KarmaVaani
Vedic tradition
चन्द्रChandra
Soma · Shashi · Indu · Nishakara
The moon god, one of the nine planets, lord of the mind, who waxes and wanes under an old curse.
- Abode
- Chandraloka
- Consort
- The twenty-seven nakshatras, chief among them Rohini
- Vahana
- A chariot of ten white horses; an antelope
- Colour
- White as milk
- Arms
- 2
Chandra, also called Soma, is the moon and one of the navagraha. He rose from the churning of the ocean, and married the twenty-seven nakshatras, daughters of Daksha, but loved only Rohini; Daksha cursed him to waste away. Chandra prayed to Shiva at Prabhasa, where the Somnath temple stands, and Shiva softened the curse into waxing and waning, and wore the crescent in his hair. In astrology he rules the mind and the emotions.
Mantra
ॐ सों सोमाय नमः
Om Som Somaya Namaha
Salutations to Soma, the moon.
How Chandra is shown
A fair, serene young god holding white lotuses, riding a chariot drawn by white horses.
- White lotus
- The calm and clear mind.
- Crescent
- Waxing and waning: the rhythm of time and of feeling.
Stories
Daksha's curse
The twenty-seven sisters complained to their father Daksha that Chandra spent all his nights with Rohini. Daksha cursed him to wither. As the moon faded the plants began to die, and the gods sent Chandra to Prabhasa to worship Shiva, who gave him back his light for half of every month.
