Worship of Sun-God

(A discourse delivered on the occasion of Uttarayana Parva: 14th January)

Indian culture lays great emphasis on worshipping the five gods. Lord Shiva, Lord Vishnu and His incarnations, Lord Ganesha, Ma Shakti and Surya (Sun-god). One who renders devotional service to and worships any of these deities and does japa of their names gets all kinds of benefits – material, other-worldly, moral and spiritual.

Uttarayana or the day of Makar Sankranti is considered to be of particular significance for worship of Surya. The day when the Sun enters Makar Rashi (one of the Zodiacs), is called makar sankranti. Sankranti means Samyak (right) Kranti (revolution). The revolution in the material world involves violence and plundering. Spiritual revolution on the other hand teaches us to see our good in that of others. ‘Live harmoniously; talk affectionately in a sweet comforting tone’ for the real essence of all beings is the same. In a lake or in the sea, a large number of waves are seen on the surface but the real essence in depth is one, water. Similarly the real essence in all beings is one, existence Knowledge-Bliss Absolute.

The great Bhishma Pitamah waited for 58 days on the bed of arrows for the Uttarayana. He continued to bear the severe pain caused by the arrows pierced in his entries body but he didn’t let his Prana, leave his body and held them back by the power of his will, being a dispassionate witness to his pain. Yudhishthira puts questions to grandsire Bhishma and he answers them lying on the bed of arrows. What great equanimity! What a great valour! How strong this great son of India is in body and in mind trampling as he does the difficulties coming his way! What a great culture we have! Is there any other instance in history where somebody is holding his Prana for 58 days by the strength of his will and is imparting Knowledge to Yudhishthira as grandsire Bhishma did at Lord Krishna’s behest? The teachings are contained in Anushasana Parvaand Shanti Parva of the epic Mahabharata. Festival of Uttarayana is the day to remember that great man and to get inspiration to attain equanimity, knowledge and Self-Bliss even in the face of difficult circumstances that are akin to the bed of arrows.

The festival of Uttarayana marks the morning of gods. Applying sesame unguent on the body, bathing with water mixed with sesame seeds, drinking such water, fire sacrifice with sesame seeds as oblation, eating sesame seeds and giving sesame seeds in charity-all these things destroy sin.

The Sun is the symbol of the Self-God. As the Self-God illuminates the mind, the intellect and the body, the Sun illuminates the world. But the Sun too is illuminated by the Atman. Who is the knower of the existence or non-existence of the Sun? it is your real ‘I’, your Real self. Your real ‘I’ is blazing in the form of the Sun. when you contemplate thus, it is Ahangraha Upasana (there remains only the Divine vision and nothing but that).Upasana is of two kinds Prateek Upasana and Ahangraha Upasana. The sun is the symbol of Knowledge and is the source of light, ojas, lustre, power and vitality. Elaborating on the meaning of Surya, the scriptures say: surya is Su (Supreme) + rya (inspiring). Thus Surya means ‘the Supreme one that inspires’. ‘O Surya! O Lord! Illuminate my intellect with Knowledge. You are the ancient one, the son of Aditi; and you are here now.’ – This is Prateek Upasana. Scriptures have given a beautiful method of worshipping the sun God:

‘Lord! Lead me from untruth to Truth.’ Lord! Save me from attachment to transient sense-enjoyments that are being formed and deformed continually and lead me to the Truth that is eternal, unchangeable and uniform.

‘Lord! Lead me from darkness to Light.’ Lord! Take me from the darkness of ignorance to the Light of Self-knowledge. Save me from ignorance and folly and attract me to your self-luminous nature, the consciousness Absolute, the eternal witness to all phenomena. May my ignorance of considering the body as ‘I’ get destroyed! May my ignorance considering transient objects as ‘my’ get destroyed!

‘Lord! Lead me Death to Immortality.’ My Real Being is such that it never dies, never gets destroyed. I am unaware of it. This is because of ignorance. The body is subject to death; the circumstance must always change. We regard them as real and thereby suffer again and again the misery of being hung upside down in the wombs. The miseries of birth, of disease and of death plague us too often.

At times, the Sun is shrouded by clouds. Our Real Self, the Truth, Knowledge, and Bliss too is at times shrouded by the clouds of desire, anger, greed, ego and malice. The external Sun that illuminates the world is a symbol of atman, the Transcendental Sun that illuminates all things in the universe. Life owes its existence to the Sun. in the morning, as the sun rises, it animates and gives life energy and joy to all. Similarly, the Supreme Brahman gives life to all gods. Men, other beings and to the elements of nature. The Sun gives life to eh solar System; the Supreme Being gives life to the entire creation including the Sun, the earth, the water the fire etc.

‘The sun is the soul of all that moves or doesn’t move.’

The Sun is the soul of the trees, plants, birds, animals, men and of the oxygen in the atmosphere. It is because of the Sun that the worldly transitions and activities take place. The Lord names the Sun a one of His glories:

‘Among the (twelve) Adityas (sons of Adit), I am Vishnu; among the luminaries, the radiant Sun.’

‘The Sun is Brahman and should be worshipped as such.’

The worship of Surya and of OM elevates the sadhaka quickly and gives the desired fruit. One desiring lustre becomes lustrous and those desiring strength, intellectual prowess and fame get respectively strength, intellectual prowess and fame. Whenever you worship the Sun, divert your mind sooner or later to the Sun of your Real Self, to the love of God. Think, ‘The Pure Consciousness that illuminates the Sun enables my intellect to decide. The Sun of my Atman gives the coolness to the Moon.’ The external Sun is seen rising and setting. But the Sun of our Atman always remains risen. There is no question of its setting the external Sun disappears at the time of the final cosmic dissolution but even at that time the Sun of our atman, the Supreme Being remains unaffected. The external Sun cannot destroy the ignorance of the mind and ignorance cannot survive in the face of the Sun of our Atman. Therefore, even Prateek Upasana, if it is done with discrimination, leads to Knowledge, not merely worship.

Worshipping the Sun by way of offering libation with a copper jug reciting the Surya Gayatri mantra given hereunder is especially beneficial:

One should take mud from the place where the offered water falls and apply Tilak one one’s forehead and should take a draught from the remaining water in the jug reciting the following mantra:

‘I imbibe the water from Lord Surya’s feet that wards off untimely death and destroyed all diseases.’

This is very good for protecting health. Thereafter mediate on Lord Surya in the centre of your eyebrows and do japa of OM.

As the Sun rises and illuminates the whole world with His elegant rays, in the same way O Man! Elevate yourself and develop your Self-effulgence. Then, without any kind of prejudice, fill all despondent hearts with the effulgence of hope, enthusiasm and bliss. OM Bliss…OM Sweetness OM Knowledge… Strength… Courage.