SB 5.21.9 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

तत्रत्यानां दिवसमध्यङ्गत एव सदाऽऽदित्यस्तपति सव्येनाचलं दक्षिणेन करोति ॥ ८ ॥ यत्रोदेति तस्य ह समानसूत्रनिपाते निम्‍लोचति यत्र क्‍वचन स्यन्देनाभितपति तस्य हैष समानसूत्रनिपाते प्रस्वापयति तत्र गतं न पश्यन्ति ये तं समनुपश्येरन् ॥ ९ ॥

Verse text

tatratyānāṁ divasa-madhyaṅgata eva sadādityas tapati savyenācalaṁ dakṣiṇena karoti; yatrodeti tasya ha samāna-sūtra-nipāte nimlocati yatra kvacana syandenābhitapati tasya haiṣa samāna-sūtra-nipāte prasvāpayati tatra gataṁ na paśyanti ye taṁ samanupaśyeran.

Synonyms

tatratyānām — for the living entities residing on Mount Meru ; divasa — madhyaṅgataḥ — being positioned as at midday ; eva — indeed ; sadā — always ; ādityaḥ — the sun ; tapati — heats ; savyena — to the left side ; acalam — Sumeru Mountain ; dakṣiṇena — to the right (being forced by wind blowing to the right, the sun moves to the right) ; karoti — moves ; yatra — the point where ; udeti — it rises ; tasya — of that position ; ha — certainly ; samāna — sūtra — nipāte — at the diametrically opposite point ; nimlocati — the sun sets ; yatra — where ; kvacana — somewhere ; syandena — with perspiration ; abhitapati — heats (at midday) ; tasya — of that ; ha — certainly ; eṣaḥ — this (the sun) ; samāna — sūtra — nipāte — at the diametrically opposite point ; prasvāpayati — the sun causes to sleep (as at midnight) ; tatra — there ; gatam — gone ; na paśyanti — do not see ; ye — who ; tam — the sunset ; samanupaśyeran — seeing .

Translation

The living entities residing on Sumeru Mountain are always very warm, as at midday, because for them the sun is always overhead. Although the sun moves counterclockwise, facing the constellations, with Sumeru Mountain on its left, it also moves clockwise and appears to have the mountain on its right because it is influenced by the dakṣiṇāvarta wind. People living in countries at points diametrically opposite to where the sun is first seen rising will see the sun setting, and if a straight line were drawn from a point where the sun is at midday, the people in countries at the opposite end of the line would be experiencing midnight. Similarly, if people residing where the sun is setting were to go to countries diametrically opposite, they would not see the sun in the same condition.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

For the people on Meru, the sun give heat at all times, being situated at midday. The sun keeps Meru to the left and to the right. When it rises in one city, it sets at the city diametrically opposite. When it shines with perspiration at noon, it is midnight at the city diametrically opposite. Those who see the sun set and rise do not see where it has gone in the interim. Tatrāyānām means “those situated on Meru.” Though the sun keeps Meru on its left (savyena) with relation to the moving constellations, [Note: Though the sun moves from east to west in the sky from our point of view, in relation to the zodiac and other stars, the sun appears to move from Aries to Taurus, to other signs in the opposite direction. Thus the sun can be said to moving counterclockwise as well as clockwise. ] being turned by the parvartaka- pravaha wind, it keeps the sun to the right on a daily basis, under the control of the zodiac belt. The sunrise means seeing from far off apparently in contact with the earth, because of the sun’s rotational movement. Seeing the sun apparently in the middle of the sky is noon. Sunset is not seeing the sun, because it apparently enters the earth. Midnight is the sun in a very far position from the observer. Thus the following śruti statement when one is standing on the ocean shore is conventional, not actual. Adbhyā vā eṣa prātar udety apaḥ sāyaṁ praviśati: the sun rises from the ocean in the morning, and enters it in the evening. The arrangements for rising, setting, midday and midnight according to the different varṣas are next described. Viṣṇu Purāṇa says yair yatra dṛśyate bhāsvān sa teṣām udayaḥ smṛtaḥ: wherever the sun is seen by particular persons, they call that the sunrise. First sight of the sun is called sunrise. Nimlocati means “sets.” Where the sun rises, simultaneously it sets at a point exactly opposite. When, after a period of thirty ghaṭikās [Note: Normally ghaṭikās are 24 minutes each. 30 ghaṭikās would be 12 hours. Sometimes it can be taken as half that amount, or 12 minutes. Then 30 ghaṭikās would be 6 hours. ] after sunrise, the sun is in the middle of the sky, causing perspiration (syandena), at the opposite point it is midnight (prasvāpayati), after thirty ghaṭikās. Persons who see the sun set and then rise, do not see where the sun has gone. That is the meaning when it is said that they sleep. Amongst the four directions around Meru, wherever the sun is seen to rise, it is noon in the varṣa to the east, midnight to the varṣa in the west, and sunset in the varṣa to the north. And when it is noon, it is sunset in the eastern varṣa, sunrise in the western varṣa and midnight in the northern varṣa. When one sees sunset, it is noon in the western varṣa, midnight in the eastern varṣa and sunrise in the northern varṣa. All the people situated in all the varṣas consider themselves situated to the south of Meru and simply see sunrise, noon and sunset in their own varṣa, and know the events of the sun in other varṣas by the previously mentioned conception. In the Viṣṇu Purāṇa it is said: śakrādīnāṁ pure tiṣṭhan spṛśaty eṣa pura-trayam vikarṇau dvau vikarṇa-sthas trīn koṇān dve pure tathā Situated in one city, the sun touches three other cities and two intermediate places. Situated at an intercardinal city, the sun touches three intercardinal cities and two cardinal cities. Situated in any of the cardinal cities, the sun touches three cardinal directions and two intercardinal directions. Situated in the eastern varṣa at noon, there is sunrise in the southern varṣa, sunset in the northern varṣa. This is the meaning of touching three cardinal directions. And in the southeast varṣa it is the first yāma [Note: A yāma is about three hours, so the first yāma would be three hours after sunrise. The third yāma would in the afternoon. ] and in the northeast varṣa it is third yāma of the day. This is the meaning of touching two intercardinal points (dva vikarṇau). If the sun is situated in an intercardinal varṣa then one touches three intercardinal points and two cardinal points. If the sun is situated in the southeast varṣa at noon, it is sunrise in the southwest varṣa, sunset in the northeast varṣa. It is the first yāma in the southern varṣa and the third yāma in the southern varṣa. Thus two cardinal points are touched. The same follows for being situated at any other intercardinal or cardinal point.