Divinity in the Aditya Hrudayam

It’s another peaceful morning, bright and airy giving the world a new life; life as we soak in this light, life as we soak in these rays, life that subconsciously controls our emotions, and life that we have so easily taken for granted. The sun, this golden ball of fire, has always risen and always set without fail giving us this precious life, the value of which we still don’t quite know. This very ball of fire has seen many years; it has defined what we call as time.

Centuries ago, in the earlier yugas, a distressed Rama stood on this earth, in a battle field facing the wrath of his opponent Ravana on one such brightly lit morning, just that the mood was entirely different. As Ravana continued to intimidate him, Rama was not very inclined towards war. It was at this very prime moment that Sage Agastya appeared before him and shared with him a few pearls of divine wisdom. The Aditya Hrudayam is a profound set of verses composed by the Great Sage Agastya and rendered by Rama in his search for the answer to his distress on the battle field.

The meaning of Aditya is synonymous with the Sun, the giver of energy that helps us enjoy all the experiences of life with our senses
Hrudayam relates to the one who shines or dwells in the heart. Hence the consciousness that resides in the heart of Aditya, pulsating with energy is the inner unchanging witness to all thought, words and deeds.

It is believed that by reciting the Aditya Hrudayam, one is blessed with pure thought, words and clean deeds carrying no karma forward and is ensured of moksha. The sun is universal, the brightest light of divinity visible to our consciousness and hence we bow to this light as a sacred form of the supreme for without it, there is no life, no consciousness.

The essence of the Aditya Hrudayam brings about all destruction to our fears and human inhibitions and prepares us for any calamity/unforeseen event in our lifetimes. The Aditya Hrudayam is a catalyst that helps control emotions while experiencing these events and bring them to moderation thereby seeking to achieve greater heights in our hunger for moksha.

The Aditya Hrudayam when literally translated describes the in detail the state of anxious Rama on the battle field when Sage Agastya appears before him. He teaches him the secrecy of divine worship of the sun which in our language translates to the Great Sun having warm rays with golden hues, nourishing and energizing the universe that rises and brightens up the horizon. It is an all encompassing bright light that is worshipped by both the Devas and Asuras. This light empowers Chandra and Agni and therefore is equal to worshiping the lord of the world. He is the embodiment of all the Gods, self luminous and the sustainer of life. He is Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva, Skanda, Prajapati, Indra, Kubera, Kala, Yama, Chandra, Soma and Varuna. He is the embodiment of the 8 vaasus, the Sandhyas, the twin Ashwins, the Maruts, Manu, Vayu, Agni, the maker of the seasons and the store house of divine light. He is the Son of Aditi, the inspirer of the senses, the nourished, the one with golden rays, the ever brilliant, the seed of the universe and the maker of the day. He is the master of 7 green horses, having thousand rays, the destroyer of darkness, the source of happiness, the one who mitigates suffering and the infuser of life into the cosmic egg. He is the store house of riches, like the hiranya garbhah - the one with a golden womb, the illuminator, the bearer of the divine fire, the ever blissful and the destroyer of "cold" [evil minded]. He is the master of the 3 vedas, Rig, Yajur, Sama, he is the sender of dawn, the one who blesses us with rain, the one who crosses the Vindhya range, and the one who sports in the Brahmanadi. He is the giver of heat, adorned with rays and reddish in appearance. He is the Lord of the stars and planets and constellations and the origin of everything in the universe. he is the Lord who appears in 12 forms through out the year [12 months]. Salutations to Him! He is the great lord who is the presiding deity of the eastern mountains and western mountains. He is the giver of victory, he is joy born out of victory, the golden one. He is the one who subdues the senses whose emergence makes the lotus bloom. The Sun is consciousness, that is seated in all those who live, in all created beings and he remains awake when all else sleeps. He is both the sacred fire as well as the fruits of such divine worship. Sage Agastya tells Lord Rama, Raghava, to sing the glories of the divine sun and conquer all the dangers that befall him; the Sun will not leave him. Concentrate on the Sun, recite this hymn 3 times and you will conquer all your fears and enemies.

Gazing at the supreme sun, Raghava recited this divine hymn and experienced the supreme joy of fearlessness and sipping water thrice; he purified himself and prepared for battle. Thus knowing the impending death of Ravana, Surya, and all the other great gods blessed Rama with victory.

The Aditya Hrudayam, in its divine words encapsulates energy into itself that spread divine vibrations around us as we recite these words. Over a period of time, this regular recital leads us to purify and conquer our inner thoughts and conquer our fears by discarding the desires that lead up to them. This profound knowledge is experienced everyday with the waking of the sun into our lives. It may also be described as the tiny drop of light we light for the Gods when we bow in reverence to them during our daily prayer. This fire is but a small speck, an extension of the larger ocean of flames that make up the great Sun.

