The Serpent Tells of the Wonders of the Sun

Verse 1 (12.372.1)

विवस्वतो गच्छति पर्ययेण । वोडुं भवांस्तं रथमेकचक्रम् । आश्चर्यभूतं यदि तत्र किंचि । द्दृष्टं त्वयाशंसितुमर्हसि त्वम् ॥

vivasvato gacchati paryayeṇa | voḍuṃ bhavāṃstaṃ rathamekacakram | āścaryabhūtaṃ yadi tatra kiṃci | ddṛṣṭaṃ tvayāśaṃsitumarhasi tvam

In your turn you go to bear the one-wheeled chariot of Vivasvat. If you have seen anything wondrous there, you ought to tell it.

Note on the text: Corrected यथमेकचक्रम् → रथमेकचक्रम् (misprint in Wikisource; य for र; CE reads ratham ekacakram).

Verse 2 (12.372.2)

आश्चर्याणामनेकानां प्रतिष्ठा भगवान्रविः । यतो भूताः प्रवर्तन्ते सर्वे त्रैलोक्यसंमताः ॥

āścaryāṇāmanekānāṃ pratiṣṭhā bhagavānraviḥ | yato bhūtāḥ pravartante sarve trailokyasaṃmatāḥ

The blessed Sun is the foundation of countless wonders; from him come forth all beings, honoured in the three worlds.

Note on the text: Not in the critical edition's constituted text. = the CE star passage 12.350.2*0914_01-02 (āścaryāṇām anekānāṃ pratiṣṭhā bhagavān raviḥ / yato bhūtāḥ pravartante sarve trailokyasaṃmatāḥ), which the CE prints before 350.2; the alignment found no match.

Verse 3 (12.372.3)

यस्य रश्मिसहस्रेषु शाखास्विव विहंगमाः । वसन्त्याश्रित्य मुनयः संसिद्धा दैवतैः सह ॥

yasya raśmisahasreṣu śākhāsviva vihaṃgamāḥ | vasantyāśritya munayaḥ saṃsiddhā daivataiḥ saha

In his thousand rays, as birds on the branches of a tree, perfected sages dwell, resting there together with the gods.

Verse 4 (12.372.4)

यतो वायुर्विनिःसृत्य सूर्यरश्म्याश्रितो महान् । विजृम्भत्यम्बरे तत्र किमाश्चर्यमतः परम् ॥

yato vāyurviniḥsṛtya sūryaraśmyāśrito mahān | vijṛmbhatyambare tatra kimāścaryamataḥ param

From him the great wind issues forth and, resting on the Sun's rays, expands there in the sky. What wonder is greater than this?

Note on the text: Corrected पायुर्विनिःसृत्य → वायुर्विनिःसृत्य (misprint in Wikisource; प for व; CE reads yato vāyur viniḥsṛtya). The second line is the page's own reading (the CE has vipra kim āścaryataraṃ tataḥ).

Verse 5 (12.372.5)

विभज्य तं तु विप्रर्षे प्रजानां हितकाम्यया । तोयं सृजति वर्षासु किमाश्चर्यमतः परम् ॥

vibhajya taṃ tu viprarṣe prajānāṃ hitakāmyayā | toyaṃ sṛjati varṣāsu kimāścaryamataḥ param

Having divided that wind, O best of brahmins, for the welfare of creatures, he sends down water in the rainy season. What wonder is greater than this?

Note on the text: Corrected विभज्यं → विभज्य (misprint in Wikisource: stray anusvara; the commentary glosses तं वातं ... विभज्य). Not in the critical edition's constituted text: = the CE star passage 12.350.3d*0915_01-02 (vibhajyatāṃ tu viprarṣe prajānāṃ hitakāmyayā / toyaṃ sṛjati varṣāsu kim āścaryam ataḥ param), where the first word is vibhajyatāṃ.

Verse 6 (12.372.6)

यस्य मण्डलमध्यस्थो महात्मा परमत्विषा । दीप्तः समीक्षते लोकान्किमाश्चर्यमतः परम् ॥

yasya maṇḍalamadhyastho mahātmā paramatviṣā | dīptaḥ samīkṣate lokānkimāścaryamataḥ param

In the middle of whose disk the great Soul, blazing with supreme radiance, looks upon the worlds. What wonder is greater than this?

Note on the text: Corrected ीप्तः → दीप्तः (misprint in Wikisource: the द is lost, the page's label reads "6 द"; CE star reads dīptaḥ) and समीक्षतेऽलोकान् → समीक्षते लोकान् (stray avagraha; CE star reads samīkṣate lokān). Not in the critical edition's constituted text: = the CE star passage 12.350.3d*0915_03-04 (yasya maṇḍalamadhyastho mahātmā paramatviṣā / dīptaḥ samīkṣate lokān kim āścaryam ataḥ param). The CE star 12.350.3d*0916_01 that follows is not on the page and is not added.

Verse 7 (12.372.7)

शुक्रो नामासितः पादो यश्च वारिधरोऽम्बरे । तोयं सृजति वर्षासु किमाश्चर्यमतः परम् ॥

śukro nāmāsitaḥ pādo yaśca vāridharo'mbare | toyaṃ sṛjati varṣāsu kimāścaryamataḥ param

That dark limb of his called Shukra, which as the water-bearing cloud in the sky pours out water in the rains: what wonder is greater than this?

