Syamantaka - A Gift From The Sun God

A Gift From The Sun God

On one occasion Satrajit, a Yadava nobleman, and a devotee of Surya, the Sun God, while walking along the sea shore, praying ardently, when the god himself appeared before him. Seeing the god in an indistinct and dazzling fiery shape, Satrajit asked him to appear in a less blinding form, so that he could see him clearly. On this the sun took the Syamantaka jewel off his neck, and Satrájit saw him of a dwarfish stature, with a body like burnished copper, and with slightly reddish eyes. Having offered his adorations, the sun offered him a boon, and he asked for the jewel. When Satrajit returned to Dwaraka with the jewel, people mistook him for the Sun God, such was his dazzling glory. Krishna asked him to present the jewel to Ugrasena, the supreme leader of the Yadavas, but Satrajit did not comply.