Svarbhānu or Swarbhanu (literally "Splendour of Radiance")[1] is a Hindu Asura (demon) traditionally held responsible for solar eclipses in Vedic mythology. The name is also used as an attribute of the demon Rahu in Puranic mythology,[1] who is also connected to solar eclipses.
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Svarbhānu is described as an asura twice in the Family Books of the Rig Veda.[2] Svarbhānu is described to strike the Sun with darkness, overshadowing the sun with darkness.[3] Stella Kramrisch considers this act as Svarbhānu as a deity greater than the sun.[1] The Rig veda further narrates after this, the king of heaven - Indra struck down Svarbhānu and sage Atri found the hidden sun and replaced it in the sky.[2][4] Svarbhanu again appears in the black Yajurveda and the Brahmanas.[2] According to the Brahmanas, Svarbhānu with darkness pierced Āditya (the Sun), whom, however, the gods set free by means of svara (accents).[5]
An assistant of Shukra, the teacher of the asuras and god of the planet Venus, was Svarbhānu, who quaffed the amrita proffered by Mohini, thereby achieving immortality as two beings : his head as Rahu, his body's trunk as Ketu.[6][7]
According to the Mahabharata, Svarbhānu is described to incarnate as Ugrasena, though here, Svarbhānu denotes Rahu. The Sun god Surya is also described by the attribute the "enemy of Svarbhānu".[8][9] Svarbhānu is described to strike both the sun and moon with arrows, the celestial bodies are revived by Atri as in the Rigveda.[4]
According to the text Hari-vaṃśa,[10] Svarbhānu ushered Kalanemi through the galaxy. In a Purana, Svarbhānu is described as son of the goddess Siṃhikā ('Little Lioness').[11]
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