Śri Maha-gaṇapataye namah

We discussed that Hanuman completed his first day’s education by running along with the Sun. By the next morning he came up with another novel idea. Expanding his body into gigantic proportions, he placed one foot on the eastern mountains and the other foot on the western mountains while retaining his head inside Sun-god’s chariot. In this way, he completed the next six days of education.

Within a span of seven days, Hanuman learnt everything that the Sun-god could teach. He had mastered all forms of knowledge known to the Sun-god. There was nothing more left to be learnt by Hanuman. The great sages who observed His supreme achievement applauded Him profusely.

Ānjaneya then took the oath of celibacy and then took up severe penance for an extensively long period of time.

In the meantime, Sun-god was troubled by some domestic problems. These are not problems faced by the Sun that is visible to us but by the Sun-god, who is the Lord of the Sun planet. The Sun-god, who is the son of Mother Aditi and Kashyapa, has the duty of endlessly rotating around the Mountain Meru and thereby regulating time.

Saṃnjya-devi, the daughter of the celestial architect Vishwakarma, was the first wife of Sun-god. This holy couple was blessed with a son named Shrāddha-deva who later on became the Vaivasvata Manu.

As time passed by, Samnjya-devi found it hard to tolerate the Sun’s brightness and hence often during the day she would close her eyes. Angered with his wife who frequently closed her eyes, one day the Sun-god cursed her, ‘Since you close your eyes very often, may you get a son who will close the eyes of the living beings in the world’. As a result of this curse, Yama, the Lord of death, was born to her.

Subsequent to this curse, Samnjya devi tried her best to keep her eyes open all the times, however, her mind began to waver uncontrollably. Angered again, the Sun-god cursed her, ‘May you get a daughter who runs eternally without stopping’. They had a daughter named Yamuna who became a river.

Saṃjnya-devi, who was wearied with this husband and who found it hard to live with him, created from her shadow a look-like who perfectly resembled her in every way. Retaining Chaya (her look-alike) in her place, she returned to her parents’ home.

She must have thought, ‘Who will live with this man who curses at the drop of a hat? When I closed my eyes he cursed me. When I kept them open all the time he again cursed me. I cannot handle him’. Having thought thus, she returned to her parents’ home.

Father Vishwakarma was surprised that his daughter, who had come on a visit, did not seek to return back to her own home. Days passed into months and years- yet Saṃjnya continued to reside in her parents’ home. He now began to advice his daughter of the importance of living at her husband’s place. Saṃjnya-devi then laid bare all the facts and undauntedly she declared that she would never return to her husband. In various ways Vishwakarma continued to explain and cajole her to return to her home.

Exasperated with this constant advice being given by her father, Saṃjnya-devi decided to leave her father’s home. On the pretext of returning to her husband’s home, she left her father’s place but then, assuming the form of a mare she undertook penance in the deep forests.

Jaya Guru Datta