The Arrows and the Sun

Once Jamadagni was amusing himself with his bow, fitting arrow after arrow and shooting them far away, and Reṇukā went and brought them back to him, again and again, and he shot them again, delighting in the sound of the bowstring. Then, when the sun had climbed to midday in the month of Jyeṣṭha, he shot his arrows and said to Reṇukā: Go, bring back these arrows I have shot, so that I can shoot them again.

She went, and on the way, her head and feet burning, she stopped for a moment in the shade of a tree. Then, afraid of her husband's curse, she went on, gathered the arrows and came back, sweating, her feet in pain, trembling with fear of him. Why have you been so long, Reṇukā? he asked her angrily, again and again. My head was burning, she said, and my feet too. The heat of the sun held me back, and I rested in the shade of a tree. That is why I was long. Do not be angry with me.

Today, said Jamadagni, with my arrows and the fire of my weapons I will bring down this Sun with his blazing rays, who has caused you such pain. He stretched his divine bow and took many arrows, and stood facing the Sun wherever it moved.

Then the Sun came to him in the form of a brahmin and said: What harm has the Sun done you? With his rays the Sun draws up moisture from all sides, and in the rains he pours it down, and from it grows food, which makes men happy; for the Veda says that food is life. From food come all the rites of birth and the sacred thread, marriage and sacrifice and gifts. You know all this. I beg you, seer, why bring down the Sun?

But Jamadagni was not calmed. The Sun, folding his hands, said gently: The Sun is always moving. How will you hit a mark that always moves? Whether you stand still or move, said Jamadagni, I know you with the eye of knowledge, and today I must surely teach you a lesson. In the afternoon you stand still for half the blink of an eye, and there I will strike you. Without doubt you will strike me, said the Sun; but know that I, who wronged you, have come to you for refuge.

Then Jamadagni laughed and said: Do not be afraid, Sun, for you have bowed before me. Whoever kills one who has come for refuge is as guilty as the killer of a brahmin. But think of a remedy for the wrong you have done, so that the road may be easy for those who walk in your heat. And the Sun gave him at once an umbrella and a pair of sandals. Here is an umbrella to shelter the head from my rays, he said, and leather sandals to protect the feet. From this day they will be given in the world, and the gift of them will bring merit that never runs out.