Religious narrative · People & kin
The sun god spoke to Karna in a dream
Hastinapura (setting) · c. 4th c. BCE–4th c. CE (epic)
I tried in past times to apprise Karna of his brothership with thee. The god Surya also, O foremost of all righteous persons, did the same. All that a well-wishing friend, from desire of good, should say unto one, was said unto Karna by that god in a dream and once more in my presence.
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- Source
- The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa (Ganguli trans.) — Vyasa (trad.); trans. Kisari Mohan Ganguli, ancient / 1883–96 (trans.). Santi Parva, sec. 6
- Record type
- Religious narrative
- Place
- Hastinapura (setting) · Indian
- Date
- c. 4th c. BCE–4th c. CE (epic)
- Uncertainty
- High — From the Mahābhārata (K. M. Ganguli trans., 1883–96); an epic narrative.
- Imagery
- Sun · Friend · Mother
- Feelings
- Grief · Longing
Another way to look at this dream
Notes on the images in this dream from psychology, myth, folklore and semiotics. Each names its source.
Sun
Was the sun rising, setting, or overhead? Was its light comforting or too strong?
Jung · Consciousness
In the alchemical pairing Jung used, the sun stands for consciousness — the clear daylight view, with its own blind spots.
C. G. Jung, “Mysterium Coniunctionis”, Collected Works 14
Hebrew Bible Myth & scripture
Joseph dreams that the sun, the moon and eleven stars bow down to him; his family hears it as a claim to rank, and resents it.
Genesis 37:9–10
Chinese historiography Classical text
The Records of the Grand Historian say that Emperor Wu’s mother dreamed of the sun entering her bosom — one of many “birth dreams” that later histories attached to rulers.
Sima Qian, Shiji, “Hereditary Houses of the Consorts”
Friend
How long since you last saw this friend? What were you doing together in the dream — something you used to do?
Dream research Dream research
The “continuity” view in dream research finds that most dream characters are people we know, and that dreams tend to carry on our waking relationships and concerns.
G. William Domhoff, The Scientific Study of Dreams (2003)
Tang poetry Literature
Du Fu, not knowing whether his exiled friend Li Bai is alive, writes that “my old friend entered my dream, knowing how long I have thought of him”.
Du Fu, “Dreaming of Li Bai” (759)
Mother
Was this your own mother as you know her, or someone in her place? What did she do or say?
Jung · The mother archetype
Jung first reads a dreamed mother on the “objective level” — your real mother and your relationship. Only then on the “subjective level”: the mother archetype, which he described as both nourishing and devouring.
C. G. Jung, “Psychological Aspects of the Mother Archetype”, Collected Works 9i
Early dream research & psychology Dream research
Family members, friends and strangers populate most dreams. Freud read many such dreams as wishes in disguise; contemporary researchers emphasise continuity with waking relationships and concerns.
Freud, Dream Psychology (1920)
Myth & scripture (several traditions) Myth & scripture
Dreams in epic and scripture are often addressed to someone — a wife waiting for a husband, a son receiving a vision for his family — and are told aloud to be understood.
Odyssey XIX; Genesis 37
Exploration notes, not a diagnosis, a prediction, or evidence of real events.
Dreams that share its images
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- A postcard written partly in Latin England · before 1911
- A melon in winter, still in his hand Northern Wei China · c. 500 (Northern Wei)
- Where she was, there was I also Thagaste, North Africa · c. 373
- Waking in the Peony Pavilion Nan’an, Jiangxi (setting) · 1598 (drama)
- Strawberries, huckleberries, omelette Vienna, Austria · c. 1897