Svarbhānu (Father of Prabhā)
Svarbhānu · svar-bhānu, “the light of svarga”
Prabhā has other meanings too: see all meanings of Prabhā.
Svarbhānu is a dānava of the line of Kaśyapa Prajāpati, the father of Prabhā. Prabhā became the wife of Āyu and bore him five sons, among them Nahusha and Raji, so Svarbhānu stands as the maternal grandfather of the great kings of the line of Soma. In the account of the lunar line the Telugu rendering of the Brahma Purāṇa glosses his name as Rāhu.
Among the dānavas
Lomaharshaṇa tells the munis the lines born of Kaśyapa. From Kaśyapa, Diti bore Hiraṇyakaśipu and Hiraṇyāksha. From Dhṛtarāshṭra to Vipracitti, many dānavas were born to Kaśyapa Prajāpati; Vipracitti is the chief of these dānavas, and their sons and grandsons cannot be counted. Among them, Prabhā is the daughter of Svarbhānu.
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Chapter 3
The grandsons of Svarbhānu
In the line of Soma, Āyu‘s five sons, great chariot-warriors famous in the three worlds, were born of Prabhā, the daughter of Svarbhānu: Nahusha, Vṛddhaśarmā, Rambha, Raji and Anenas.
When the war of the devas and the asuras arose, Brahmā declared that whichever side Raji fought for would conquer the three worlds. Then the devas and the dānavas each begged Raji, “the daughter’s son of Svarbhānu, born of Prabhā, supremely radiant, increaser of the Soma-vaṃśa”, to take up the bow for their victory.
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Chapter 11
Sources
- Brahma Purāṇa, Chapters 3, 11