Month: January 2019

 Aditya Hrudayam Series Week 22
Shloka Taatparyam Shloka 17

जयाय जयभद्राय हर्यश्वाय नमो नमः। 
नमो नमः सहस्रांशो आदित्याय नमो नमः॥ 17 ॥

Jayāya jayabhadrāya haryaśvāya namo namaḥ । 
namo namaḥ sahasrāṃśo ādityāya namo namaḥ ॥ 17 ॥

Meaning:

Salutations again and again to him who brings Victory.

Salutations again and again to him who brings prosperity and auspiciousness (to victories)

Salutations again and again to him who rides Reddish-brown horses

Salutations again and again to him who spreads himself into a thousand rays

Salutations again and again to the beloved son of Aditi 
(Aditi is Devamata. Aditi in Samskritam means one who has inexhaustible abundance. She is one of the thirteen wives of Sage Kashyapa. They had 33 sons of which 12 are Adityas including Lord Surya.)

जयाय – Jayāya – one who brings victory

जय – jaya – victory

भद्राय – bhadrāya – brings prosperity, auspiciousness

हर्यश्वाय- (हरी+अश्वाय)- haryaśvāya – Hari is green. Some people interpret this as green horses. 
But in this context it is haridra + ashvaya. Haridra is more like reddish brown or tan. It seems to make sense while talking about horse coat colors.

नमो नमः – namo namah – Salutations again and again

नमो नमः – namo namah – Salutations again and again

सहस्रांशो – sahasrāaṃśo – sahasrā + aṃśo 
Sahasram is 1000 Amsa means parts. sahasrāaṃśo means one who manifests into a thousand parts (rays)

आदित्याय – ādityāya – Beloved son of Aditi
Aditi means inexhaustible

नमो नमः॥ – – namo namah – Salutations again and again

Aditya Hrudayam Series Week 21
Shloka Taatparyam Shloka 16

Now at this point Sage Agastya takes things up a notch. Shlokas 16 thru 21 is the core of the whole prayer. This set of 5 shlokas is absolutely fantastic and one should try to learn these five at the very least if not the entire 31 shlokas.

नमः पूर्वाय गिरये पश्चिमायाद्रये नमः।
ज्योतिर्गणानां पतये दिनाधिपतये नमः॥ 16 ॥

namaḥ pūrvāya giraye paścimāyādraye namaḥ।
jyotirgaṇānāṃ pataye dinādhipataye namaḥ ॥ 16 ॥

Meaning:

नमः पूर्वाय गिरये namaḥ pūrvāya giraye
Salutations to (the Lord in) the eastern mountains (during sunrise).
Note: The first picture is the sunrise in the Cascade mountain range in Corvallis OR I captured during our trip there

पश्चिमायाद्रये नमः। paścimāyādraye namaḥ ।
Salutations to (the Lord in) the western mountains (during sunset)
Note: This is a picture of Sunset in the Smoky Mountains

ज्योतिर्गणानां पतये jyotirgaṇānāṃ pataye
(Salutations to him, who is the) Lord of the entire group of heavenly objects

दिनाधिपतये नमः॥ dinādhipataye namaḥ॥
Salutaions to the Lord who rules the Day(light)

नमः – namaḥ– bow, salute, pray 
पूर्वाय – pūrvāya– in the East
गिरये – giraye– Mountains
पश्चिमायाद्रये (पश्चिमाय+अद्रये) – paścimāyādraye
पश्चिमाय – paścimāya – Western
अद्रये – adraye– Mountains
नमः – namaḥ– bow, salute, pray
ज्योतिर्गणानां – (ज्योतिर+गण+आं) – jyotirgaṇānāṃ
ज्योतिर – jyotir– Heavenly astronomical bodies that give out light
गण – gana -Group
गणानां – gaṇānāṃ – group of 
ज्योतिर्गणानां – Lord of the entire group of heavenly bodies. This includes stars, planets, planetary systems, galaxies, nebulae etc
पतये – pataye -Lord of 
दिनाधिपतये (दिन+अधिपति+ये) – dinādhipataye
दिन – dinā-Day
अधिपतिये – ādhipataye– Lord of 
नमः – namaḥ- bow, salute, pray

