English
Chhath: A Story of Sun Worship
Source: Mahabharata, Vana Parva (Kundalaharana Parva); its link to Chhath is popular tradition
During Chhath, devotees stand in water and offer arghya to the setting and the rising Sun. Popular tradition links this worship to a great devotee of the Sun in the Mahabharata: Karna, king of Anga.
Karna was the son of the Sun god. He was born with a divine armour on his body and earrings in his ears. As long as he wore them, no one could defeat him in battle.
The Mahabharata tells that every day Karna stood in water with folded hands and worshipped the Sun until its rays burned his back. And if during his worship a brahmana asked him for anything, Karna never refused.
Meanwhile Indra, father of Arjuna, was worried. He knew that while Karna had his armour and earrings, Arjuna could never defeat him. Indra resolved to disguise himself as a brahmana and ask Karna for them.
But out of love for his son, the Sun god appeared to Karna one night in a dream, in the form of a brahmana: “Son, tomorrow Indra will come to ask for your armour and earrings. Do not give them; your life depends on them.”
Karna answered humbly, “Lord, my vow is that if anyone asks me for something during my worship, I do not refuse. Let my life go if it must, but not my word and my honour.”
The next noon Karna stood in the water offering arghya to the Sun. Just then a radiant brahmana came and stood before him, held out his hands and said, “I seek alms…”
Karna recognised that this was Indra. Still he folded his hands and said, “Revered brahmana, I can give you villages, wealth, cows, whatever you wish.” But the brahmana said, “I want only your armour and earrings.”
Karna did not hesitate for a moment. He remembered the other thing the Sun god had said in his dream: “If you must give them, ask Indra in return for his unfailing weapon.”
Karna said, “King of the gods, I will give you my armour and earrings. In return, give me your unfailing Shakti.” Indra promised: “This Shakti will strike once, slay one enemy, and return to me.”
Indra also granted that removing the armour would leave no wound or disfigurement on Karna's body. Then with his own hands Karna cut away the armour that was joined to his body, took off his earrings, and handed them to Indra.
Gods and men alike were amazed. Because he had cut the armour from his own body, Karna came to be called Vaikartana. His gift was remembered through the ages, and he became known as Daanveer Karna, Karna the heroic giver.
In the Mahabharata, this worship of Karna's, standing in water with folded hands and gazing at the blazing Sun, is a picture of a devotee's unshakeable faith.
Anga, the kingdom Karna ruled, is held to be the Bhagalpur–Munger region of present-day Bihar. So Bihar's folk tradition says that the custom in Chhath of standing in water to offer arghya to the Sun takes its inspiration from this worship of Karna, the Sun's own son.
Even today on Chhath millions of devotees stand waist-deep in rivers and ponds, with thekua and fruit arranged in winnowing baskets, and offer arghya first to the setting and then to the rising Sun: the same devotion, the same unshakeable faith.
What this story teaches
True worship is not only asking but also giving. Karna showed that one's word and faith can be greater even than life.
Chhath is celebrated over four days, from Kartik Shukla Chaturthi (Nahay-Khay) to Saptami; on the evening of Shashthi arghya is offered to the setting Sun and at dawn on Saptami to the rising Sun, and Chhathi Maiya is worshipped. Several traditions are told about the origin of Chhath: Karna's Sun worship, Draupadi's Surya vrat during the exile, and the story of King Priyavrata and Goddess Shashthi in the Brahmavaivarta Purana. Karna's worship and his gift of the armour and earrings are in the Mahabharata; their link to Chhath is popular tradition.
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