Planets and Deities: A divine connection

Lord deities of the nine planets

The king among the planets is Sun and the Ishta Devta of Sun is Mahadev Shiva. Moon is the mother among the planets and its Ishta is Goddess Parvati. Wealth and luxury are associated with the planet Venus and the Ishta of Venus is Lakshmi, the Goddess of Wealth. Similarly, the Ishta Devta of the intelligent and kind planet Mercury is Lord Vishnu. The planet associated with order and righteousness is Jupiter whose Ishta is Indra. Kartikeya (God of War) is Ishta Devta of Mars (soldier among the planets). Ketu signifies spirituality, mysticism and intuition and its Ishta Devta is Lord Ganesha. Rahu signifies attachment, enhancement and expansion. The Ishta of Rahu is Goddess Durga. The Ishta Devta of Saturn is Lord Hanuman.

Planets and the avatars of Lord Vishnu

Lord Ram was a Suryavanshi King and represented the qualities of Sun. Lord Krishna had the affection and kindness which are qualities of Moon. The Vaman avatar of Lord Vishnu was wisest among all the avatars and hence it is associated with Jupiter. Lord Buddha possessed intelligence as well as kindness which are traits of Mercury. Mars is associated with Narasimha avatar, Venus with Lord Parashuram, Rahu with Varaha avatar, Saturn with Kurma avatar and Ketu with Matsya avatar.

Planets and the Mahavidyas

Planets are also linked with the ten Mahavidyas of Shaktism. Sun is associated with Goddess Matangi whereas as Moon is associated with Goddess Bhuvaneshwari. Jupiter is linked with Goddess Tara. Mercury is associated with Tripur Sundari and Venus is associated with Devi Kamala. Saturn is linked with Goddess Kali. Mars (soldier among the planets) is associated with Goddess Bagalamukhi. Rahu is associated with Goddess Chinnamasta and Ketu is linked with Goddess Dhumavati.

The combination of deities and Planets mentioned above has a unique significance. The deity represented the quality associated with the planet and vis-e-versa. If we pray to a particular deity and follow the attributes of that deity, we can get the blessing of the associated planet.