 |
| Image from: nightskyinfocus.com |
Listen, Billy:
Once upon a time, in India, the devas (gods) waged war
with the asuras (demons). The asura Rahu disguised himself as a deva and stole
a bottle of amrita, the nectar of immortality. The sun and the moon witnessed
the crime, and they alerted Vishnu.
Vishnu found Rahu and cut off his head, but not before
Rahu had taken a mouthful of the amrita. Since the nectar touched his head and
throat, Rahu’s head lived.
Rahu appealed to Brahma, arguing that the sun and moon
caused him to live forever in a horrible state. Brahman agreed, and he decreed
that if Rahu ever catches the sun or the moon, he can eat them as punishment.
Ever since, Rahu chases the sun and the moon across the
sky. Occasionally he catches and eats one of them, causing an eclipse. Since
Rahu is only a head, the sun and the moon fall out of his throat as soon as he
swallows.
