Surya, the sun god who consumes himself in the cosmic sacrifice of the universe,
was a young man of great beauty and strength. He travelled across the celestial
spheres in his fiery chariot drawn by seven horses and driven by Aruna, the
bird-man brother of Garuda, the mount of the god Vishnu. One day he saw a
beautiful young woman and fell in love with her. She was Samjna, daughter of
Visvakarman, the architect of the gods. The two were married. But the radiance
and heat of Surya—or perhaps the intensity of his love—were unbearable for
Samjna, who could not even draw near to her beloved husband. One night, while
Surya was away, she fled into the forest and had herself replaced by Chaya
(Sanskrit for “shadow”), who was identical to her in every way yet able to
endure Surya’s light. Surya did not notice the substitution and lived with Chaya
until one day, when she harshly scolded one of Samjna’s children, the sun god
discovered the truth. He immediately set out in search of his wife and found her
in the forest, where she had transformed herself into a mare so as not to be
recognised. Surya in turn transformed himself into a stallion and united with
her, afterwards revealing his true identity. The two returned to the celestial
sphere, but the problem of Surya’s heat and light remained unsolved.
Visvakarman, the architect of the gods and father of Samjna, then proposed
reducing Surya’s rays, and Surya agreed. Visvakarman cut away part of the solar
rays so that Surya and Samjna could live close to each other. From the severed
rays some of the most powerful weapons ever seen in the universe were fashioned:
the *trishula* (trident) of Shiva, the *chakra* (discus) of Vishnu, the spear of
Karttikeya, and the Sun Temple of Konarak.
