About
Pratar — Son of Dhata and Raka
Pratar · Pratah · Pratara
Pratar is a son of Dhata — one of the twelve Adityas, the solar and cosmic deities born of the sage Kashyapa and his wife Aditi, daughter of the patriarch Daksha — and of Dhata's wife Raka. He is named in a single verse of the Bhagavata Purana (Book VI, Chapter 18, verse 3), within the genealogical enumeration of the households of Aditi's sons. No narrative episode, independent role, or further genealogical record concerning Pratar is preserved in any primary source examined.
✦ The Name
The Sanskrit word Pratar — more commonly rendered Pratah in classical usage — means morning, specifically the early dawn period that marks the beginning of the day. It is one of the five traditional divisions of the Hindu day (Pratah, Sangava, Madhyahna, Aparahna, and Sayam — morning, mid-morning, midday, afternoon, and evening), and as the first of these it holds particular sacred significance as the time for the morning fire offering and the dawn prayers of the twice-born. In the context of Dhata's household, Pratar (morning) stands in complementary relationship to his brother Sayam (evening), together personifying the two ends of the diurnal sacred cycle. His mother Raka is in Vedic tradition a goddess of the full moon day — or in some usages the day of the full moon itself — associated with abundance and the granting of boons. The pairing of Pratar as son of Raka reflects the same pattern of cosmological embodiment found across Dhata's household, where each mother-son pair encodes a division of sacred time.
✦ Lineage
- Father: Dhata — the seventh of the twelve Adityas; son of Kashyapa and Aditi; deity of health, cosmic order, and creation; attested in the Mahabharata and the Bhagavata Purana
- Mother: Raka — one of the four wives of Dhata named in the Bhagavata Purana (VI.18.3); her name in Sanskrit denotes the full moon day or the full moon itself; she is an ancient Vedic goddess invoked in connection with abundance, the granting of requests, and the auspicious power of the full lunar phase
✦ References
Primary Sources
- Bhagavata Purana, Book VI, Chapter 18, verse 3 (G. V. Tagare translation, Motilal Banarsidass, 1950): The sole primary source; names Pratar as the son of Dhata and Raka within the genealogical list of Aditya households.
- Rigveda, hymns invoking Raka: Establishes the independent Vedic identity of Pratar's mother Raka as a lunar goddess associated with abundance and the full moon; contextualises the cosmological significance of Pratar's name within the broader Vedic framework of sacred time.
Modern Reference Works
- Mani, Vettam — Puranic Encyclopaedia (1975): Records Dhata's household and the four sons; no individual entry for Pratar.
- Monier-Williams, M. — Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899), entry "Pratar": Establishes the meaning as early morning and records its use in Vedic ritual contexts as the first of the five divisions of the sacred day.
- Wisdomlib.org — entry "Dhata" and "Bhagavata Purana VI.18 summary": Confirms the verse citation and the pairing of Pratar with his mother Raka.