Saṃjñā

Saṃjñā is the daughter of Viśvakarma, the master architect of the devas. She is the principal wife of Sūrya, who is also called Mārtāṇḍa and Vivasvān. She could not bear the great tejas (radiance) of Sūrya. She made a shadow-double named Chāyā to take her place, and she went away to practise tapas (austerity) in the form of a mare.

Saṃjñā is the mother of Yama, Yamunā, Vaivasvata Manu and the twin Aśvins, Nāsatya and Daśra.

Identity and marriage

Saṃjñā was born as the daughter of Viśvakarma, who fashions the dwellings and weapons of the devas. She was given in marriage to Sūrya, the deva of the sun, whose tejas fills the three worlds. The marriage was of the highest kind. Yet Saṃjñā could not endure the strength of her husband’s radiance. In his presence she would close her eyes, because she could not look straight at his brilliance.

The Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa tells this in Chapters 74–75.

The birth of Yama and Yamunā

Sūrya saw that Saṃjñā always closed her eyes before him. He pronounced a śāpa (a curse) on her: she would bear a prajā-saṃyamana, a restrainer of beings. From this śāpa Yama was born. Yama is the dharmarāja, who gives out the fruits of karma in the world of the dead.

On another day Saṃjñā became restless and fidgety before him. Sūrya pronounced a second śāpa: she would bear a restless daughter. From this second śāpa Yamunā was born. She is the sacred river and a devī. Both Yama and Yamunā were born through their mother’s suffering before the radiance of Sūrya.

The words of Sūrya in Chapters 102–103

The Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa gives more detail in Chapters 102–103, the Mārtāṇḍa Māhātmya. It says again that Saṃjñā was the daughter of Viśvakarma. Saṃjñā once closed her eyes slightly before Sūrya, because she could not bear his full radiance. Sūrya was displeased and said: “You have restrained (saṃyamita) all beings, so a restrainer of all beings shall be born of you.” From this Yama was born. He is the ruler of the dead, the protector of dharma and the great restrainer.

In a second event, Saṃjñā’s attention wandered. Sūrya said: “A restless-minded daughter shall be born of you.” From this came Yamunā, the sacred river-devī.

The shadow-double Chāyā

Saṃjñā still could not endure the tejas of Sūrya, even after Yama and Yamunā were born. She decided on a hard course. She made from her own body a shadow-double with the same form, and she named her Chāyā, which means “shadow”. Saṃjñā told Chāyā to serve Sūrya faithfully as his wife and to care for Yama and Yamunā. Above all, Chāyā was never to reveal the exchange unless she was forced to. Then Saṃjñā left.

Chāyā served loyally and in time bore her own children to Sūrya. But the secret could not stay hidden for ever. Chāyā showed a small difference in warmth between her own children and Yama, the child of Saṃjñā. This was one of the signs that raised suspicion. In the end the truth was made known to Sūrya.

The Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa, in Chapters 102–103, says that Chāyā herself told the secret under Sūrya’s śāpa, when he seized her by the hair.

Flight and tapas

After she had put Chāyā in her place, Saṃjñā went first to the house of her father Viśvakarma. She then left his house and travelled to Uttara Kuru, the northern land. There she took the form of a mare and performed deep tapas in the forests, living in austerity and out of sight.

Chapters 102–103 say that Saṃjñā asked her father to hide her. Viśvakarma gently told her that he could not deceive Sūrya. He advised her to take the form of a mare and perform tapas in Uttara Kuru, where no one who belonged to Sūrya would think of searching. Saṃjñā agreed and went.

Reunion and the birth of the Aśvins

Sūrya learned the truth and understood the cause: his own radiance was more than his wife could bear. He went to Viśvakarma. Viśvakarma placed Sūrya on a divine lathe and carefully reduced his tejas by shaving away the excess.

The shavings were not wasted. From them Viśvakarma made the triśūla (trident) of Bhagavān Śiva, the Sudarśana Cakra of Bhagavān Viṣṇu, the vimāna (flying chariot) of Kubera, and other divine weapons and tools.

Sūrya now had a tejas that his wife could bear. He went to Uttara Kuru and took the form of a horse. He found Saṃjñā there as a mare. Their nostrils touched, as horses greet each other. From the mouth of the mare the twin Aśvins, Nāsatya and Daśra, were born. Sūrya and Saṃjñā were together again. The craft of her father had removed the cause of their parting.

Chapters 102–103 say that the meeting of Sūrya and Saṃjñā in Uttara Kuru was arranged through Viśvakarma, together with the reduction of Sūrya’s tejas.

Children of Saṃjñā

Saṃjñā is the mother of:

• Yama, born through the first śāpa of Sūrya, the dharmarāja.
• Yamunā, born through the second śāpa, the sacred river.
• Vaivasvata Manu, the seventh and present Manu, father of the present human race.
• Nāsatya and Daśra, the twin Aśvins, born in Uttara Kuru from the mouth of the mare at the reunion.

Saṃjñā at Dharmāraṇya and the Bakula-Arka

The Dharmāraṇya Khaṇḍa gives a separate account of the tapas of Saṃjñā and the birth of the Aśvins, and it places these events at Dharmāraṇya itself. Saṃjñā left the house of her father Viśvakarma and went to Uttara Kuru to perform tapas in the form of a mare. Sūrya learned through meditation where she was. When he set out to find her, he came to Dharmāraṇya. Under a bakula tree there Saṃjñā had been performing tapas to calm the fierce tejas of Sūrya.

Sūrya arrived at the tapovana (the holy forest where Saṃjñā practised austerities). Saṃjñā took her mare form (baḍabā rūpa) and Sūrya himself took the form of a horse. Their union took place in this holy forest. From it the twin Aśvins, Nāsatya and Daśra, the divine physicians, were born at Dharmāraṇya.

At the moment of birth, water sprang from the earth at the left hoof of the mare, who was Saṃjñā. A sacred kuṇḍa (pool) formed there. It is the Ravi-kuṇḍa, also called the Tapta-kuṇḍa. It is declared equal to the Gaṅgā in holiness. Those who bathe in it are freed from all pāpa (sin) and from all diseases, including leprosy. Whoever bathes on saptamī (the seventh lunar day), on Āditya-vāra (Sunday), or on the day of a solar or lunar eclipse never enters a womb again.

After the reunion, Brahmā and the assembled devas came to Dharmāraṇya. They set up Sūrya there for ever as Bakula-Arka, Sūrya of the bakula tree. Saṃjñā was also set up at this place, together with the Aśvins. The chapter is called the Bakula-Arka Māhātmya in the Dharmāraṇya Khaṇḍa.

Sources

• Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa, Chapters 74–75
• Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa, Chapters 102–103 (Mārtāṇḍa Māhātmya)
• Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Brahma Khaṇḍa, Dharmāraṇya Khaṇḍa, Pūrvārdha, Chapter 13 (Bakula-Arka Māhātmya)