What exactly is the story of the Aditya called Bhaag/Bhaga?

Question

We all are aware of the Adityas being children of Goddess Aditi and Kashyap Maharishi. A few of them are more well known like Surya, Indra and Vamana but I want to know more about a lesser known brother of theirs - Bhaag. For those who are not much aware about him am sharing a Rig Vedic verse dedicated to him:

1 AGNI at dawn, and Indra we invoke at dawn, and Varuṇa and Mitra, and the Aśvins twain. Bhaga at dawn, Pūṣan, and Brahmaṇaspati, Soma at dawn, Rudra we will invoke at dawn.

2 We will invoke strong, early-conquering Bhaga, the Son of Aditi, the great supporter: Thinking of whom, the poor, yea, even the mighty, even the King himself says, Give me Bhaga.

3 Bhaga our guide, Bhaga whose gifts are faithful, favour this song, and give us wealth, O Bhaga. Bhaga, augment our store of kine and horses, Bhaga, may we be rich in men and heroes.

4 So may felicity be ours at present, and when the day approaches, and at noontide; And may we still, O Bounteous One, at sunset be happy in the Deities' loving-kindness.

5 May Bhaga verily be bliss-bestower, and through him, Gods! may happiness attend us. As such, O Bhaga, all with might invoke thee: as such be thou our Champion here, O Bhaga.

6 To this our worship may all Dawns incline them, and come to the pure place like Dadhikrāvan. As strong steeds draw a chariot may they bring us hitherward Bhaga who discovers treasure.

7 May blessed Mornings dawn on us for ever, with wealth of kine, of horses, and of heroes, Streaming with all abundance, pouring fatness. Preserve us evermore, ye Gods, with blessings.

From the above verses it seems Bhaga is the giver of wealth and prosperity, somewhat similar to Kuber but I want to know does any other scripture detail the story of the Aditya Bhaga?

Answer 1

According to Shrimada Bhagavata Purana, Canto 6, Chapter 6, Verse 39, Bhaga is the son of Aditi so is one of the twelve Adityas.

Now please hear me as I describe the descendants of Aditi in chronological order. In this dynasty the Supreme Personality of Godhead Nārāyaṇa descended by His plenary expansion. The names of the sons of Aditi are as follows: Vivasvān, Aryamā, Pūṣā, Tvaṣṭā, Savitā, Bhaga, Dhātā, Vidhātā, Varuṇa, Mitra, Śatru and Urukrama.

Again, Shrimada Bhagavata Purana, Canto 6, Chapter 18, Verse 2 says that Siddhi is the wife of Bhaga and he has three sons and one daughter.

O King, Siddhi, who was the wife of Bhaga, the sixth son of Aditi, bore three sons, named Mahimā, Vibhu and Prabhu, and one extremely beautiful daughter, whose name was Āśī.

Also there are numerous places in Vedas and othe scriptures that says Bhaga is connected with wealth. Another story connected with Bhaga is during Daksha sacrifice, his eyes were pulled out by Virabhadra. It is mentioned in Shrimada Bhagavata Purana, Canto 4, Chapter 5, Verse 20.

Vīrabhadra immediately caught Bhaga, who had been moving his eyebrows during Bhṛgu’s cursing of Lord Śiva, and out of great anger thrust him to the ground and forcibly put out his eyes.

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Apart from puranas vedas aslo shed some light on the deity called Bhaga. In Rig Veda 1.123.5 Usha is said to be the sister of Bhaga. And Satapatha Brahmana is narrating the story of how Bhaga became blind. Unlike the puranas , in this story Bhaga became blind by accepting sacrificial share kept aside for Brahman (ब्रह्मन).

भगस्य स्वसा वरुणस्य जामिरुषः सून्र्ते प्रथमा जरस्व |
पश्चा स दघ्या यो अघस्य धाता जयेम तं दक्षिणया रथेन ||RV .1.123.5 ||

bhaghasya svasā varuṇasya jāmiruṣaḥ sūnṛte prathamā jarasva | paścā sa daghyā yo aghasya dhātā jayema taṃ dakṣiṇayā rathena ||

5 Sister of Varuṇa, sister of Bhaga, first among all sing forth, O joyous Morning. Weak be the strength of him who worketh evil: may we subdue him with our car the guerdon.

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And here is Satapatha Brahmana narration .

6. They said, 'Take it round to Bhaga (Savitṛ, the Patron), who sits on the south side (of the sacrificial ground): Bhaga will eat it by way of fore-portion[6], so that it may be as though it were offered.' They accordingly took it round to Bhaga, who sat on the south side. Bhaga (Savitṛ) looked at it: it burnt out his eyes[7]. And thus it came to pass. Hence they say, 'Bhaga is blind.'