Lord Surya Mantras

Sanjna, daughter of the divine architect Vishwakarma, was given in marriage to Surya, the Sun God. But so blazing was her husband's radiance that Sanjna could not bear to look upon him or endure his heat. Unable to stand it, she fashioned from her own shadow an exact likeness of herself, named Chhaya, and bade her take her place; then Sanjna withdrew to the forest to perform penance in the form of a mare.

In time Surya discovered that Chhaya was not his true wife and went in search of Sanjna. Learning the cause of her flight, he went to her father Vishwakarma, who set the Sun upon his lathe and pared away a portion of his blinding brilliance so that his light became bearable. From the dazzling fragments that were trimmed away, the gods fashioned the discus of Vishnu, the trident of Shiva and the weapons of the gods.

His radiance softened, Surya was lovingly reunited with Sanjna. The Sun is the visible deity (pratyaksha devata), the giver of light, life and health — worshipped each dawn with an arghya of water and the Gayatri, and honoured above all at Chhath and Makar Sankranti.