Introduction
Svarbhanu is the Asura son of Vipracitti and Simhika whose severed head and body, after Vishnu cut him in two, became the celestial bodies Rahu and Ketu, the ascending and descending lunar nodes of Hindu astrology.
Family
- Father: Vipracitti
- Mother: Simhika
- Siblings: Rahu, Ketu
The churning of the ocean
When the gods and demons together churned the ocean of milk and obtained the nectar of immortality (amrita), Vishnu, as the enchantress Mohini, undertook to distribute it, giving it only to the gods. Svarbhanu disguised himself in the form of a god and sat between the sun and the moon to receive a share. Surya and Chandra noticed the deception and alerted Vishnu, who cut off his head with the discus before the nectar could pass his throat, but it had already touched his mouth, so the head remained immortal.
Rahu and Ketu
The immortal head became Rahu, and the headless body became Ketu. Both are counted among the Navagraha, the nine bodies of Hindu astrology, and both are said to cause eclipses by periodically swallowing the sun or moon, from whose throats the light escapes again, since the body has no throat to hold it.
See also
Full accounts of the two resulting deities are given in the separate articles on Rahu and Ketu.