Revanta
Revanta · rev-anta, “the one who goes by leaps”
Revanta is the son of Bhagavān Sūrya and Saṃjñā Devī, of tejas (radiance) equal to Sūrya‘s, and his father appointed him master of horses. The Brahma Parva of the Bhavishya Purāṇa tells that he was born when Sūrya, in the form of a horse, came to Saṃjñā in the form of a mare, and that he fled as soon as he was born. Sūrya’s attendants Daṇḍanāyaka and Piṅgala searched for a flaw in him and to this day have found none. He gave peace to Saṃjñā, and he gives ease to humans: one on the road who worships him reaches his destination safely.
He is also called Revata and Raivata. He stands with Dindi on the east of Sūrya, and he is given his offerings in the pūjā of Sūrya.
His birth
In the account of the children of Sūrya, which Nārada tells Sāmba, Sūrya Deva by yoga-sight saw his wife in the form of a mare, wandering in the forests. Covered by his tejas, unseen by any being, he came near to her in the form of a horse. From that meeting were born the Aśvinī Kumāras, Nāsatya and Dasra. Then Bhāskara showed his true form, and Saṃjñā rejoiced to see him. She bore him a son named Revanta, of tejas equal to Sūrya’s.
Chapter 47 tells that he was born from the last part of the retas (seed) of Bhagavān Sūrya, after the Aśvinī Kumāras.
Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, Chapters 47, 79
The horse who fled
Revanta, the eighth horse, fit to be under his father’s authority, fled as soon as he was born. Sūrya ordered his side-attendants Daṇḍanāyaka and Piṅgala to bring him without using force and without doing him any harm, young as he was. The two, standing at Sūrya’s two sides, wished to find some weakness or fault in the horse, and to this day they have found no such flaw in him.
Revanta, going in leaps, gave peace to Saṃjñā Devī. By the dhātu (verbal root) that means going by leaps, he is called Revanta.
Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, Chapter 79
Master of horses
Of form equal to Sūrya, he was appointed aśvādhipati, master of horses, by his father, Bhagavān Sūrya. One travelling on a road who worships Revanta reaches his destination safely. He always gives ease to humans.
The Purāṇa names him among the children of Sūrya: Manu, Yama, Yamī, Sāvarṇi, Śanaiścara, Tapatī, the Aśvins and Revanta.
Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, Chapter 79
With Bhagavān Sūrya
Raivata and Dindi stand on the east of Sūryadeva. Revata is the son of Sūrya. Bowed to by all the worlds, he goes flying at an even speed, and from the dhātu of leaping or flying motion his name is Revata. In the recounting of those who attend Sūrya he is named with Dindi, after the two Aśvins, Daṇḍanāyaka and Piṅgala, the doorkeepers of Sūryaloka, and Rājña and Sausha.
In the offerings to the attendants of Sūrya, Revata receives consecrated māṃsānna in the first list, and tree gum in the second. In the mandira of Sūrya, Vināyaka is set north of Kubera, fittingly together with Revata.
Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, Chapters 57, 124, 130
Sources
- Bhavishya Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, Chapters 47, 57, 79, 124, 130