Parīlekhana of Sūrya

Parīlekhana · parī-lekhana, “the planing all round”

The Parīlekhana is the planing of Bhagavān Sūrya by Viśvakarmā, told in the Saptamī Kalpa of the Brahma Parva of the Bhavishya Purāṇa. Sumantu Muni tells King Śatānīka what Brahmā told the ṛshis in Brahmaloka. When the tejas of Bhagavān Sūrya grew beyond measure and all beings were afflicted, Brahmā, Vishṇu and Maheśvara, with the devas, took refuge in him and praised him. He consented, and Viśvakarmā set the śātana-yantra on him and planed his tejas as far as the knees. From that tejas he made the fearsome śūla of Śaṅkara, the cakra of Vishṇu, the weapons of the Vasus, the śakti of Kārttikeya and the palanquin of Kubera. Then Bhagavān Sūrya, now of a beautiful form, went to the lands of Uttara Kuru and saw his wife Saṃjñā Devī in the form of a mare.

The Purāṇa tells the paring also in another chapter, where Brahmā commands Viśvakarmā, the devatās praise Bhagavān Sūrya, and the gandharvas sing and the apsarās dance as the work goes on. One who hears it with bhakti and śraddhā gains the fruit of an aśvamedha yāga.

Who is this one who blazes

Śatānīka said: “Deva, let me hear more of this account of Sūryadeva. However much I hear it, my heart is not filled.” Sumantu Muni answered that he would tell what Brahmā, the maker of the worlds, told the ṛshis long ago, an account that destroys all pāpas and gives puṇya.

The ṛshis, scorched by the rays of Sūrya, went to Brahmā in Brahmaloka and asked: “Pitāmaha, who is this one who blazes so brilliantly, like Agnideva? We wish to know from where this great power of his has come.”

Brahmā answered. When all things moving and unmoving had perished and all the worlds were filled with darkness, the guṇa in Prakṛti came into action, and first arose Buddhi. From Buddhi arose Ahaṃkāra, which sets the mahābhūtas in motion. From it came Vāyu, Agni, water, Ākāśa and Bhūmi. From them came forth an aṇḍa (egg), and from that aṇḍa these seven lokas were established. The earth stood with seven dvīpas and seven samudras.

“I, Vishṇu and Maheśvara,” said Brahmā, “stood in the all-covering tamas, in dhyāna on Parameśvara.” Then they saw the great tejas that had split the mass of tamas and come forth, and they knew by dhyāna-yoga that this was Bhagavān Sūrya. Each of them knew him as Paramātmā, and they praised him with divine stotras.

The stotra of the Trimūrti

“Deva, among the devas you are the Ādideva. You are the master of all masters, the first maker of the bhūtas, Devadeva, Sanātana. You are the life of all beings: devas, gandharvas, rākshasas, munis, kinnaras, siddhas, pannagas, birds and others.”

• You are Brahmā, Mahādeva, Vishṇu and Prajāpati; Vāyu, Indra, Soma, Vivasvān and Varuṇa.
• You are the form of Kāla. You are the maker of creation, sustenance and dissolution. You are Īśvara.
• You are the rivers, the oceans, the mountains, the lightning and the rainbows; you are pralaya and prabhava.
• You are manifest, unmanifest and eternal. You are higher than Īśvara, the highest vidyā among vidyās. You are Śiva, and higher than Śiva.
• You have feet and hands on every side, and eyes, heads and faces in every direction. You are Sahasrāṃśu and Sahasrakiraṇa, the thousand-rayed.
• You are Bhūr, Bhuvaḥ, Suvar, Mahar loka, Jano loka and Tapo loka.
• Namaskāra to your form, which always shines forth, lights all the worlds, and is hard to look upon even for the best of devas.
• Namaskāra to your form, served by the hosts of suras and siddhas and by ṛshis such as Bhṛgu, Atri and Pulaha, supreme and unshaken.
• We bow to your form in the Sūrya-maṇḍala, which cannot be reached by the five indriyas, nor the ten, nor the eleven with the mind, nor the group of fifteen.
• Namaskāra to your form, creator of the universe, made of the universe, standing in the universe, worshipped by ṛshis such as Viśvānara and by the devas, beyond thought.
• You are beyond the best yajñas, the devas, the lokas and the sky. You are higher than that Para whom none can pass beyond. Namaskāra to your form, renowned as Paramātmā.
• Namaskāra to your form: unknowable, beyond thought, the inner Ātmā, the one into whom all return, without beginning or end.
• Ever our namaskāras to the cause of causes, the destroyer of pāpa, the one who receives the salutations of those themselves worthy of salutation, the giver of all fruits, the treasury of jñāna, the one of fifteen parts.

