One must realise that in ancient times the earth was thought to be the center of the universe and the planets, including the sun and the moon, were heavenly bodies that appeared to revolve around it. This was the view of Hindu mythology. The Navgraha were the sun, the moon, the five planets closest to the sun (excluding the earth) and the two lunar nodes, which are the points of intersection of the orbits of the sun and the moon.
The Navgraha are listed below with their Western equivalents. Surya - The Sun Chandra - The Moon Mangal - Mars Buddh - Mercury Brihaspati - Jupiter Shukra - Venus Shani - Saturn Rahu - The North (ascending) lunar node Ketu - The South (descending) lunar node
The first seven of the Navgraha give their names to the seven days of the week. As in the western calendar Sunday and Monday are named after the sun and the moon respectively. Sunday and Monday are "Ravivar" and "Somvar", after Ravi and Som, which are one of the names of the sun and the moon. "Var" means day in Hindi. Tuesday to Saturday follow the planets in the above order from "Mangalvar" to "Shanivar".
The Navgraha also represent nine characters from mythology. The histories of the Sun God and Moon God have already been discussed in "the solar dynasty" and "the lunar dynasty" . The legend of Mangal is not prominently depicted in the mythological texts. He is said to be the offspring of Sarva, a celestial archer, and Vikeshi, a manifestation of the Earth Goddess. Once Vikeshi was in trouble and Sarva came to her rescue. Vikeshi fell in love with Sarva and Mangal was born out of their union. In Roman mythology Mars is the God of war. In Indian mythology Mangal is identified as the planet of Kartikeya, the demi-God of war. The legend of Buddh, the son of the Moon, has also been discussed in "the lunar dynasty" .
Brihaspati was famed as the preceptor of the demi-Gods. His father, Angiras, was one of the sages created by Brahma. Angiras married Shraddha, the daughter of sage Kardam, who was another creation of Brahma. Shraddha was unfaithful to her husband during her pregnancy and as a result gave birth to a stillborn child. However she repented and was able to regain the favour of Angiras. Angiras then gave life to the child, who was named Brihaspati. Brihaspati has three wives. With Shubha, the eldest he has seven daughters, with Tara, the second, he has seven sons and a daughter and with Mamata, the youngest, he has two sons. These two sons, Bharadwaj and Kacha, play a major role in Hindu mythology. Brihaspati acquired the planetary position after great penance through which he pleased Lord Shiva. Brihaspati helped the demi-Gods time and again in their wars against the demons. But he was a hard taskmaster as well. There are many legends about Brihaspati, including the abduction of his wife Tara by Buddh.
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