Month: March 2019

Aditya Hrudayam Series Week 29
Shloka Taatparyam Shloka 24

वेदाश्च क्रतवश्चैव क्रतूनां फलमेव च। 24 ।
यानि कृत्यानि लोकेषु सर्व एष रविः प्रभुः॥ 24 ॥

Vedāśca kratavaścaiva kratūnāṃ phalameva ca। 24।
yāni kṛtyāni lokeṣu sarva eṣa raviḥ prabhuḥ॥ 24॥

Meaning:

The Sun God indeed is the (origin of) Vedas and the sacrifices (mentioned in them).
He is also the fruit obtained by performing the sacrifices.
He is the lord who powers all the actions in this universe
He is everything for this Universe.

This shloka reiterates Lord Surya as the universal powerhouse (both spiritual and scientific) that energizes all the actions in the world. Without Him nothing happens and life comes to a stand still. Sun’s energy powers all kind of actions on earth. Sun provides light and heat for life on earth. Sun powers water cycle, weather cycle, makes day/night units of Time which is eternal, makes it possible for plants to grow which in turn support all other forms of life. And, a miniscule fraction of the total output of Sun’s energy is all that is required to power all these actions. The Sun is such a blessing to this universe that we all take for granted. Solar energy is free, readily available at all times all around the world, ready-to-use, no pollution to worry about, and most important of all, will not run out any time in the near future. Now that is quite a powerhouse.

To me, this shloka feels more like a concluding summary. Aditya Hrudayam is a very unique hymn in the sense that the core prayer shlokas (#16 thru #20) are flanked on either side by glories of His attributes and phala shruthi. Shlokas are structured in a very unique way. 1 &2 are introduction, 3 thru 5 are phala shruthi, 6 thru 15 are His attributes, and 16 thru 20 are the core shlokas of the prayer. Then again, 21 thru 24 praise His glories, 25 thru 27 are phala shruthi, and the remaining four shlokas are the conclusion. The Sage perfectly summarizes His glory by praising Him the Lord of all actions in the universe leading to the next segment, the phala shruthi.

वेदाश्च Vedāśca – Vedas
क्रतव kratava – sacrificial rituals 
श्चैव ca+Eva – indeed (is) also
क्रतूनां kratūnāṃ – of these sacrifices rituals 
फलमेव phalameva– fruit
च ca – and
यानि yāni – whatever, whichever
कृत्यानि kṛtyāni – actions that happen
लोकेषु lokeṣu – in the world
सर्व sarva – all
एष eṣa – He
रविः raviḥ – The Sun
प्रभुः prabhuḥ – lord

Aditya Hrudayam Series Week 28
Shloka Taatparyam Shloka 23

एष सुप्तेषु जागर्ति भूतेषु परिनिष्ठितः। 23 ।
एष एवाग्निहोत्रं च फलं चैवाग्निहोत्रिणाम्॥ 23 ॥

Eṣa supteṣu jāgarti bhūteṣu pariniṣṭhitaḥ । 23 ।
eṣa evāgnihotraṃ ca phalaṃ caivāgnihotriṇām ॥ 23 ॥

Meaning:

He abides in the heart of all beings keeping awake even while the beings are asleep. He is both the sacrifice (Agni the sacred fire) and the fruit (of the sacrifice) sought by the performers of the Yajna (agnihotrins).

This shloka in my opinion follows closely on the heels of last shloka on water cycle. This shloka mainly talks about Yagna, a sacred Vedic ritual done to invoke and please deities using fire as a medium and to attain boons for general well being. Per Vedic traditions, Agni is the messenger between people and God and a link between man’s consciousness and cosmic consciousness. During day time Sun gives us light and warmth. During night time people had to depend on fire for light and heat. Thus both Lord Surya and Lord Agni are linked as one supreme luminous deity in this shloka.

In the olden days it was common to do Yajnas to purify the atmosphere and secure timely rains for the crops to grow on earth. Sun through his rays heats up water, converts them to vapor, which then rises to the sky to form clouds and then recycles the water back to earth as rain. This causes the vegetation on the earth to grow. Thus Sun acts like Agni in this aspect. He himself is the fire that heats the water, takes the vapors to the sky to form clouds (like Agni who takes material offerings of the Yajna to the Gods) and causes good rains for the welfare of beings on the earth (the fruit of the sacrifice sought by the performers of the Yagna).