Verse 8 (12.372.8)

योऽष्टमासांस्तु शुचिना किरणेनोक्षितं पयः । प्रत्यादत्ते पुनः काले किमाश्चर्यमतः परम् ॥

yo'ṣṭamāsāṃstu śucinā kiraṇenokṣitaṃ payaḥ | pratyādatte punaḥ kāle kimāścaryamataḥ param

He who for eight months, with his pure ray, takes back again in due season the water that had been poured out: what wonder is greater than this?

Verse 9 (12.372.9)

यस्य तेजोविशेषेषु स्वयमात्मा प्रतिष्ठितः । यतो बीजं मही चेयं धार्यते सचराचरम् ॥

yasya tejoviśeṣeṣu svayamātmā pratiṣṭhitaḥ | yato bījaṃ mahī ceyaṃ dhāryate sacarācaram

In whose special splendours the Self itself abides, and from whom comes the seed by which this earth, with all that moves and does not move, is sustained.

Verse 10 (12.372.10)

यत्र देवो महाबाहुः शाश्वतः पुरुषोत्तमः । अनादिनिधनो विप्र किमाश्चर्यमतः परम् ॥

yatra devo mahābāhuḥ śāśvataḥ puruṣottamaḥ | anādinidhano vipra kimāścaryamataḥ param

In him dwells the mighty-armed god, the eternal Supreme Person, without beginning or end. O brahmin, what wonder is greater than this?

Note on the text: The CE star passage 12.350.7d*0917_01-02, which follows this verse in the CE, is not on the page and is not added.

Verse 11 (12.372.11)

आश्चर्याणामिवाश्चर्यमिदमेकं तु मे शृणु । विमले यन्मया दृष्टमम्बरे सूर्यसंश्रयात् ॥

āścaryāṇāmivāścaryamidamekaṃ tu me śṛṇu | vimale yanmayā dṛṣṭamambare sūryasaṃśrayāt

Hear from me one thing that is a wonder among wonders: what I saw in the clear sky, near the Sun.

Verse 12 (12.372.12)

पुरा मध्याह्नसमये लोकांस्तपति भास्करे । प्रत्यादित्यप्रतीकाशः सर्वतः समदृश्यत ॥

purā madhyāhnasamaye lokāṃstapati bhāskare | pratyādityapratīkāśaḥ sarvataḥ samadṛśyata

Once, at midday, while the Sun was scorching the worlds, a radiance like another sun was seen on every side.

Verse 13 (12.372.13)

स लोकांस्तेजसा सर्वान्स्वभासा निर्विभासयन् । आदित्याधिमुखोऽभ्येति गगनं पाटयन्निव ॥

sa lokāṃstejasā sarvānsvabhāsā nirvibhāsayan | ādityādhimukho'bhyeti gaganaṃ pāṭayanniva

Dimming all the worlds with its brilliance by its own light, it came toward the Sun, as if splitting the sky.

Verse 14 (12.372.14)

हुताहुतिरिव ज्योतिर्व्याप्य तेजोमरीचिभिः । अनिर्देश्येन रूपेण द्वितीय इव भास्करः ॥

hutāhutiriva jyotirvyāpya tejomarīcibhiḥ | anirdeśyena rūpeṇa dvitīya iva bhāskaraḥ

Filling the sky with the rays of its splendour, like a flame fed with oblations, in a form that could not be described, it was like a second sun.

Verse 15 (12.372.15)

तस्याभिगमनप्राप्तौ हस्तौ दत्तौ विवस्वता । तेनापि दक्षिणो हस्तो दत्तः प्रत्यर्चितार्थिना ॥

tasyābhigamanaprāptau hastau dattau vivasvatā | tenāpi dakṣiṇo hasto dattaḥ pratyarcitārthinā

When it came near, Vivasvat held out his hands to it, and it too, wishing to return the honour, gave its right hand.

Verse 16 (12.372.16)

ततो भित्त्वैव गगनं प्रविष्टो रश्मिमण्डलम् । एकीभूतं च तत्तेजः क्षणेनादित्यतां गतम् ॥

tato bhittvaiva gaganaṃ praviṣṭo raśmimaṇḍalam | ekībhūtaṃ ca tattejaḥ kṣaṇenādityatāṃ gatam

Then, piercing the sky, it entered the orb of rays, and that radiance, become one, in an instant took on the nature of the Sun.

Note on the text: Corrected गगन प्रविष्टो → गगनं प्रविष्टो (misprint in Wikisource: dropped anusvara; CE reads gaganaṃ praviṣṭo).

Verse 17 (12.372.17)

तत्र नः संशयो जातस्तयोस्तेजः समागमे । अनयोः को भवेत्सूर्यो रथस्थो योऽयमागतः ॥

tatra naḥ saṃśayo jātastayostejaḥ samāgame | anayoḥ ko bhavetsūryo rathastho yo'yamāgataḥ

Then a doubt arose in us, when their radiances merged: of these two, which is the Sun, the one in the chariot or the one who has come?

Verse 18 (12.372.18)

ते वयं जातसंदेहाः पर्यपृच्छामहे रविम् । क एष दिवमाक्रम्य गतः सूर्य इवापरः ॥

te vayaṃ jātasaṃdehāḥ paryapṛcchāmahe ravim | ka eṣa divamākramya gataḥ sūrya ivāparaḥ

So, in our uncertainty, we asked the Sun: "Who is this who, having crossed the heavens, has gone like a second sun?"