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1 CHAPTER II THE SAURA UPAPURANAS The Sun has been, under different names, an object of great adoration from the early Vedic period, and it is possible that there arose quite early a fairly extensive literature, both Puranic and otherwise, on the praise and worship of this god, who appears in the Vedic works as one of the most prominent deities; but of the numerous Puranic works now extant it is only the Samba-purana which deals principally with the cult of the Sun. Chapters and extracts on the method and praise of Sun-worship occur in some of the other Puranas also, viz., Bhavisya-purana, Brahma-purana, Skanda-purana, Varaha-purana, Matsya-purana, Agni-purana, Garuda-purana, Visnudharmottara, Bhavisyottara, Kalika-purana, and so on. The Markandeya-purana contains a few chapters on the praise of and stories about the Sun. The Vedic, epic and Sanskrit literatures abound in evidences regarding the early beginning and spread of the worship of the atmospheric sun as a god, but the conception of the Sun as an imaginary god of light and the practice of his worship in images came into vogue at a comparatively late period. That this later phase of Sun-worship was due to Magian influence is amply evidenced by the Scythian coins, the Puranic works, the Brhat-samhita (chapters 58 and 60), and I 2 For instance, in Bhavisya-purana I. 4. 89 we find mention of an ancient work dealing with the Saura Dharmas as declared by Narada (saura dharmas ca rajendra naradokta mahipate). According to the Bhavisya, this work (most probably called 'Saura-dharma') as well as the Mahabharata, Ramayana, etc. was designated technically by the term 'Jaya' (see Bhavisya-purana I. 4. 87 b-89). The above line of the Bhavisya-purana is found quoted in Laksmidhara's Krtyakalpataru (I, p. 25), Candesvara's Krtya-ratnakara (p. 30), and Narasimha Vajapeyin's Nityacara-pradipa (I, p. 22) with the reading 'manavoktah' for 'naradoktah'. It should be mentioned here that the Saura work spoken out by Narada (or Manava) has become extinct. 2 Indian Antiquary, 1888, pp. 89 ff.; Gardner, Coins of Greek and Scythian Kings of Bactria and India in the British Museum, pp. 131, 134, 141-3, 155,

30 STUDIES IN THE UPAPURANAS 3 a number of seals and inscriptions. Probably during the reign of the Scythian kings or even earlier, a new form of Sun-worship was introduced in Northern India by bands of Magi priests who called their deity 'Mithra' (or 'Mihira'). These Magas, as the Magi priests were called in India, seem to have established their first settlement at a place called 'Mitra-vana' ('forest of Mitra') on the bank of the Candrabhaga in the Punjab, and at this place they constructed a city called 'Mula-sthana' ('original place of settlement' or 'original place of the Sun'-modern Multan) and a Sun-temple containing an image of the deity. As the Magian adherents to the worship of the Sun (Mithra) had a proselytising spirit and must have enjoyed state-support at least under the Scythian kings, they set themselves most zealously to popularising their faith in different parts of India. In striking agreement with the orthodox followers of the Vedas, they pointed out to the people the various benefits of Sun-worship, viz., freedom from sins and diseases, attainment of peace and prosperity, success in enterprises, and so on. They also took full advantage of the long-standing popularity of the deity in India and of his worship in a symbol which was very often a wheel or disc and not rarely a circle or a lotus.' As Visnu, As Visnu, Siva and many other deities had begun from a and so on; Whitehead, Catalogue of Coins in the Panjab Museum, Lahore, Vol. 1, pp. 188-9, 198, and so on. B 5 3 See Bhandarkar, Vaisnavism etc., p. 154; J. N. Banerjea, Development of Hindu Iconography, pp. 198-9. 4 This historic temple, with the enshrined image of the Sun, was visited by the Chinese traveller Hiuen Tsiang as well as by Alberuni, Al Edrisi, Abu Ishak al Ishtakhri, and several others. For Hiuen Tsiang's description of this temple see Samuel Beal, Buddhist Records of the Western World, II, pp. 274-5. 5 For the probable connection of the kings of the Sunga and Kanva dynasties as well as of the Hunas with Mitra- (Mithra-) worship, see Nagendra Nath Vasu, Castes and Sects of Bengal, IV, pp. 56-7. 6 Sahitya Parisat Patrika (Calcutta), LVII, 1357 Bengali Samvat, pp. 25-43. The story of Samba, as given in the Samba-purana, Bhavisya-purana and Varaha-purana, shows clearly that the Magas laid special stress on the Sun's capacity for destroying sins and curing various diseases, especially leprosy, 7 For the basis of the Vedic custom of representing Surya by a wheel or disc see Rg-veda I. 175. 4. IV. 28. 2, 30. 4. and V. 29. 10, in which Surya has

