Rahu's eclipses

Rahu’s eclipses are explained in the text’s notes through the myth of Rahu, a demon associated with the ascending node, whose surviving head and tail become agents of eclipses. The account links a recurring celestial phenomenon to the continuing existence of a being who attempts to swallow the Sun and Moon.

Mythic Identity and Origin

The commentary identifies Rahu with the ascending node and recounts how Vishṇu severed his head from his body. Because Rahu was immortal, the head and tail continued to exist separately; transferred to the stellar sphere, they became responsible for eclipses. The note thus joins an astronomical designation to a mythic account of survival and division.

How the Eclipses Occur

Rahu’s head is especially associated with eclipses: it tries to swallow the Sun and the Moon. The note names both as its targets, presenting solar and lunar eclipses as the visible consequence of this ongoing pursuit. Another gloss likewise describes Rahu as the demon who causes eclipses, confirming the association elsewhere in the book’s explanatory notes.

Place in the Text

Rahu’s eclipses appear in explanatory commentary rather than as a separately narrated episode. The notes preserve the myth as a compact account of celestial recurrence: the severing does not end Rahu’s agency, since his divided remains continue to act in the stellar sphere. The eclipse explanation therefore depends on the same paradox at the story’s center—separation is permanent, but not extinction.