Thus praised, Bhagavān Sūrya, in the form of masses of tejas, spoke an auspicious word: “What vara shall I give you?” The devas said: “No one can bear your form of such great tejas. For the good of the world, let your form that is hard to look upon come into a state that can be borne.” Bhagavān Sūrya said “Tathāstu”. For the work of the worlds he became the giver of the three seasons: summer, rains and cold.

For this reason Sāṃkhyas, yogīs and other seekers of moksha meditate on Bhagavān Sūrya in their hearts. Even one without any good marks, even one full of all pāpas, if he takes refuge in the karmas belonging to Sūryadeva, crosses over all pāpas. Neither agnihotra, nor the Vedas, nor yajñas with rich dakshiṇā are worth even one sixteenth of a Sūrya-namaskāra done with bhakti.

Sumantu said: “I take refuge in that Bhagavān Sūrya, the best tīrtha among tīrthas, the auspicious among all auspicious things, the pure among all pure things.” Those who take refuge in Bhāskara, praised by Brahmā and the other devas, are freed from all pāpas and reach Sūryaloka. As the Veda says that Divaspati is pleased by sevā, he is the one to be served by all the worlds.

Why the planing was proposed

Śatānīka asked why the planing of the body of Bhagavān Sūrya was proposed. Sumantu answered that devas, rākshasas and ṛshis, with collected minds, went to Brahmā in Brahmaloka and said: “This Sūrya is shining in the sky, and by him all darkness is scattered. But he blazes beyond measure. This whole world of moving and unmoving things is perishing by his tejas, as a river bank is broken away by the flow of water. We are all afflicted and fainting. See how this lotus that gave you birth has withered. In the sky, on the earth, in svarga, nowhere can we find the least ease. Deva, think of some means to calm his tejas.”

Brahmā Padmasambhava said to them: “Together with Mahādeva, with the great Indra and the others, let all of us go to Bhagavān Sūrya and take refuge in him alone.” Brahmā, Vishṇu and the other devas went together to him and took refuge, and Varuṇa and all the other devas, bowing low, began to praise him.

The stotra of Brahmā, Vishṇu and Īśa

• “Suravara, master of the hot light, Devadeva praised by the best of the devas, namaskāra to you.”
• You cure the dull, the blind, the mute, the deaf, those with kushṭha and those suffering from many kinds of sores, and you make them wholly healthy. Namaskāra to you, so full of compassion.
• Your form is of many kinds: the fire in the belly, lightning, the great tejas, the common light that the eyes can bear, the fire placed in yajñas, the fire that is taken away and the fire that is set down.
• The rākshasas who are enemies of the devas, who dwell in the waters of the ocean, who bear fearful pāśas, swords and axes, who have very tall dreadful forms, who go about the earth with minds set on pāpa, perish at your darśana.
• You are the fruit of all tīrthas and you are present in the yajñas, and you give śānti to all men alike. Namaskāra to you.
• What the wise call tapas is your great tejas alone, and the paṇḍitas long for it.

Bhagavān Sūrya turned his ears with care to hear their words.

The stotra of the devas behind them

Brahmā said: “All the devas on every side, bowed in bhakti, set me in front, with Śiva and Vishṇu behind me, and all the devas behind them, and again they praised Bhagavān Sūrya.”

