Land of Kashyapa - Page#11 - Martanda

Martanda

The etymology of Martanda means born of "Mrita Anda" meaning born of "dead foetus".
"The Adityas are children of Aditi, the mother of gods, and Kashyapa Prajapathi. Adityas are solar deities who reside in the heavenly regions and personify various natural phenomena." "It's said in Satapatha Brahmana that Aditi gave birth to eight sons. But Only seven were called Gods. And with those seven but casting off Martanda, she went to the gods. And why she cast him off. Because she gave him birth while he was half-formed. He was just a lump of matter the size of a man at his birth"
The Rig Veda in 10.72.9 says:
"saptabhiḥ putrair aditir upa prait pūrvyaṃ yugam
prajāyai mṛtyave tvat punar mārtāṇḍam ābharat "
"So with her Seven Sons, Aditi went forth to meet the earlier age.
She brought Martanda thitherward to spring to life and die again.:
I wish to share a brilliant reply in Stackexchange by one Dr. Rao about Martanda
"Marthanda translates to mortal egg or simply "Jeeva" or even better "Life". Puranas mention that "he was to be the 8th" and born "still" or "mortal" (not immortal). In a limited sense or in the physical sense, he grows (burns) as our Sun until he perishes [end of the world] while giving rise to mortals (Jeeva, as explained in Aditya Hridayam by sage Agastya) where possible (on earth) who also grow and perish eventually.
Connecting the dream to the puranic Marthanda: the growth of the Sun is made possible by cosmic Ego (sense of purpose for existence) rising from the all-pervading Brahman. Here Ego is the cosmic serpent and Brahman is Lord Narayan. Life (impermanent) or creation is cosmically the birth, growth, and demise of the Sun on the fabric of a permanent substratum. Marthand is Lord Suryanarayana.
In Jeeva (the living) because of birth due to Sun, Atma is the same Narayan, and the ego [self-aware purpose.. wanting to live] is what causes life to grow and perpetuate until the environment perishes (with Sun).
Interestingly, the number 8 denotes (karmic) fate of mortality and Marthand was to be the 8th born becoming the cause of Jeeva Loka, a place where spirit and matter mingle, forgetting the truth and slowly evolving to the liberation of immortality."
I feel the above observation replies to many burning questions all at once, importantly the way to Immortality. Only by Evolution and ripping the fabric of Maya can one work towards it.
I did not want to blend this page with the Martand temple as understanding Martand as Sun would give bigger meaning when we look at the temple on my next page.
Sriram(Hari)

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