हंस इत्येतन्मनोरक्षरद्वितीयेन प्रभापुञ्जेन सौरेण धृतमब्जा गोजा ऋतजा अद्रिजा ऋतं सत्या##-##प्रभा##-##पुञ्जि##-##न्युषा##-##सन्ध्या##-##प्रज्ञाभिः शक्तिभिः पूर्वं सौरमधीयानः सर्वं फलमश्नुते
haṃsa ityetanmanorakṣaradvitīyena prabhāpuñjena saureṇa dhṛtamabjā gojā ṛtajā adrijā ṛtaṃ satyā##-##prabhā##-##puñji##-##nyuṣā##-##sandhyā##-##prajñābhiḥ śaktibhiḥ pūrvaṃ sauramadhīyānaḥ sarvaṃ phalamaśnute
««Haṃsa» — this syllable of the mantra; held by the second, the solar mass of radiance: «born of the waters, born of the cow, born of the law, born of the mountain, law, truth». By the powers — Satyā, Prabhā, Puñjinī, Uṣā, Sandhyā, Prajñā — one who first studies the solar partakes of every fruit».
5d7c8fb4bfa4 · published Aug 7, 2026, 5:19:24 AM UTC
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Six powers of the sun are named, and their names deserve analysis: Satyā, «truth»; Prabhā, «radiance»; Puñjinī, «gathering into a mass»; Uṣā, «dawn»; Sandhyā, «twilight»; Prajñā, «understanding». This list is remarkable for mixing things of three kinds: properties of light (radiance, a mass of rays), times of day (dawn, twilight), and properties of the mind (truth, understanding). This mixture is not carelessness, but a view. Light, time, and understanding are linked more closely in the Vedic language than in ours: vidyā and «to see», dyaus «sky» and dyu «day», bhās «to shine» and bhāsa «appearance» — one root serves sight, understanding, and time alike.
The thought behind this is simple and correct. Understanding comes together with light, not apart from it; and the time of day plays a part in this. Everyone knows what is understood at dawn and what is not understood in the dark; and that dawn and twilight are placed in the same row as truth and understanding is an acknowledgment of this connection, not a poetic license.
Vaishnava practice holds to the same, and hence is scheduled by the hour: brahma-muhūrta before dawn, the midday and evening services, evening chanting. Not because nothing else is possible at other times, but because a person is a creature of the day-cycle, and his head is different at different hours.