SB 5.1.30 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

यावदवभासयति सुरगिरिमनुपरिक्रामन् भगवानादित्यो वसुधातलमर्धेनैव प्रतपत्यर्धेनावच्छादयति तदा हि भगवदुपासनोपचितातिपुरुषप्रभावस्तदनभिनन्दन् समजवेन रथेन ज्योतिर्मयेन रजनीमपि दिनं करिष्यामीति सप्तकृत्वस्तरणिमनुपर्यक्रामद् द्वितीय इव पतङ्ग: ॥ ३० ॥

Verse text

yāvad avabhāsayati sura-girim anuparikrāman bhagavān ādityo vasudhā-talam ardhenaiva pratapaty ardhenāvacchādayati tadā hi bhagavad-upāsanopacitāti-puruṣa-prabhāvas tad anabhinandan samajavena rathena jyotirmayena rajanīm api dinaṁ kariṣyāmīti sapta-kṛt vastaraṇim anuparyakrāmad dvitīya iva pataṅgaḥ.

Synonyms

yāvat — so long ; avabhāsayati — illuminates ; sura — girim — the Sumeru Hill ; anuparikrāman — by circumambulating ; bhagavān — the most powerful ; ādityaḥ — sun-god ; vasudhā — talam — the lower planetary system ; ardhena — by half ; eva — certainly ; pratapati — makes dazzling ; ardhena — by half ; avacchādayati — covers with darkness ; tadā — at that time ; hi — certainly ; bhagavat — upāsanā — by worshiping the Supreme Personality of Godhead ; upacita — by satisfying Him perfectly ; ati — puruṣa — superhuman ; prabhāvaḥ — influence ; tat — that ; anabhinandan — without appreciating ; samajavena — by equally powerful ; rathena — on a chariot ; jyotiḥ — mayena — dazzling ; rajanīm — night ; api — also ; dinam — day ; kariṣyāmi — I shall make it ; iti — thus ; sapta — kṛt — seven times ; vastaraṇim — exactly following the orbit of the sun ; anuparyakrāmat — circumambulated ; dvitīyaḥ — second ; iva — like ; pataṅgaḥ — sun .

Translation

While so excellently ruling the universe, King Priyavrata once became dissatisfied with the circumambulation of the most powerful sun-god. Encircling Sumeru Hill on his chariot, the sun-god illuminates all the surrounding planetary systems. However, when the sun is on the northern side of the hill, the south receives less light, and when the sun is in the south, the north receives less. King Priyavrata disliked this situation and therefore decided to make daylight in the part of the universe where there was night. He followed the orbit of the sun-god on a brilliant chariot and thus fulfilled his desire. He could perform such wonderful activities because of the power he had achieved by worshiping the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Priyavrata reigned while the sun, going around Meru, lit up half the surface of the earth while the other half was dark. Attaining super-human power by worship of the Lord, Priyavrata, discontent with this condition, thinking that he would make the night into day by his brilliant chariot which traveled at the speed of the sun, becoming like a second sun, followed the movement of the sun seven times. This verse describes his influence. Priyavrata reigned at the time when the sun would shine, lighting up half the earth up to Lokāloka mountain as daytime, as it rotates around Meru, while covering half the surface of the earth with darkness, which experienced night. By his worship of the Lord he surpassed all humans in influence. Discontent with half the earth’s surface being covered by darkness, he followed the movement of the sun (taruṇim), so that when the sun set, he would light up that area. He followed the sun, not to compete with the sun, but to give happiness to the inhabitants of earth. Because of this arrangement also, in months like Jyeṣṭhya (hot months) the sun made by Priyavrata was cooler than the moon, and in cool months like Mārgaśīrṣa (cold months), the sun made by Priyavrata was warmer than the other sun at dawn and dusk. [Note: This seems to indicate that though the days were longer in summer, it was not excessively hot, and though the days became shorter in winter, the days were not excessively cold. ] This means that by the power of yoga of sages like Saubhari, Priyavrata had two bodies, one as the King and one as the sun.

Purport

There is a Bengali saying which describes that someone is so powerful that he can make the night day and the day night. That saying is current because of the prowess of Priyavrata. His activities demonstrate how powerful he became by worshiping the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Lord Kṛṣṇa is known as Yogeśvara, the master of all mystic powers. In Bhagavad-gītā (18.78) it is said wherever there is the master of all mystic powers ( yatra yogeśvaraḥ kṛṣṇaḥ ), victory, fortune and all other opulences are present. Devotional service is so powerful. When a devotee achieves what he wants to accomplish, it is not by his own mystic power but by the grace of the master of mystic power, Lord Kṛṣṇa: by His grace, a devotee can accomplish wonderful things unimaginable even to the most powerful scientist. From the description in this verse, it appears that the sun moves. According to modern astronomers, the sun is fixed in one place, surrounded by the solar system, but here we find that the sun is not stationary: it is rotating in a prescribed orbit. This fact is corroborated by Brahma-saṁhitā (5.52) . Yasyājṣayā bhramati saṁbhṛta-kāla-cakraḥ: the sun is rotating in its fixed orbit in accordance with the order of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. According to Jyotir Veda, the science of astronomy in the Vedic literature, the sun moves for six months on the northern side of the Sumeru Hill and for six months on the southern side. We have practical experience on this planet that when there is summer in the north there is winter in the south and vice versa. Modern materialistic scientists sometimes present themselves as knowing all the ingredients of the sun, yet they are unable to offer a second sun like Mahārāja Priyavrata’s. Although Mahārāja Priyavrata devised a very powerful chariot as brilliant as the sun, he had no desire to compete with the sun-god, for a Vaiṣṇava never wants to supersede another Vaiṣṇava. His purpose was to give abundant benefits in material existence. Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura remarks that in the months of April and May the rays of Mahārāja Priyavrata’s brilliant sun were as pleasing as the rays of the moon, and in October and November, both morning and evening, that sun provided more warmth than the sunshine. In short, Mahārāja Priyavrata was extremely powerful, and his actions extended his power in all directions.