Aditya Hrudayam Series Week 20
Shloka Taatparyam Shloka 15

नक्षत्रग्रहताराणामधिपोविश्वभावनः ।
तेजसामपीतेजस्वी द्वादशात्मन्नमोऽस्तु ते ॥ 15 ॥

Nakṣatragrahatārāṇāmadhipo viśvabhāvanaḥ ।
tejasāmapi tejasvī dvādaśātman namo’stu te ॥ 15 ॥

Meaning:

Nakṣatragrahatārāṇāmadhipo
He is the lord (the presiding deity) of all star constellations (zodiac), planets, and stars.

viśvabhāvanaḥ
He conceives the whole world in his mind, meaning nothing happens in this world without his influence

tejasāmapi tejasvī 
He is brightest amongst the bright (he has more energy than even the most energetic)

Dvādaśātman namo’stu te
My salutations to you Aditya, who manifests in twelve forms.

The twelve adityas represent a distinct type of energy and a different aditya rules or shines in each lunar month.

1. As Datha (Chitra) he creates living beings
2. As Aryama (Vaishaka) he roams the mountains and makes lotuses bloom
3. As Mitra (Jyeshta) he prevents darkness
4. As Varuna (Ashada) he is in the waters
5. As Indra (Shravana) he destroys the enemies
6. As Vivasvan (Bhadrapada) he is in the fire and helps to cook food
7. As Tvashta (Ashvina or Aipasi in tamil) he lives in trees and herbs
8. As Vishnu (Karthigai) he is the head of all adityas and protects all beings
9. As Amshuman (Margashirsha) he is in wind
10. As Bhaga (Pasha or Thai in tamil) he heads the thithis, ghatikas, Ayanas etc
11. As Pushy (Magha) he grows food crops
12. As Parjanya (Phalguna) he heats up the world and powers water cycle

नक्षत्र –Nakshatra – star constellation
ग्रह – Graha– Planet
ताराणा – Taraanam– star 
अिधपो – Adhipo (derived from adhipati)- lord or the presiding deity
विश्व – Vishwa – world
भावनः – bhavanah – causing to be, manifesting
तेजसामपी – (तेजस+अपी) Tejasaamapi – Tejas is bright, energitic
अपी- api – even
तेजस्वी – Tejasvi – Brilliant, energetic
द्वादश – Dwadasha – Twelve
आत्मन् – Atman – Soul, Spirit
नमोऽस्तु – नमस्+अस्तु +ते 
नमस्- Namas – Salute in reverence
अस्तु – Astu – ok, let it be
ते – Te – To you

Aditya Hrudayam Series Week 19
Shloka Taatparyam Shloka 14

आतपी मण्डली मृत्युः पिङ्गलः सर्वतापनः। 
कविर्विश्वो महातेजाः रक्तः सर्वभवोद्भवः॥ 14 ॥

Atapī maṇḍalī mṛtyuḥ piṅgalaḥ sarvatāpanaḥ
kavirviśvo mahātejāḥ raktaḥ sarvabhavodbhavaḥ ॥ 14 ॥

Lord Surya encompasses a full spectrum of creative and destructive powers within himself. Just as how he can power life on this earth, he also has a fierce side that can scorch and burn everything down to ashes. In other words, this shloka hints at climate change – heat waves, wild fires, death and destruction. It reminds us of the aggressive side of his nature and cautions us to be fearful and respectful of his formidable power.

Meaning:

He radiates a lot of heat when he is shining

He is circular in shape. (combined together it can also be interpreted that his orbit is full of heat)

When he is aggressive he is devastating and can cause death.