• We bow again and again to Sūryadeva, the giver of aiśvarya to the three worlds, the giver of the true fruit of yajña and other karmas, the witness of all the karmas done each day, the deva of a thousand lights.
• He has the seven horses. He is undecaying. He gathers steady reins for the horses.
• O Devadeva, unceasingly praised by the Vālakhilyas, apsarās, kinnaras, pannagas, siddhas, gandharvas, piśācas, humans, yakshas, the rākshasa hosts and guhyakas, we bow to you again and again.
• By your rays, by the pouring out of snow, of water and of sweat, you gather the rasas of embodied beings, and you also dry up the world. So in the world you are the one who shows the marks of the world.

The planing by Viśvakarmā

Marking the intent of them all, Sūryadeva declared his consent to the śātana (planing). The devas, glad at heart, worshipped Viśvakarmā in mind, speech, body and deed. They obtained permission once more: “As you command, let this Viśvakarmā make your form gentle.”

Viśvakarmā, skilled in the ways of every work, set the śātana-yantra upon Bhagavān Sūrya, and slowly, slowly carried on the lekhana of the tejas of Sūrya Prabhu, who had been anointed with amṛta. When the lekhana was finished up to the knees, it went no further, and from that time his two legs stayed wound around each other. By this heating and wearying, Sūryadeva became of a fitting measure of tejas.

With the tejas that came from the carving of his body a cakra was made, and with it Vishṇudeva slew the fearsome rākshasas. With the tejas still left over, the wise Viśvakarmā made śūlas, śakti weapons, gadās, vajras, bows and axes, and gave them to the devas.

The man who japas the stotra of the Trimūrti at both sandhyās purifies his family. No disease troubles him. He has progeny, his works bear fruit, and he lives a full life of a hundred years. Having sons and wealth, unconquered everywhere, he lives, and leaving the body of five bhūtas he goes to Sūryaloka.

The stotra of the devas and devarshis

The devas and devarshis who came from the three lokas again praised Bhagavān Sūrya:

• Namaskāra to you, Stutya-rūpa, the form to be praised; Soma-rūpa, Yajuḥ-svarūpa, Atharva-rūpa, Āṅgirasa.
• Namaskāra to you, dwelling-place of jñāna, who have left darkness, of the form of pure light and pure Ātmā.
• Namaskāra to you who as Ātma-mūrti pervade the whole world, the cause of all, the form on whom those given to jñāna meditate.
• Namaskāra to you, Jñeya-rūpa, Prakāśa-svarūpa, who have taken many forms. Namaskāra to you, Bhāskara, Vedakartā.
• You are the cause of all this saṃsāra. You are Sandhyā-rūpa and the light of the moon. All this is you. Because of you the whole world moves. Namaskāra to you.
• May the whole brahmāṇḍa, moving and unmoving, go on thus, full of consciousness, and turning.
• By your rays all of this was created and is made pure. The touch of your rays purifies water and the rest.
• As long as you have not joined with the world, the dharma of homa and dāna is of no service. Only when you rise does the morning homa become praiseworthy.
• The Ṛks, the Yajus and the Sāmas are all you. You alone are Vedatrayamaya.
• You are of the form of Parabrahma and Aparabrahma; you are mūrta and amūrta, subtle and gross.
• You are Kāla, spoken of in divisions such as nimesha and kāshṭhā, the time of eighteen eye-blinks. You are pralaya.
• O Jagatpati, the world is burning thus. Restrain of your own free will your form made of tejas, and be gracious.

The weapons from his tejas

Bhagavān Sūrya, the undecaying mass of tejas, thus praised, let go a part of his tejas. He himself, Sāma-maya and gentle, dwelt in the sky.

With the fifteen parts of the tejas that he had planed off, the great Viśvakarmā made and gave:

• to Śaṅkara, the fearsome śūla;
• to Vishṇudeva, the cakra;
• to the Vasus, weapons;
• to Kārttikeya, the śakti weapon;
• to Kubera, a palanquin;
• to the yakshas, vidyādharas and other devatās, many kinds of fearful śastras.

Bhagavān Ravi still bore sixteen parts of tejas in his body, and of that tejas fifteen parts were sharpened by Viśvakarmā.

