Prabhākara and the Falling Sūrya
Prabhākara Sūrya-patana · prabhā-kara sūrya-patana, “Prabhākara and the fall of Sūrya”
Prabhākara and the falling Sūrya is the account, in the Brahma Purāṇa, of how a ṛshi of Atri‘s line held up Sūrya when he was falling from the sky. The Sūta tells it to the munis as he describes the vaṃśa of Pūru. When Rāhu struck Sūrya and the world was plunged in darkness, light came through Prabhākara alone, and when he said to Sūrya, “Svasti be to you!”, Sūrya stopped falling. Prabhākara’s ten sons, masters of the Veda, were named the Svastyātreyas after this word.
Prabhākara’s marriage
The Sūta tells the munis the line of Pūru: Pūru’s son was Suvīra, his son Manasyu, his son Abhayada, his son Sudhanvan, his son Subāhu, and his son Raudrāśva. Raudrāśva had ten sons and ten daughters. The daughters were Bhadrā, Śūdrā, Madrā, Śaladā, Maladā, Khaladā, Naladā, Surasā, Gocavalā and Strīratnakūṭā.
A ṛshi named Prabhākara, born in the vaṃśa of Atri, became the husband of all ten daughters. On Bhadrā he begot the famous Soma. This Soma is the son of Prabhākara and Bhadrā, not Candra.
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Chapter 13
The falling Sūrya
Once Sūrya was struck down by Rāhu (the Telugu translator’s bracket says: at an eclipse) and was falling from the sky, and the world was plunged in darkness. Then light came about through this Prabhākara alone.
Prabhākara said to Sūrya, “Svasti be to you!” (svasti means auspiciousness), and at once Sūrya did not fall down from the antariksha, the mid-air.
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Chapter 13
The Ātreya gotras and the Svastyātreyas
Prabhākara became the founder of the Ātreya gotras, of which Atri is the head. In yajñas, the text says, bala, strength, was granted to Atri by the devas. The Telugu translator adds in a bracket that even now, in the assembly of a yajña, it is the settled custom to give the first honour (agra-pūjā) to those of the Ātreya gotra.
On his ten wives Prabhākara begot ten sons, masters of the Veda and founders of gotras. They became famous by the name Svastyātreyas. The translator explains the name: because Prabhākara of the Ātreya line, seeing Sūrya falling, said to him “svasti be to you”, that gotra received this title. Svastyātreya is svasti joined with Ātreya.
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Chapter 13
Sources
- Brahma Purāṇa, Chapter 13