Chandra (god)
Chandra ( Sanskrit : चन्द्र Candra m. , Also Candramā m. ) Is the moon god in Hinduism and is one of the Navagraha , the nine planets in traditional Indian astronomy . In post-Vedic times he was equated with the deity Soma, who rules over the intoxicating sacrificial drink Soma .
mythology
Chandra is the son of sage Atri and Anasuya. He was married to the 27 daughters of the seer Daksha, who symbolize the 27 Nakshatras . But since he preferred Rohini , the other 26 women complained to their father. He then cursed Chandra that he should lose weight. The daughters felt pity and asked the father to make the curse ineffective. The father could only weaken the curse, so that since then the moon has been waning for 14 days and growing for 14 days.
Chandra kidnapped Tara, the wife of the planet god Brihaspati . This started a huge war among the stars. The son of Chandra and Tara is the planet god Budha (corresponds to Mercury ). The lunar family Chandravamsha , from which the family of Krishna , the Yadavas , and the Kauravas with the Pandavas , the heroes of the Mahabharata , descend from this Budha .
The iconography shows Chandra in a three-wheeled chariot pulled by ten white horses.
literature
- Hans Wilhelm Haussig (Ed.) Gods and Myths of the Indian Subcontinent (= Dictionary of Mythology . Department 1: The ancient civilized peoples. Volume 5). Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 1984, ISBN 3-12-909850-X , p. 56.