Shloka 47
सूर्यरथ-कालचक्र-आयनविभागः, संध्योपासनम्, देवयान-पितृयानम्, विष्णुपद-गङ्गावतरणम्
दक्षिणे त्व् अयने चैव विपरीता विवस्वतः
dakṣiṇe tv ayane caiva viparītā vivasvataḥ
But in the southern course (Dakṣiṇāyana), the movement of Vivasvat—the Sun—proceeds in the reverse manner.
Sage Parāśara (speaking to Maitreya)
Cosmic Hierarchy: Lokas
Concept: In the Sun’s southern course (dakṣiṇāyana), the pattern of motion and the resulting day-night dynamics reverse, preserving seasonal balance.
Vedantic Theme: Dharma
Application: Use seasonal transitions to adjust practice—diet, routine, and contemplative intensity—while keeping daily worship steady.
Vishishtadvaita: The reversal of patterns still manifests a single governing will: the Lord’s order expressed through time (kāla) and the Sun’s agency.
FAQs
This verse marks the southern half-year as a distinct phase of cosmic time in which the Sun’s course is described as moving in an opposite pattern, structuring seasons and ritual time.
Parāśara presents a two-part annual cycle (ayāna); after describing one mode of solar movement, he states that in Dakṣiṇāyana the Sun’s motion is ‘reversed,’ indicating a complementary, cyclical ordering.
Even when Vishnu is not named in the line, the cosmological order of time and celestial motion is treated as part of the divinely sustained universe—an expression of the Supreme Reality’s governance through ṛta and dharma.