Month: December 2018

Aditya Hrudayam Series Week 17
Shloka Taatparyam Shloka 12

हिरण्यगर्भः शिशिरस्तपनो भास्करो रविः। 
अग्निगर्भोऽदितेः पुत्रः शङ्खः शिशिरनाशनः॥ 12 ॥

Hiraṇyagarbhaḥ śiśirastapano bhāskaro raviḥ
agnigarbho’diteḥ putraḥ śaṅkhaḥ śiśiranāśanaḥ ॥ 12 ॥

Meaning:

He is the soul of this universe (Hiranyagarbha, the golden womb)
He cools this world down (as he disappears below the horizon due to the diurnal rotation of the earth)
He powers the world by generating heat (by the nuclear fusion in the core)
He gives us light (and knowledge)
He shines in the sky as the Sun
He has fire in his womb (once again in reference to the nuclear fusion in the core of Sun)
He is Aditi’s son (He is the son of Aditi and Kashyapa maharishi)
He sounds his conch (which awakens us from our ignorance) 
He destroys the cold (inertness)

हिरण्यगर्भः (हिरण्य + गर्भः) – Golden womb i.e. soul of the universe
शिशिर – cold 
तपनो (तपन्+ओ)- Heat (one who generates)
भास्करो (भास्कर+ओ) – Shining with light, glittering
रविः – The Sun God
अग्निगर्भो (अग्नि+गर्भ+ओ) – womb of fire
दितेः (अदितेः) – Aditi’s
पुत्रः – Son
शङ्खः – Conch
शिशिर – Cold
नाशनः – destroyer

Aditya Hrudayam Series Week 16
Shloka Taatparyam Shloka 11

Before going into the blog, please check out this week’s featured photo. It is very special and unique. It portrays Lord Surya from an angle as close as has been possible till date (about 16.9M miles from the Sun’s surface). It was recently taken by the Parker Solar Probe launched by NASA. How is that for celebrating Sun who personifies Veda and Vigyaana? 

More details on this picture to follow in a separate post and let us move on to today’s shloka.

हरिदश्वः सहस्रार्चिः सप्तसप्तिर्मरीचिमान्। 
तिमिरोन्मथनः शम्भुस्त्वष्टा मार्ताण्ड अंशुमान्॥ 11 ॥

Haridaśvaḥ sahasrārciḥ saptasaptirmarīcimān
Timironmathanaḥ śambhustvaṣṭā mārtāṇḍa aṃśumān॥ 11 ॥

Meaning:

He has fallow colored horses ( NOT black,white etc as depicted in most illustrations)
He has a thousand rays.  
He is radiant.  
He has seven horses and emits (white light that splits into) seven colors. (see attached photo)
He is the dispeller of darkness (also the internal ignorance). He is the progenitor who grants happiness to all (by nourishing their lives with his light and warmth).  
He is the one who sculpts this world. 
He is the huge bird in the sky that beams light (of knowledge and wisdom)

हरिदश्वः हरिद+ अश्वः – horses that are fallow(pale brown) colored. Fallow is the color of sandy soil

सहस्रार्चिः – one who has a thousand rays (infinite)

सप्तसप्तिर – one who has seven of the same kind ( seven horses, seven rays)

र्मरीचिमान् – radiant

तिमिरोन – darkness

मथनः – one who shakes off, destroys

शम्भु – progenitor, one who grants happiness

स्त्वष्टा – one who gives shape (in mother’s womb), sculpts. 

मार्ताण्ड – Bird in sky that which emits light

अंशुमान् – sunbeam, full of light rays

Aditya Hrudayam Series Week 15
Shloka Taatparyam Shloka 10

So far the 9 shlokas describe the battlefield and arrival of Sage Agastya (Shlokas 1&2), Sage addressing Rama (Shloka 3), the benefits of chanting (Shlokas 4&5) and the greatness Lord Surya (Shlokas 7,8,&9). Now begins the part (Shlokas 10 thru 15) where the Sage starts explaining the physical attributes and properties of Lord Surya. Each Shloka from this point on is a gem. And, they are spot-on, scientifically valid, poetically elegant, and beautifully narrate Lord Surya. 

Here goes Shloka 10:

आदित्यः सविता सूर्यः खगः पूषा गभस्तिमान्।
सुवर्णसदृशो भानुर्हिरण्यरेता दिवाकरः॥ 10 ॥

ādityaḥ savitā sūryaḥ khagaḥ pūṣā gabhastimān
suvarṇasadṛśo bhānurhiraṇyaretā divākaraḥ ॥ 10 ॥

Meaning:

He is the son of Aditi (which is why he is referred to as Aditya) 

Note: It is very common in Samskritam to refer to sons in this way. It makes a lot of sense as well. Examples: Pandavas are Kunti putraaha and referred to as Kaunteyas. Karna is Radha’s putra referred to as Radheya. Similarly, Krishna is Devaki nandhan, Duryodhana is Gandhari nandhan, Rama is Kausalya nandhan, Lakshmana is Sumitra nandhan etc etc). 

He is very bright. 

He is Suryah, the Supreme light.

He moves swiftly in space (refers to the sky) like a bird (He crosses one division of the sky (zodiac) in one month). 

He nourishes and protects all the beings (provides light and heat for our survival). 

He has bright rays. 

He glitters as gold. 

He resembles a seed (refers to the Sun sphere) and his rays are like a stream (of liquid gold) emanating from the golden seed. 

He is the creator of days (meaning he creates days and nights for us thru his golden rays).

आदित्यः – Surya, the son of Aditi
सविता – bright
सूर्यः – Supreme light
खगः – object (bird) that moves in space (air)
पूषा – nourisher
गभस्तिमान् – shining rays
सुवर्ण – Gold
सदृशो – resembles
भानु – Sun
र्हिरण्य – Golden
रेता – seed
दिवाकरः – Day maker

Aditya Hrudayam Series Week 14
Shloka Taatparyam Shloka 9

पितरो वसवः साध्या ह्यश्विनौ मरुतो मनुः।
वायुर्वह्निः प्रजाप्राण ऋतुकर्ता प्रभाकरः॥ 9 ॥