SvarbhÃÂnu () is an asura traditionally held responsible for solar eclipses and lunar eclipses in Vedic mythology. The name is also used as an attribute of the asuras Rahu and Ketu in Puranic mythology, who are also connected to the solar eclipse and the lunar eclipse.
SvarbhÃÂnu is described as an asura twice in the Family Books of the Rigveda. SvarbhÃÂnu is described to strike Surya, overshadowing the sun with darkness. Stella Kramrisch considers this act as portraying SvarbhÃÂnu as a deity greater than the Sun. The Rigveda further narrates after this, the king of heaven - Indra struck down SvarbhÃÂnu and sage Atri found the hidden Sun and replaced it in the sky. Svarbhanu again appears in the Yajurveda and the Brahmanas. According to the Brahmanas, SvarbhÃÂnu with darkness pierced ÃÂditya (the Sun), whom, however, the gods set free by means of svara (accents).
An assistant of Shukra (Venus), SvarbhÃÂnu was also the teacher of the asuras. He deceitfully quaffed the amrita proffered by Mohini, thereby achieving immortality as two beings despite being beheaded immediately after: his head as Rahu and his body as Ketu.
According to the Mahabharata, the sun god Surya is also described as an "enemy of SvarbhÃÂnu". SvarbhÃÂnu was said to strike both the sun and moon with arrows, the celestial bodies being revived by Atri as in the Rigveda.
According to the text Hari-vaá¹Âà Âa, SvarbhÃÂnu ushered Kalanemi through the galaxy. In a Purana, SvarbhÃÂnu is described as a son of the goddess Siá¹Âhikà(marjar or cat) ('Little Lioness').