This makes perfect sense. Every year we hear about people all over the world dying due to intense heat waves. For example, in India month of May is the peak summer time and referred to as ‘Agni Nakshatram’. This is the one-month period when the heat is intense. All schools and colleges are closed. Marriages and other functions are generally not performed during this time. Too much heat can lead to dehydration, heat exhaustion and in extreme cases death.

(At such times) He is tawny (reddish brown) in color (see attach)

He can torment all creatures with his intense energy and burn everything to ashes.
(Note: This also makes perfect sense. Living here in CA, we need not look any farther for wild fires. Although some of them are due to human activities such as arson, here the reference is to sun related reasons such as heat waves, draught and dry vegetation leading to wild fires.)

He is gifted with insight (the poet) and reigns the entire universe

He has fierce temper when he is intense.

At such times he glows Red in color.
(Note:This is the part of the shloka I love the most. Can the sun glow Red? Yes it can. When ? During the wild fires early this year we saw sun glow in a orange/reddish orange color for several days. When particles, such as smoke or dust, fill the atmosphere, the longer wavelengths of light — which look red — scatter more effectively. Hence he appears Red. Check out this link https://earthsky.org/ear…/red-sun-uk-oct-2017-sahara-ophelia

His energy gives rise to the entire worldly existence.

आतपी – radiates heat
मण्डली – circle, orbit
मृत्युः – death
पिङ्गलः – reddish-brown (tawny)
सर्व – all
तापनः – burn , traumatise, miserable
कवि – poet gifted with insight
र्विश्वो – universe
महातेजाः – full of intense/fierce energy
रक्तः – Red (with anger)
सर्व – all
भवोद्भवः भव+उुद्भवः – generate worldly existence

Aditya Hrudayam Series Week 18
Shloka Taatparyam Shloka 13

व्योमनाथस्तमोभेदी ऋग्यजुःसामपारगः। 
घनवृष्टिरपां मित्रो विन्ध्यवीथीप्लवङ्गमः॥ 13 ॥

Vyomanāthastamobhedī ṛgyajuḥsāmapāragaḥ
ghanavṛṣṭirapāṃ mitro vindhyavīthīplavaṅgamaḥ ॥ 13 ॥

Meaning:

He is the lord who rules the sky

He breaks the darkness in the sky every morning ( and also the darkness i.e. ignorance that resides within us)

He is the master of Rig, Yajur and Sama Vedas

He is the cause of heavy rains. (Without him there is no rain – A subtle hint at the water cycle. Sun’s rays causes evaporation of the water into water vapors, which then condense in the clouds and reaches back the earth by precipitation. A more detailed description follows later in Shloka 22)

He is the friend of Varuna ( the rain God or the lord of water )

He effortlessly travels in the sky (across the vindhya mountains) with little or no physical exertion (like a monkey that jumps between trees with ease). 
This brings to mind a very famous story about Vindhya mountains, the Sun and Sage Agastya. Vindhya is the famous mountain range that separates the Deccan Plateau from the Indo-Gangetic plains of North India. According to the ancient legends, the Vindhya mountain which is considered a living deity, asked Surya to circumambulate him, even as he was doing to the Meru mountain. When Surya politely refused, Vindhya started growing taller and taller, obstructing his path. The gods in heaven who were alarmed at this, requested the great sage Agastya to intervene. When Agastya arrived Vindhya bowed to him. The sage commanded him to be like that, until he returned from the south, which he never did.

व्योम – Sky
नाथ – Ruler
तमो – Darkness 
भेदी – one who breaks, interrupts
ऋग् यजुः साम – Rig Yajur and Sama the three Vedas
पारगः – fully conversant or familiar with, accompolished, Mastered
घन – heavy
वृष्टि – rain
रपां apam – of water
मित्रो – friend
विन्ध्य – vindhya mountains
वीथी – street, lane, way, row
प्लव – monkey
ङ्गमः – move