Vivashvat

Vivashvat (Vivasvat, Vivasvan) is the Sun, one of the Adityas, and the father of Manu Vaivasvata, the first king of the present age. He is not a king himself. He is the ancestor from whom the Suryavansha takes its name. The Suryadhwaja gotra on this site names him in its pravara, "Kashyapa, Vivashvat, Manu".

In the Vedas. The Rigveda calls Vivasvat the father of Yama Vaivasvata and, by Saranyu, of the Ashvins [10.17.1-2]. The name Vaivasvata, "son of Vivasvat", is also used of Manu [8.52.1]. Monier-Williams names Vivasvat, with the patronymic Aditya, as the author of hymn 10.13, and says he is sometimes counted as one of the Adityas.

In the Puranas. The Mahabharata index makes him a son of Kashyapa and Aditi, and calls him the father of Manu. In the Vishnu Purana [III.2] the Sun's wife Sanjna, daughter of Vishvakarma, bears Manu Vaivasvata, Yama and Yami, the river Yamuna. She cannot bear his heat, so she leaves her handmaid Chhaya in her place and goes to the forests to practise austerities. By Chhaya he has Shanaishchara (Saturn), the Manu Savarni and Tapati, the river Tapti. When Chhaya curses Yama, the secret is out. The Sun learns by meditation that Sanjna has become a mare, takes the form of a horse, and rejoins her. They have the Ashvins and Revanta, and he brings her home. The Matsya Purana names his wives and children differently.

In the genealogies. The Ramayana [Bala Kanda 70] runs Brahma, Marichi, Kashyapa, the Sun, Manu and then Ikshvaku and the kings of Ayodhya. The 1900 pravara manual Gotra Pravar Nibandh Kadambam gives the same order, Marichi, Kashyapa, Vivasvat, Manu, in the genealogical charts of the Rathitara family, who are Solar kings that became Angirasa Brahmins. So the pravara "Kashyapa, Vivashvat, Manu" is the Solar line's own list of ancestors.

1. Son of Kashyapa and Aditi: he is one of the Adityas.
2. Marriage to Sanjna: Sanjna bears Manu Vaivasvata, Yama and Yami.
3. Sanjna's departure: she cannot bear his heat and leaves Chhaya in her place. By Chhaya he has Shani, Savarni Manu and Tapati.
4. The horse and the mare: he finds Sanjna in the form of a mare, takes the form of a horse and rejoins her. The Ashvins and Revanta are born, and he brings her home.
5. Father of Manu: through Manu Vaivasvata and Ikshvaku, he begins the Solar dynasty.

• The sky: the path of the Sun.
• The forests: where Sanjna practises austerities in the Vishnu Purana.