This is an alternate version which is clearly suspect. The original story is clearly symbolic of the triple forces of Nature, Sattwa, Rajas and Tamas, the three chariots of three asura brothers, notably of gold, silver and iron. The three modes of nature are never aligned. If and when aligned, the Asuras die and the Self is liberated. To do that the Sun and the Moon, symbols of the Day and Night must come together and become the wheels of the chariot over which Shiva rides as Rudra, the forceful irrestible power of change. Narayan, the great Preserver himself becomes the arrow. It means that when the devotee is concentrated day and night, upon Narayana, the indwelling universal divinity in man, then all disorder and disharmony created by the asuric forces is destroyed. Nature enters in perfect alignment as in Samadhi, the past asuric tendencies are destroyed and the Self is liberated.
The second story of Shiva slaying Surya while protecting his asura bhakta is clearly a concoction by someone who never understood the inner sense of the story. It tried to glorify the power of the Godhead as quite a number of pauranik stories do. It is for these extrapolations that unlike the Vishnu Purana and the Bhagawat Purana, the Shiva Purana is not regarded as completely authentic.Β
Affectionately,
Alok Da
