Consider the following statements of Bhishma from Anusasana Parva of Mahabharata

One should never look at the rising sun, nor at the setting sun. Nor should one look at the sun when he is in eclipse; nor at his image in the water; nor at midday when he is at the meridian.

Does any other scripture(s) support the statement which forbids looking at the sun when it is rising and setting?


Yes, the Manu Smriti also says the same:


and, also the Apasthambha Smriti:

He should avoid looking at the sun as it rises or sets. During the day the sun protects creatures, and during the night, the moon. Therefore, on the night of the new moon he should try his very best to guard himself by keeping himself pure and chaste and by performing rites appropriate for the occasion, for on this night the sun and the moon dwell together.

Apasthambha Dharma Sutras 1.13.18-20

So, there will be similar verses in all the Smritis.

From this page, we can get similar verses from various other Smritis:

Viṣṇu (7.17, 18).—‘He shall not look at the sun rising,—nor when setting.’

Yājñavalkya (1.137).—‘He shall not look at the sun, nor at a naked woman....’

Pāraskara (2.7.6 ).—‘ He shall not do the following—looking at a water-reservoir, tree-climbing, fruit-gathering, entering a man-hole, public bathing, traversing dangerous situations, looking at the sun, and begging.’

Baudhāyana (2.3.31).—‘He shall not look at the sun at the time of rising or of setting.’

Hārīta (Aparārka, p. 180).—‘He shall not look at the naked man or the naked woman; nor the rising or setting sun and moon

  • there are verses which say do not look at rising sun (reduces lifespan), but setting sun is fine (increases life span) – ram Feb 27 '19 at 14:36
  • Why is this forbidden? – Wikash_ Feb 27 '19 at 20:07
  • @ram For rising sun i know the verse, given here: hinduism.stackexchange.com/a/15394/4732 – Rickross Feb 28 '19 at 6:57
  • @Wikash_hindu Not sure, .. see the link that I hv added in the answer .. that page has commentary and explanatory notes on the verse – Rickross Feb 28 '19 at 7:04
  • What if not looking directly, but chanting gayatri with eyes closed, with direction towards sun, during certain instances of sunset, sunrise, my third eye activates, I can see random sanskrit characters in siddham/Tibetean script in blue color(electric aura) in center of yellow, orange background. – Aoi. T_015 Apr 25 '19 at 5:30

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