From early Vedic times, the sun is also tied to humanity and death. Surya has two sons who frame the human condition

Illustration/Devdutt Pattanaik

This is an ancient tale first narrated in the Vedic corpus. The sun-god Surya is married to Saranya, who cannot bear his blazing presence. She flees in the form of a mare. Surya pursues her as a stallion, and from this union are born the Ashvin twins, divine horsemen who move swiftly across the worlds in chariots drawn by horses. They rescue those who fall into wells, oceans, and darkness, acting as healers and saviors at the threshold between life and death. Saranya eventually dissolves into the landscape itself, becoming the river Sarayu, turning flight into flow, fear into nourishment.

Surya’s children also become rivers. His daughter Yami, twin sister of Yama, transforms into the river Yamuna. Another daughter, Tapti, born of........

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