The Hidden Sun

Once the demon Svarbhānu, of the race of the asuras, pierced the Sun through with darkness. Then the worlds looked like a man bewildered, who does not know the ground on which he stands.

Indra, king of the gods, struck down the magic powers of Svarbhānu that were spread out below the sky. And Atri found the Sun, hidden by the darkness that kept him from his work.

The Sun himself cried out to the seer. He called Atri by the name of the god Mitra, the friend, and asked him and the god Varuṇa together to help him: Let not the one who wrongs me swallow me in his wrath and through fear, Atri, me who am yours. You are Mitra, whose gifts are true; you and King Varuṇa, both of you, help me here.

Then Atri the priest set the pressing stones to work, the stones that press the soma, the holy drink offered to the gods, and served the gods with praise, and waited on them with homage. He set the eye of the Sun in the sky, and drove away the magic of Svarbhānu. The Sun that Svarbhānu had pierced with darkness, the Atris, Atri and his family, found again. No others could.