This selection of verses venerating Lord Surya, deity of the Sun, are from a hymn in the Rig Veda, the earliest and longest of the four sacred scriptures of ancient India that, together, are known as the Vedas. The Rig Veda contains more than 10,000 verses known as rik, which are meant to be recited in praise and invocation of the Divine in the form of deities such as Agni (fire), Vayu (air), Prithivi (earth), Varuna (water) as well as Rudra, Indra, and Vishnu.