\u00e1sthal\u00ed, Rathaujas, Kachan\u00edra, and Praheti. In \u015auchi or Jyesht\u0301ha they are Mitra, Atri, H\u00e1h\u00e1, Men\u00e1, Rathaswana, Takshaka, and Paurusheya. In the month \u015aukra or \u00c1sh\u00e1dha they are Varu\u0144a, Va\u015bisht\u0301ha, Huhu, Sahajany\u00e1, Rathachitra, N\u00e1ga, and Budha. In the month Nabhas (or Sr\u00e1va\u0144a) they are Indra, Angiras, Visw\u00e1vasu, Pramloch\u00e1, \u015arotas, and Elapatra (the name of both serpent and R\u00e1kshas). In the month Bh\u00e1drapada they are Vivaswat, Bhrigu, Ugrasena, Anumlocha, \u00c1p\u00fara\u0144a, \u015aankhap\u00e1la, and Vy\u00e1ghra. In the month of \u00c1swin they are P\u00fashan, Gautama, Suruchi, Ghrit\u00e1ch\u00ed, Sushena, Dhananjaya, and V\u00e1ta. In the month of K\u00e1rtik they are Parjanya, Bharadw\u00e1ja, (another) Visw\u00e1vasu, Visw\u00e1ch\u00ed, Senajit, Air\u00e1vata, and Ch\u00e1pa. In Agrah\u00e1yana or M\u00e1rga\u015b\u00edrsha they are Ansu, Ka\u015byapa, Chitrasena, Urvasi, T\u00e1rkshya, Mah\u00e1padma, and Vidyut. In the month of Pausha, Bhaga, Kratu, Ur\u0144\u00e1yu, Purvachitt\u00ed,\n[paragraph continues] Arisht\u0301anemi, Karkot\u0301aka, and Sph\u00farja are the seven who abide in the orb of the sun, the glorious spirits who scatter light throughout the universe. In the month of M\u00e1gha the seven who are in the sun are Twasht\u0301ri, Jamadagni, Dhritarasht\u0301ra, Tilottam\u00e1, Ritajit, Kambala, and Brahm\u00e1peta. Those who abide in the sun in the month Ph\u00e1lguna are Vish\u0144u, Visvamitra, S\u00faryaverchchas, Rambh\u00e1, Satyajit, Aswatara, and Yajn\u00e1peta.\nIn this manner, Maitreya, a troop of seven celestial beings, supported by the energy of Vish\u0144u, occupies during the several months the orb of the sun. The sage celebrates his praise, and the Gandharba sings, and the nymph dances before him: the R\u00e1kshas attends upon his steps, the serpent harnesses his steeds, and the Yaksha trims the reins: the numerous pigmy sages, the B\u00e1lakhilyas, ever surround his chariot. The whole troop of seven, attached to the sun's car, are the agents in the distribution of cold, heat, and rain, at their respective seasons 2.\n233:1 It might be doubted whether the text meant 180 in each hemisphere or in both, but the sense is sufficiently clear in the V\u00e1yu, &c., and the number of Ma\u0144d\u0301alas travelled in the year is 360: the Ma\u0144d\u0301alas, 'circles' or 'degrees,' being in fact the sun's diurnal revolutions, and their numbers corresponding with the days of the solar year; as in the Bhavishya P. 'The horses of the sun travel twice 180 degrees in a year, internal and external (to the equator), in the order of the days.'\n234:2 A similar enumeration of the attendants upon the sun's car occurs in the V\u00e1yu, &c. For Yakshas, the generic term there employed is Gr\u00e1ma\u0144\u00eds, but the individuals are the same. The K\u00farma and Bhavishya refer the twelve \u00c1dityas to different months:--\n| | Vish\u0144u. | K\u00farma. | Bhavishya. | \n| Dh\u00e1tri | Chaitra | Vai\u015b\u00e1kha | K\u00e1rtika | \n| \u00c1ryamat | Vai\u015b\u00e1kha | Chaitra | Vai\u015b\u00e1kha | \n| Mitra | Jyesht\u0301ha | M\u00e1rga\u015b\u00edrsha | M\u00e1rga\u015b\u00edrsha | \n| Varu\u0144a | \u00c1sh\u00e1d\u0301ha | M\u00e1gha | Bh\u00e1dra | \n| Indra | \u015ar\u00e1va\u0144a | Jyesht\u0301ha | \u00c1swina | \n| Vivaswat | Bh\u00e1dra | \u015ar\u00e1va\u0144a | Jyesht\u0301ha | \n| P\u00fashan | \u00c1swina | Ph\u00e1lguna | Pausha | \n| Parjanya | K\u00e1rtika | \u00c1swina | \u015ar\u00e1va\u0144a | \n| Ansu | M\u00e1rga\u015b\u00edrsha | \u00c1sh\u00e1d\u0301ha | \u00c1sh\u00e1d\u0301ha | \n| Bhaga | Pausha | Bh\u00e1dra | M\u00e1gha | \n| Twasht\u0301ri | M\u00e1gha | K\u00e1rtika | Ph\u00e1lguna | \n| Vish\u0144u | Ph\u00e1lguna | Pausha | Chaitra. |","title":"The Vishnu Purana: Book II: Chapter X","type":"page"}