Introduction
Chhaya, "shadow", is the shadow-woman created by Sanjna to take her place as the wife of the sun god Surya. She is the mother of Shani (Saturn), Savarni Manu, and the river Tapti. In the Rigveda, the corresponding figure is the woman "like herself" (savarna) whom Saranyu left behind.
Family
The story
When Sanjna could not bear Surya's heat, she made a woman from her own shadow and told her to take her place, to serve Surya and care for her children, and to keep the secret. Chhaya lived with Surya and had children of her own: Shani, Savarni Manu, Tapati and Vishti (also called Bhadra).
Chhaya showed less affection for Sanjna's children than for her own, and Yama, angry at his mistreatment, threatened to kick her (or in some versions did kick her). Chhaya cursed him that his leg would fall off, and Surya, seeing that a mother would not curse her own son, learned the truth. Surya then found Sanjna and brought her back, and the curse was reduced, so that worms would take some flesh from Yama's foot but not the foot itself.
Children
- Shani: the planet Saturn, one of the Navagraha.
- Savarni Manu: the eighth Manu, who will rule in the next Manvantara.
- Tapati: a river (the Tapti, in central India) and, in the Mahabharata, the wife of King Samvarana and mother of Kuru.
- Vishti (Bhadra): the goddess of a certain inauspicious astrological period.
Meaning
Chhaya is interpreted as the shadow of the sun, and as a symbol of the dual aspects of the world: light and dark. In the Vedic idea of the double, the shadow is a substitute self.