एष Eṣa – He
सुप्तेषु supteṣu – while sleeping
जागर्ति jāgarti – awake 
भूतेषु bhūteṣu – in beings
परिनिष्ठितः pariniṣṭhitaḥ – abides 
एष eṣa – he
एव evā – also
अग्निहोत्रं agnihotraṃ – sacred fire, Agni, Lord of fire
च ca – and
फलं phalaṃ – fruit
चैव caivā – and indeed
अग्निहोत्रिणाम् āgnihotriṇām – performers of the Yajna

Aditya Hrudayam Series Week 27
Shloka Taatparyam Shloka 22

Of all the 31 shlokas in Aditya Hrudayam this particular verse is my absolute favorite. This verse is very very special. It hits the sweet spot and stunningly blends the scientific and spiritual merits of Sun in a very elegant way. It directly talks about the science behind the hydrological cycle. Science and spirituality are two entirely different worlds. But seeking the truth is the central and most fundamental goal to both these communities. It is precisely why they both treasure Sun. NASA explores Him and Vedas adore Him. No matter which way you seek, truth is the truth. It ultimately prevails. So here it goes….

नाशयत्येष वै भूतं तदेव सृजति प्रभुः। 
पायत्येष तपत्येष वर्षत्येष गभस्तिभिः॥ 22 ॥

Nāśayatyeṣa vai bhūtaṃ tadeva sṛjati prabhuḥ।
pāyatyeṣa tapatyeṣa varṣatyeṣa gabhastibhiḥ॥ 22 ॥

Meaning:
(Salutations to the) Lord who destroys the Beings, and who (re)creates them all
He heats the water, drinks (the Water) by His rays, and again Rains (the same Water)

This verse talks about Sun powering the hydrological cycle on earth. The Sage starts by saying Sun is the oldest and greatest recycler of all times. And in the second line he talks about the movement of water above and below the surface of the earth. Without any ambiguity or doubt he hits the nail right on its head. He very clearly states the three stages of the water cycle namely evaporation, condensation and precipitation. It is impressive to me that Sage Agasthya composed this in Treta Yuga. Just to give a perspective of the timeline – we are now in Kali yuga, which is 432,000 human years long. Before kali was Dwapara yuga. It had 864,000 years (twice as long as Kali). Before dwapara was Treta yuga, almost twice as long as Dwapara. So this shloka dates way back in the past, way way before the hydrologic cycle was “scientifically explained” by Bernard Palissy. Now, how is that for science and technology in the Vedic age? Absolutely astonishing !!!
#Adityahrudayam #Solarpower #Vedicscienc

नाश Nāśa – Destroys
यत् yat – that
एष eṣa -He
वै vai – indeed
भूतं bhūtaṃ – all existing beings in the world
तदेव tadeva
तत् Tat – that
ऐव Eva – only
सृजति sṛjati – creates
प्रभुः prabhuḥ – Lord
पायत् pāyat – Drinks
एष eṣa – He
तपत् tapat– Heats, warms
एष eṣa -He
वर्षत् varṣat – rains
एष eṣa – He
गभस्तिभिः gabhastibhiḥ – with His (Sun’s) rays
Gabhasti means the rays of the sun. Gabastibhih is strilinga bahuvacana Tritiya vibakthi

Aditya Hrudayam Series Week 26
Shloka Taatparyam Shloka 21

Before I start today’s blog I would like to say a few words about this week’s blog pictures. These are pictures from NASA astronaut Scott Kelly and showed up on my news feed the morning. Personally I think there is no one sunrise that is glorious over the other. They all are pretty stunning. However, this one is quite special. How?? As you may know, astronaut Kelly spent a year in space. During that time, everyday he witnessed 16 sunrises (oh my one lucky guy!!). Of the total 5,440 sunrises he witnessed, this was the last sunrise he captured on the very last day of his mission. Today’s shloka talks about how the Sun is a witness to all that happens in the world. And I think these photos capture the essence of that theme. The Sun is out there in the space witnessing every single thing happening on this universe. On a side note, please also note how the sun looks white (not yellow) from space.

Switching gears, on to my blog now.

तप्तचामीकराभाय वह्नये विश्वकर्मणे। 
नमस्तमोऽभिनिघ्नाय रुचये लोकसाक्षिणे॥21॥

Taptacāmīkarābhāya vahnaye viśvakarmaṇe।
namastamo’bhinighnāya rucaye lokasākṣiṇe ॥ 21॥

Meaning:

तप्त – Tapta – Heated, Molten
चामीकरा – cāmīkarā – Gold
भाय – ābhāya – appearance, glamor
वह्नये – vahnaye – Fire
विश्वकर्मणे – viśvakarmaṇe – one who activates the world
विश्व – world
कर्म- Actions
नमस् – namas – Salutations
तमस् – tamo(as) – darkness
अभिनिघ्नाय – abhinighnāya – subdues, quells
रुचये – rucaye – radiant, brilliant
लोकसाक्षिणे – lokasākṣiṇe – witness to the world
लोक – loka – world
साक्षिणे – sākṣiṇe – witness

Salutations to Him who is glamorous in appearance like molten gold.
Salutations to Him who is the fire that energizes and activates the world
Salutations to Him who quells and drives away the darkness (both cosmic and internal)
Salutations to Him one who is radiant and one is the witness to the world