THE SAURA UPAPURANAS 8 31 very early period to be widely worshipped in images, for which public or private temples were often built, Indian people must have felt a great want in these respects with regard to the worship of the Sun, for which the Vedic people made no provision for the construction of any image or temple. Fortunately, the Magas came forward to remove this long-felt want, and it was to this contribution of these foreigners that their remarkable success in speedily popularising their faith was due to a very great extent. The Samba-purana (29. 2-6) points to this truth when it says: "na pura pratima hy asit pujyate mandale ravih | yathaitan mandalam vyomni sthiyate savitus tada || evam eva pura bhaktaih pujyate mandalakrtih | yatah prabhrti capy esa nirmita visvakarmana || sarva-loka-hitarthaya suryasya purusakrtih | * grhesu pratimayas tu na tasam niyamah kvacit || devayatana-vinyase karyam murti-pariksanam ||" been called a 'wheel' (cakra) or 'the wheel (cakra) of Surya' has been mentioned. See also Satapatha-brahmana VII. 4. 1. 10, which mentions the placing of a disc of gold on the Fire altar to represent the Sun, For wheels and lotuses representing the Sun on coins, etc. see Journal of the Indian Society of Oriental Art, XVI, pp. 51-3, and J. N. Banerjea, Development of Hindu Iconography, pp. 137-140, 198-9 and 432 ff. See also Matsya-purana 74-80, Padma-purana, Srsti-khanda, 21. 216-321, Bhavisyottara (i.e. Bhavisya-purana IV), chapters 48-53, and so on. For a Mandala for Sun-worship see especially the Bhavisya-purana (Brahmaparvan). In commenting on Apastamba-dharmasutra ii. 11. 29. 16 Haradatta says that the Dravidas used to worship Aditya (the Sun) by drawing Mandalas on the ground (....dravidah kanya-mesasthe savitary aditya-pujam acaranti bhumau mandalam alikhya...........). 8 See, for instance, Gautama-dharmasutra 9. 13 (na vayv-agni-vipr-adity- apo devata gas ca prati pasyan va mutra-puris-amedhyan vyudasyet) and 9. 14 (naita devatah prati padau prasarayet). According to Haradatta and Maskari, the word 'devatah', occurring in the former Sutra, means images (pratimah). The separate use of the word 'devatah' in the former Sutra shows that the word 'aditya' meant the atmospheric sun and not any image of Aditya. The word 'devatah' in the latter Sutra must have been intended for creating

32 STUDIES IN THE UPAPURANAS "In ancient times there was no image (of the Sun); the Sun was worshipped in a circle. The Sun, worshipped by his devotees in early days, was circular, just as there is the disc (of the Sun) in the sky. The human form of the Sun (came into vogue) for the good of all the worlds from the time it was made by Visvakarman. ... ... No rule is (to be observed) in the case of those images which are (worshipped) in (private) houses; The examination of the image is to be made in case it is placed in a temple." There was another strong ground for the wide popularity of the Magian method of Sun-worship. It was that the Magas allowed great privilege in religious matters to women and members of lower castes. However, the spread of Magian ideas was not, in all respects. very favourable to the Varnasrama-dharma and the authority of the Vedas. As regards conception of Mithra and the procedure of his worship, the Magi priests differed much from the Sun-worshippers of India. Their manners and customs also were, to a great extent, different from those of the members of the Vedic fold. Hence, in order to modify the earlier cult of the Sun by incorporating Magian elements (which must have been too popular to be neglected), to establish the position of Magas as full-fledged Brahmins authorised to worship the Sun, and to conform the Magian ideas and practices to the Vedic notions, the Samba-purana had to be written and chapters had to be inserted into the Bhavisya and other Puranic works. What steps were taken to achieve these ends and how and when, will be evident from the following analysis of the Samba-purana