Then Bhagavān Sūrya, now of a beautiful form, went to the lands of Uttara Kuru, and there he saw his wife Saṃjñā Devī, who was in the form of a mare.

Brahmā said: “Munisattamas, I have told you the whole account of Sūryadeva.” One who hears this with bhakti and śraddhā gains the fruit of an aśvamedha yāga.

Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, Chapter 123

The paring in Chapter 121

King Śatānīka asked Sumantu Muni to tell in detail the paring of the body of Bhagavān Sūrya. Sumantu said that Saṃjñā Devī had gone away to her father’s house, and Sūryadeva, with his mind fixed on her, was thinking that she would set his form right.

Then Brahmā came and said: “You are the Ādideva of all the devatās. All this world is pervaded by you. Your father-in-law Viśvakarmā can set your form right.” He commanded Viśvakarmā to pare the form of Bhagavān Sūrya so that it became full of beauty. Viśvakarmā, using the śāṇa (grindstone), little by little carved the body of Bhāskara and made it a beautiful form.

Brahmā, with all the groups of devatās and with maharshis who had mastered the Vedas and Vedāṅgas, delighted Sūryadeva with many secret stotras.

• Brahmā praised: “O Jagannātha, you who are like the cool moon to the lands of puṇya, Devādhideva of all the worlds, svasti to you! May there be śānti!”
• Rudra, Vishṇu and the other devatās praised: “Deva, Divaspati, by this act of lekhana may your tejas increase!”
• Indra praised him as he was being carved: “O Jagatpati, victory to you! You are the giver of tattva.”
• The Saptarshis, with Viśvāmitra at their head, said “Deva, svasti to you!” and pleased him with various stotras.
• The Vālakhilyas blessed him with Vedic mantras and praised him: “O Lokanātha, for those who attain mukti, you are mukti. For those who meditate, you are the one to be meditated on. You are the goal of all beings. All is established in you. Jagatpati, may all our people have happiness. All this world comes forth from you and dissolves in you. You alone became two and became many. Without doubt, this world was created by you alone and is awakened by you.”
• The hosts of vidyādharas, yakshas, rākshasas and pannagas bowed with joined palms and said: “O Bhūtabhāvana, may your tejas become bearable to all beings.”

The gandharvas Hāhā and Hūhū, Tumburu and Nārada, skilled in song, praised Bhagavān Sūrya and sang in a high voice. They took the svaras Shaḍja, Gāndhāra and Madhyama, moved the rāga with mūrchanās through the seats of Dhaivata and Pañcama, and in the mandra, madhya and tāra sthāyīs sang with gamakas, rāga, tāla and instruments. Viśvācī, Ghṛtācī, Urvaśī, Tilottamā, Menakā and Rambhā, the best of the apsarās, danced with hāva, bhāva and vilāsa in many forms of nāṭya.

A sweet song without clear words welled up, a feast to the ears. Vīṇās, veṇus, uḍukas, maddelas, mṛdaṅgas, tappeṭas, deva-dundubhis and śaṅkhas sounded in hundreds and thousands, and the four kinds of instrument, tata, ānaddha, sushira and ghana, filled the place with tumult. All the devatās folded their hands like half-open lotus buds, placed them on their foreheads and bowed to Bhagavān Sūrya. In that tumult Viśvakarmā, little by little, gave polish to the tejas of Sūrya.

Bhānudeva is the cause of snow, of water, of dharma and of time, and is praised by Brahmā, Vishṇu and Maheśvara. The one who hears this account of the paring of his tejas goes, after his lifespan ends, to Sūryaloka.

Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, Chapter 121

Per Brahma Parva, Chapter 79

Nārada tells Sāmba that Viśvakarman, permitted by Bhagavān Sūrya, carved his tejas in Śākadvīpa with the help of a turning yantra. When he had carved very skilfully as far as the knees, Bhagavān Sūrya stopped him before the lekhana was complete, and his form shone with supreme tejas.

Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, Chapter 79

Sources

• Bhavishya Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, Chapters 79, 121, 123