When we think of light, our attention is immediately turned towards the sun, or "Surya" in Sanskrit. Surya has a unique identity in the Rgveda, and can not be confused with other deities, who have merged their identity in the sun of the post-vedic literature. As the Rgveda is a coded book, actual meaning of Surya is not sun in the Rgveda. Five complete hymns have been dedicated to Surya in the Rgveda (1.50, 1.115, 10.37, 10.158, 10.170). There are eighteen other mantras dedicated to Surya in hymns dedicated to other gods (Rgveda 1.164.46-47, 4.40.5, 5.40.5,7.60.1,7.62.1-3,7.63.1-5,7.66.14-16,8.101.11-12). Surya is time and again related to eyes in the Vedas.
"From his mind moon was born, from his eyes Surya was born. Rgveda 10.90.13
"Surya is the Lord of eyes." Atharvaveda 5.24.9
Even in the Brahmanas identification of Surya with eyes continues, however at some places Surya starts to be substituted by other deities who have merged their identity in Surya.
"Surya is situated in my eyes." Taittiriya Brahmana 3.10.8.7 "Which is your eye, that is Aditya." Satapatha Brahmana 10.3.3.7
The eyes are related to light, and that is exactly what the Vedas mean, when they talk about Surya. Considering that the Rgveda is a book of cosmology, it can not mean sun by Surya, because sun has no special place in the cosmos. Sun is one out of billions of stars in the universe, and the Rgveda in order to be consistent must deal with more fundamental properties of the universe. There are ample evidences to prove that Surya does not mean sun in the Rgveda. The Rgveda talks about several Suryas in verses 9.114.3 and 10.88.18, while there can be hardly any doubt that sun is only one.
Surya has been called "Urucaksa" in Rgveda 7.35.8 and "Duredrsa" in Rgveda 10.37.1, both meaning seeing very far. Surya is also called "Visvacaksa" meaning seeing all in Rgveda 1.50.2. These descriptions fit very well with the identification of Surya with light.
Rgveda 1.115 Sage: Kutsa Angirasa; Deity: Surya; Metre: Tristupa
1. Eye of Mitra, Varuna and Agni and front army of gods has risen. He has pervaded heaven, earth and atmosphere. Surya is the soul of moving and unmoving.
2. Surya follows radiant goddess Usa like a man follows a beautiful woman, where men desiring to become god stretch time by good deeds for welfare of people.
3. Auspicious green horses of Surya are wonderful, pleasing and always moving. Venerables spread on the surface of heaven and immediately go round earth and heaven.
4. That is the glory and godliness of Surya that he pulls away his rays in the middle of actions. When he pulls away his green horses from world, night spreads its cloth for him.
5. That Surya creates forms near heaven for observation of Mitra and Varuna. His green horses take two forms, one of infinite brightness and vigor, and other black.
6. O gods! Protect us from sins and blamable deeds when Surya is rising. Let Mitra, Varuna, Aditi, Sindhu, earth and heaven express approval for our statements.
In the first verse Surya is called the eye of Mitra, Varuna and Agni. In Rgveda 7.63.1 also Surya is called the eye of Mitra and Varuna. Similar views are expressed in verse five quoted above as well. Mitra and Varuna have been identified with electron and proton earlier. How do protons and electrons find out what is around them? They continuously send signals all around them. These signals are electromagnetic waves, and light is also electromagnetic wave. It is in this sense that Surya is considered the eye of Mitra and Varuna. When this scientific meaning was forgotten, Surya, Mitra and Varuna along with many other gods came to mean just sun. In verse five, horses of Surya are said to take two forms, bright and black. These two forms are that of particle and anti-particle. The Rgveda calls particle form bright and anti-particle form black or dark.
The field properties of light are described in the Rgveda by calling Surya as Sociskesa, having inflamed hair (1.50.8), or Kesina, having fine hair (1.164.44,10.136.1) or Harikesa, having green hair (10.37.9). Having inflamed hair signifies that field is
and his chariot is also driven by green horses. Both of these descriptions describe same phenomenon, which has nothing to do with either hair or horses. Number of horses driving the chariot of Surya is seven.
"Seven draw the chariot of Surya, one horse having seven names
draws the chariot." Rgveda 1.164.2
"Seven horses draw the chariot of Surya" Rgveda 5.45.9
These seven horses are the seven colors comprising light. These seven colors become visible in a rainbow or when light passes through a prism. Green color was chosen to represent light as green light falls in the middle of electromagnetic spectrum comprising seven colors of light.
In modern physics light is considered a wave as well as particle. Light particle is called photon. In the Vedas Gau particle seems to be related to the concept of photon. Cows of sun are mentioned in Rgveda 7.36.1. This would mean Gau particles of light. Photons have a very special property. They are considered massless, meaning they do not have any rest mass. The Yajurveda also has same opinion about Gau particle.
"What does not possess mass?" Yajurveda 23.47 "Cow does not possess mass." Yajurveda 23.48
Reader should note that these verses can not apply to an animal called cow. The information in the Vedas is coded, and only those who were familiar with the code could understand the meaning of the Vedas. The Vedic code was gradually forgotten over time, but some part of the code was remembered up to the first half of this millenium. A very surprising piece of evidence to this effect
has surfaced up recently. Professor Subhash Kak has discussed in a recent article the value of the speed of light as given by Sayana[1]. Sayana (1315-1387 A.D.) was the prime minister in the court of Emperors Bukka I and his succesors of the Vijayanagar empire. Sayana was a well known Vedic scholar. In his commentary on Rgveda 1.50.4, he says that sun (Surya) traverses 2,202 yojanas in half a nimesa. Yojana is an ancient
Indian unit of length, and nimesa is the unit of time. Upon conversion into modem units, this yields the value of 186,000 s miles per second for the speed of sun. Now, it is well known that speed of light is 186,000 miles per second. Thus Sayana was describing the speed of light, and not that of sun, following the Vedic tradition of coding the knowledge.
How did light originate? The Vedas provides various clues:
Gods took out Surya from ocean." Rgveda 10.72.7
Indra created Surya." Rgveda 2.12.7
Indra and Visnu created Surya." Rgveda 7.99.4 "Surya was created by Usa." Rgveda 7.78.3 "Sun was bom from Vrtra." Atharvaveda 4.10.5
These verses are saying that light originated due to expansion of the universe by electric force. The Rgveda is very clear that Surya resides in the light space, and not in the observer space or intermediate space.
"Surya is son of heaven." Rgveda 10.37.1
It is for this reason that I have given the scientific name of heaven as light space. Energy has three principal forms in three spaces, Surya in heaven, Vayu in atmosphere and Agni in earth. It is for this reason that Vayu and Agni are called brothers of Surya in Rgveda 1.164.1. Surya is also very intimately associated with goddess USA. Rgveda 1.115.2 says that Surya follows USA like a man follows a beautiful lady. We will take up the discussion of USA next to understand the meaning of this mantra.
"I 'saw' cascades of energy coming down from outer space, in which particles were created and destroyed in rhythmic pulses; I 'saw' the atoms of the elements and those of my body participating in this cosmic dance of energy; I felt its rhythm and I 'heard' its sound, and at that moment I knew that this was the Dance of Siva, the Lord of Dancers worshipped by Hindus."
- Fritjof Capra