Rāhu

Rāhu is the eldest and strongest of the fourteen Saimhikeyas. They are the sons of Vipracitti, the chief of the Dānavas, and Siṃhikā, a daughter of Hiraṇyakaśipu. Rāhu is the graha (planet) whose swallowing of Sūrya (the sun) and Candra (the moon) causes eclipses.

He is counted among the most unbeatable beings in the three worlds. He gained deathlessness by a bold trick. At the churning of the ocean, he took the form of a deva and drank amṛta (the drink of deathlessness) until Candra and Sūrya showed who he was. Bhagavān Vishṇu’s Sudarśana cakra cut off his head. But the amṛta had already reached his throat, so the head could not die. Since then his severed head hates Candra and Sūrya, and it seizes them from time to time.

Birth and parentage

Rāhu was born to Vipracitti Dānava and Siṃhikā. Vipracitti was a son of Danu and chief of the hundred Dānavas. Siṃhikā was the daughter of Hiraṇyakaśipu.

So Rāhu came from two asura lines. On his father’s side he comes from Danu, who was a daughter of Daksha Prajāpati. On his mother’s side he comes from Hiraṇyakaśipu, who was a son of Diti.

The Vāyu Mahā Purāṇa (Uttarārdha, Chapter 7) lists the fourteen Saimhikeyas with Rāhu at the head. The others are Śatagāla, Bala, Nyāsa, Śāmbu, Anuloma, Śuci, Vātāpi, Sītāṃśuka, Hara, Kalpa, Kālanābha, Bhauma and Naraka.

The eclipse

Rāhu swallows Sūrya and Candra. This swallowing from time to time makes the solar and lunar eclipses. The Vāyu Purāṇa names him as the graha who causes these events.

The Saimhikeyas

The Vāyu Purāṇa tells of the fourteen named Saimhikeyas, born from Siṃhikā and Vipracitti. They are fierce, and the devas cannot overcome them. Through their children they grew into many more. A further host of ten thousand Saimhikeyas is also counted. The Vāyu Purāṇa calls them bhayaṃkara-bāndhavāḥ (having terrible kinsmen), cruel, and enemies of Brahmā. The ten thousand in his larger clan are among the fiercest of all asura hosts.

The churning of the ocean: how Rāhu became deathless

The Matsya Mahā Purāṇa (Chapter 250) tells how Rāhu gained deathlessness by deceit. It calls him Saiṃhikeya, the son of Siṃhikā, in this account.

At the churning of the Kshīrasāgara (the ocean of milk), Rāhu stood in a leading place among the dānavas. They held the head end of Śesha, the churning rope. That was the dangerous side, from which poison came out. Bali himself held Śesha’s many-hooded head.

When the amṛta at last arose and the devas began to drink it, Rāhu saw his chance. He quietly took the form of a deva and stood among the devas. He drank the amṛta, and it reached his throat. If it had gone further down, his deathlessness would have been complete and nothing could have ended it.

Candra and Sūrya saw the trick. They told Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa at once. In that same moment Bhagavān Vishṇu raised the Sudarśana cakra. It blazed like the sun, it never missed, and its tejas (radiance) had no limit. He cut off Rāhu’s head. The great crowned head fell to earth with a sound like a mountain peak crashing down, and everything shook.

The body below the throat died. But the head had taken in the amṛta up to the neck, and it became deathless. It cannot be finally destroyed.

The lasting hatred of Candra and Sūrya

From that moment Rāhu’s severed head hates Candra and Sūrya, who showed him up and caused his beheading. This hatred is lasting and as wide as the cosmos. Even now Rāhu seizes Candra and Sūrya from time to time, and that makes an eclipse (grahaṇa). The Matsya Purāṇa says the eclipse is Rāhu’s revenge. He draws them into his deathless mouth and lets them go only when his moment of satisfaction has passed.

Sources

• Vāyu Mahā Purāṇa, Uttarārdha, Chapter 7
• Matsya Mahā Purāṇa, Chapters 248–251 (the account of the churning is in Chapter 250)