Puranic Encyclopaedia: A Comprehensive Dictionary with Special Reference to the Epic and Puranic Literature c7.437

c7.437

To the east, south, west and north of Mount Mahāmeru exist Devadhānikā (Indrapurī) Saṃyamani (Yamapurī) Nimlocanī (Varuṇapurī) and Vibhāvarī (Kuberapurī) respectively. When Sūrya appears in Devadhānikā it will be dawn, when he has travelled to Saṃyamani it will be noon, when he is in Nimlocanī it will be sunset and when he is in Vibhāvarī it will be mid-night. This is how Sūrya circles the Mahāmeru. Within 15 nāḍikās (6 hours) the sun travels 2½ crores plus 2½ lakhs of yojanas. Sūrya’s chariot has one wheel and twelve spokes. The wheel represents a year and the twelve spokes stand for the twelve months of the year. The chariot has also three nābhis representing the three cāturmāsyas, and six bands representing the six seasons. The height of the chariot is 36 lakhs yojanas and it has a width of 8 yojanas inside. Aruṇadeva is the charioteer, and the seven chandas are the horses. The seven chandas are, Gāyatrī, Bṛhati, Uṣṇik, Jagatī, Triṣṭubh, Anuṣṭubh and Paṅkti).