Daṇḍanāyaka
Daṇḍanāyaka · daṇḍa-nāyaka, “the leader who holds the staff of rule”
Daṇḍanāyaka is one of the chief attendants of Bhagavān Sūrya in the Brahma Parva of the Bhavishya Purāṇa, where Bhagavān Sūrya is praised as the supreme. His name means the leader who rules by the daṇḍa (the staff of justice). Sūrya himself gave him the name, for he punishes the people, leads them by daṇḍanīti (the law of rule) and writes down their pāpa and puṇya. He is called the master of all the lokas.
He is always paired with Piṅgala. The two stand at Sūrya’s sides and are the doorkeepers of Sūryaloka. Daṇḍanāyaka goes on ahead of the ratha of Sūrya, and he is set beside Sūrya in the temple.
His name and his work
Sāmba, seeing Sūrya in his glory, asked Nārada who this Daṇḍanāyaka was. Brahmā told the ṛshis of Daṇḍanāyaka, Piṅgala and the other chief ones of Sūrya’s parivāra (retinue), whose names carry their meaning.
Brahmā said that the one named Daṇḍanāyaka is the master of all lokas. Bhagavān Sūrya said to him: “You are the leader who can punish the people. You lead by daṇḍanīti. That is why you are Daṇḍanāyaka. You also write down the pāpa and puṇya of the people.”
When Brahmā counted the retinue again, he named the two Aśvins; Daṇḍanāyaka and Piṅgala, the doorkeepers of Sūryaloka; Rājña and Sausha; Revata and Dindi; and eighteen others.
Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, Chapters 76, 124
At the side of Bhagavān Sūrya
Rudra appointed Daṇḍa, armed with the Mahādaṇḍa, the great staff, and the other mahāgaṇādhipas (chiefs of the great gaṇas) to stand at the sides of Sūrya.
Rudra asked Brahmā how the ratha of Sūrya should be driven and who should go with it. Brahmā said that on a rough road the ratha must go slowly and seek the level way. To clear the road, the Pratīhāri is sent ahead of the ratha. After him the Daṇḍanāyaka is sent, and after him Piṅgala.
In the vision of Sūrya’s sabhā told to Sāmba, Piṅgala stands there as the scribe, and beside him is Daṇḍanāyaka.
Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, Chapters 53, 56, 76
Daṇḍanāyaka and the horse Revanta
Revanta, the eighth horse, fled at his birth. Sūrya ordered his side-attendants Daṇḍanāyaka and Piṅgala to bring that horse to him without using force and without doing it any harm, young as it was. Standing at Sūrya’s two sides, the two wished to find some weakness or fault in the horse, and to this day they have found none.
Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, Chapter 79
In the temple of Bhagavān Sūrya
In the rule of Sūrya‘s temple, Piṅgala stands to the right of Sūrya and Daṇḍanāyaka to his left. Daṇḍa and Māṭhara are installed towards the south. At the feet of the mūrti of Sūrya, Daṇḍa and Piṅgala are placed.
Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, Chapters 130, 136
Sources
- Bhavishya Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, Chapters 53, 56, 76, 79, 124, 130, 136