To the great divine Sun God I pray for another bright day.

The voice of a billion people

An atheist decided to blow up a bridge, a bridge that holds the belief of one billion voices. A bridge that stands as a legacy to the most ancient mythology in this world. If we don't voice our belief now when will we?

An insensitive man claimed that Valmiki said Lord Ram was a drunkard. Yes, Valmiki was living next door when he said it. One billion hearts took a beating that day; one billion people were angered. Isn't it time to shout back?

The Sethu Samudram belongs to a billion voices of India and not to the current ruling government. Governments will come and go, but the reverberating sound of a billion voices will continue to ring in the y"ears" of history.

A construction company claims that they are doing good by "rebuilding" an ancient temple at Omkareshwar along the Narmada, without adequate historical or architectural research. It is a temple that carries one of the most ancient Jyothir Lingas. If we don’t protect out legacy now when will we?

Our culture is at stake; an ancient world is almost forgotten giving way to new world culture at the cost of questioning centuries of belief and destroying what ever little we have for economic gain which we can live without. If we don’t realize that now when will we?

A masjid was broken down mercilessly. Babur's only surviving legacy to this country's ancient heritage was pulled down. If we don't save what is left of our history now when will we?

This is an age that sees no rule to dharma, no rule to goodness, no rule to goodwill and no rule of ahimsa. If we don't check our values now when will we?

Today the ancient bridge built by Lord Ram is questioned for its worth, because they don't see money in our heritage. Tomorrow they may want to break down a standing temple claiming real estate. If we don’t save our identity who will?

Do we need the west to sell Yoga back to us?
Do we need the west to teach us the value of turmeric?
Do we need the west to save our heritage by proclaiming them world heritage sites?

Who are we then? What are we then? What is our identity?

Isn't it crazy that an IT park is on the list of places to show when a white man shows up here to experience the legacy called India.

As Rabindranath Tagore said:

Where the mind is without fear and the head held high;
Where knowledge is free;
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls;
Where words come out from the depth of truth;
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection;
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way into the dreary desert sand of dead habit(or materialism);
Where the mind is led forward by Thee into ever-widening thought and action;
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.

Jyotir Linga Rameswaram, shrine near the sea

Rameshwaram – Temple for a cosmic bath

It was a moment, a moment recorded in faith, not written on a tablet or a wall but in the mind’s of the generations to follow, an event that brought awe and amazement over the truth, that there is a supernatural out there.

In the middle of the vast ocean, a King lay his feet on the sandy beaches of earth and turned the island into a sacred land. It was an island that took the shape of the sacred subtle sound OM. On this island He was advised to worship the Lord by a great sage, who guided him through his worship. It was here that his worship brought into being a huge column of fire that rose out of the ocean and presented itself as a Jyotir Linga among these sacred sands.

A miracle on the golden sands remains embedded in the mind. The vast ocean ahead gives no hint that it ever subdued to a column of fire. Its sunrise again, the calm waters send ripples to the coast, ripples that gentle toss the boats waking the world out of deep slumber. Times have changed, the very idol of the Lord that once was worshipped by the great King in the open, is now covered well within the walls of a huge temple. Three prakaras, need to be crossed to see the Lord deep within his dark chamber. A chamber where the very light of the Jyotir Linga now lies dim, and is visible only to a true sincere aspirant.

They say the great King was Lord Rama who was advised by sage Agastya to perform the worship to Lord Shiva to rid himself off the karma of having killed Ravana, a great Shiva Bhakta. It was Hanuman who went to the banks of Narmada (or Kailasa is debatable) and brought back the Shiva Linga for the worship but didn’t make it in time. Lord Rama made a replica of the Lord in sand and Lord Shiva rose to give it its life. Hanuman was very disappointed that he didn’t make it in time and that the ritual was performed in his absence. He tried to uproot the Linga but was unsuccessful and the marks of it are still visible on the Linga. The Shiva Linga Hanuman brought was also installed, a little to the south, and should be worshipped first before the main Linga is worshipped.

Read more in details: Rameshwaram – Temple for a cosmic bath

It’s a different world there, when one descends into Rameshwaram, with 51 theerthams scattered around this island. 22 of these wells are well within the temple complex. The feeling of purity is very evident when you walk through the corridors, bathing at each well and heading into the temple to finally meet the Lord. The times have changed, the dark torch lit corridors now blaze with electric lights, yet the pillars and the music carries you back into those times, of a different living, perfect living with a slower life and more room for peace and spiritualism and oneness with the Lord.