Aruṇa

Aruṇa is the elder son of Kaśyapa and Vinatā. His mother broke open his egg before the time had come, so he was born with his upper body complete and shining, but his lower body was not formed. He is the charioteer of Bhagavān Sūrya, the Sun. He is also the dawn, the red-gold glow that comes before the Sun.

Birth

Vinatā was the wife of Kaśyapa Prajāpati. Kaśyapa gave her a vara (a boon) of two sons, mightier and more glorious than the thousand serpents of her co-wife Kadrū. Vinatā received two eggs. She was told to wait patiently until they were ready.

Kadrū’s eggs hatched, and the thousand serpents were born. Vinatā’s eggs did not hatch yet. She grew impatient and cracked open her first egg before the appointed time.

The child inside was not ready. Aruṇa came out with his upper half complete and blazing with light, a light that showed great power. His lower half was not formed. He was half a being, born of an impatient mother before his time.

The curse on Vinatā

In his first moments, Aruṇa understood what had happened. He looked at his mother and spoke his anger plainly:

“You broke the egg before my time was complete. Because of your impatience and greed, I am born thus. You shall serve Kadrū as her slave for five hundred years. But my younger brother, when he is born, will free you.”

Then Aruṇa went up into the sky. His śāpa (curse) had a limit of five hundred years. It also carried a promise that a younger brother would come and free her.

Aruṇa as the charioteer of Sūrya

The Sauparṇopākhyāna tells how Aruṇa became the charioteer of Sūrya. When Aruṇa rose into the sky in his half-formed state, the devas were alarmed. His blazing upper half was so strong that they feared he would burn the three worlds even in this incomplete state. They took the matter to Kaśyapa and then to Brahmā.

Brahmā settled it. Aruṇa’s incomplete form, with half the brilliance he would have had if born whole, was exactly what was needed. If Sūrya’s full radiance reached the world with nothing in between, it would burn up all living beings. Aruṇa sits in front of Sūrya as his charioteer. His shining upper body takes in and softens Sūrya’s direct rays. So the light and warmth of the Sun reach the world as a gift of life and do not destroy.

The dawn

Aruṇa is the dawn. Every morning, before the Sun rises above the horizon, the sky glows red and gold. That glow is the body of Aruṇa going before the chariot of Sūrya. The word aruṇa means “the reddish one” or “the one with the colour of dawn”. He is the first light of every day. His half-form makes life possible, because he stands between the full power of the Sun and the world below.

He is also called Anūru, “the one without thighs”, because he was born without his lower body.

Brother of Garuḍa

Aruṇa is the elder brother of Garuḍa. Garuḍa was born from the second of Vinatā’s two eggs. He was born whole and in the fullness of his power.

Garuḍa kept Aruṇa’s promise. He brought amṛta (the nectar of immortality) from svarga and gave it to the nāgas. In this way he won the freedom of his mother Vinatā from the slavery of Kadrū, exactly as Aruṇa had said.

Sources

• Mahābhārata, Ādi Parva, Āstīka Parva, Sauparṇopākhyāna, Chapters 14–17