SB 12.11.28 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

श्रीशौनक उवाच शुको यदाह भगवान् विष्णुराताय श‍ृण्वते । सौरो गणो मासि मासि नाना वसति सप्तक: ॥ २७ ॥ तेषां नामानि कर्माणि नियुक्तानामधीश्वरै: । ब्रूहि न: श्रद्दधानानां व्यूहं सूर्यात्मनो हरे: ॥ २८ ॥

Verse text

śrī-śaunaka uvāca śuko yad āha bhagavān viṣṇu-rātāya śṛṇvate sauro gaṇo māsi māsi nānā vasati saptakaḥ teṣāṁ nāmāni karmāṇi niyuktānām adhīśvaraiḥ brūhi naḥ śraddadhānānāṁ vyūhaṁ sūryātmano hareḥ

Synonyms

śrī — śaunakaḥ uvāca — Śrī Śaunaka said ; śukaḥ — Śukadeva Gosvāmī ; yat — which ; āha — described ; bhagavān — the great sage ; viṣṇu — rātāya — to King Parīkṣit ; śṛṇvate — who was listening ; sauraḥ — of the sun-god ; gaṇaḥ — the associates ; māsi māsi — in each month ; nānā — various ; vasati — who reside ; saptakaḥ — the group of seven ; teṣām — of them ; nāmāni — the names ; karmāṇi — the activities ; niyuktānām — who are engaged ; adhīśvaraiḥ — by the various features of the sun-god, who are their controllers ; brūhi — please speak ; naḥ — to us ; śraddadhānānām — who are faithful ; vyūham — the personal expansions ; sūrya — ātmanaḥ — in His personal expansion as the sun-god ; hareḥ — of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Hari .

Translation

Śrī Śaunaka said: Please describe to us, who have great faith in your words, the different sets of seven personal features and associates the sun-god exhibits during each month, along with their names and activities. The associates of the sun-god, who serve their lord, are personal expansions of the Supreme Personality of Godhead Hari in His feature as the presiding deity of the sun.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Śaunaka said: O Sūta! Śukadeva explained to Parīkṣit about the seven associations of the sun god in the different months. Please describe to us, who have great faith in your words, the different sets of seven personal features and associates that the sun-god exhibits during each month, along with their names and activities. The associates of the sun-god, who serve their lord, are expansions of the sun, who is a form of the Supreme Lord, and are engaged by the Lord in their service. You have explained to us the conversation of Śukadeva and Parīkṣit constituting the Bhāgavatam, and after that, the story of Mārkaṇdeya our ancestor, and in answer to our request, a description of his method of worship. There is an example given of the sun, comparing it to Kṛṣṇa, the subject of the Bhāgavatam: kṛṣṇe sva-dhāmopagate dharma-jṣānādibhiḥ saha kalau naṣṭa-dṛśām eṣa purāṇārko 'dhunoditaḥ This Bhāgavata Purāṇa is as brilliant as the sun, and it has arisen just after the departure of Lord Kṛṣṇa to His own abode, accompanied by religion, knowledge, etc. Persons who have lost their vision due to the dense darkness of ignorance in the age of Kali shall get light from this Purāṇa. SB 1.3.43 kṛṣṇa-dyumaṇi nimloce gīrṇeṣv ajagareṇa ha kiṁ nu naḥ kuśalaṁ brūyāṁ gata-śrīṣu gṛheṣv aham My dear Vidura, the sun of the world, Lord Kṛṣṇa, has set, and our house has now been swallowed by the great snake of time. What can I say to you about our welfare? SB 3.2.7 “Because the sun has been mentioned, I should now have Sūta explain about the sun, the king of all planets, with twelve forms, at the time of completion of the king of all Purāṇas, consisting of twelve volumes.” In this way, Śaunaka considered in his mind. In the Fifth Canto it was said concerning the sun: tathānye ca ṛṣayo gandharvāpsaraso nāgā grāmaṇyo yātudhānā devā ity ekaikaśo gaṇāḥ sapta caturdaśa māsi māsi bhagavantaṁ sūryam ātmānaṁ nānā-nāmānaṁ pṛthaṅ-nānā-nāmānaḥ pṛthak-karmabhir dvandvaśa upāsate. Similarly, other sages, Gandharvas, Apsarās, Nāgas, Yakṣas, Rākṣasas and devatās, in fourteen groups in some months and pairing up to make seven groups in other months, assume different names every month and continuously perform different ritualistic ceremonies to worship the Supreme Lord as Sūryadeva, who has many names. SB 5.21.18 Adhīśvaraiḥ means “engaged by the Supreme Lord.” “What is the use of asking about the sun?” Tell us about the expansions of the Lord whose form is the sun.

Purport

After hearing an account of the exalted conversation between Śukadeva Gosvāmī and Mahārāja Parīkṣit, Śaunaka now inquires about the sun as the expansion of the Supreme Lord. Although the sun is the king of all planets, Śrī Śaunaka is specifically interested in this effulgent globe as the expansion of Śrī Hari, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The personalities related with the sun are of seven categories. In the course of the sun’s orbit there are twelve months, and in each month a different sun-god and a different set of his six associates preside. In each of the twelve months beginning from Vaiśākha there are different names for the sun-god himself, the sage, the Yakṣa, the Gandharva, the Apsarā, the Rākṣasa and the Nāga, making a total of seven categories.