Bhaktivedanta Narayana Gosvami
From the book “Sri Vraja-maṇḍala-parikramā”:
This village lies two miles west of Meherāna-gaon. It is also called Satvāsa. At this place, Mahārāja Satrājita, the father of one of Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s queens named Satyabhāmā, worshipped the Sungod. Over the years, the word satrā has evolved into the name Satvāsa.
North-east of this village is Sūrya-kuṇḍa, on the northern bank of which there is a temple of Sūryadeva, or the Sungod. Mahārāja Satrājita used to worship Sūryadeva here after bathing in the pond. Sūryadeva became pleased and awarded him a sūryakānta-maṇi, a jewel which daily yielded him an abundance of gold.
Rajashekhara Dasa
From the book “Chaurasi-kosa Vraja Mandala Parikrama”:
This village was known as Shantanu, but later it became Satoya, then Satona and later Satvasa, and presently Satwas. The village was formerly named Shantanu because it is said that a sage named Shantanu Muni once worshiped Lord Krishna at this place. The Bhakti-ratnakara says, “In Shatona-grama Shri Shantanu Muni worshiped Krishna.” According to the local legend, Satrajita Maharaja, who was the father of Queen Satyabhama, one of Lord Krishna’s wives in Dwaraka, is said to have performed austerities here to please the sun-god Surya, thus the village became known as Satvasa after Satrajita Maharaja. According the Shrimad-Bhagavatam, after being pleased with the great tapasya of Satrajita Maharaja, Surya fulfilled his desire and awarded him a fabulous gem-stone called the Shyamantaka-mani; this powerful gem was by its own power was producing a large quantity of gold-dust every day. This gemstone made Satrajita a very wealthy man but ultimately led to his downfall when he was mercilessly killed by those who wanted to possess the gemstone. In the village one can see Surya-kunda and a temple dedicated to the sun-god Surya-Narayana. According to the Vraja-riti-chintamani (2.52) while describing the holy places around Kamyavana, it says that Shrimati Radharani also worshiped the sun-god Surya at this same place, “By a lake there, at the place the people call Shantanu-vasa, is a sun-god Deity Shri Radha worships. On the pretext of seeing him She gives that Deity a chance to see Her.”
