Adityahrudayam

Aditya hrudayam is a Upasana stotra

For those who are not initiated into the Hindu religion and philosophy - Upasana is a way of practice
which allows one to control and calm the mind or say attain "chittasuddhi" !! . Upasana allows the
seeker to formalize a formless truth to a form of his like and it allows him to practice. This is usually
done by chanting mantras or Stotras. The repetitive chanting leads to internal calming effects or
more precisely chittasuddhi. Upasana in that sense is a ritual though it may not involve elaborate
puja etc. The Upasanas evolved from the time of Vedas which are known as "Srutis" . Although ritual
process is not the essence of Upanishads, when we look at Upanishads which are part of "Sruti"
literature, we do come across Upasanas (for example in Chandogyopanishad) . Upasanas are more
frequently seen in Smrutis. Itihasas are part of Smrutis. And Itihasas like Mahabharata , Ramayana
and Bhagavatam contain mantras and stotras, which form the crux of Upasanas .

The Adikavya namely Ramayana has one such stotra addressed to Sun God. Surprisingly it is the only
stotra in entire Ramayana.
This comes in the 107th Sarga of Yuddhakanda.
The stotra is taught by Sage Agastya to Rama.
The context is the battle with Ravana.
Rama is seemingly worried about the battle with Ravana who seemed to have mystical powers.
Ravana was fresh and ready, seemingly in a better position to do the battle !
Concerned , Sage Agastya himself comes down and preaches the ancient secret ( Srunu guhyam
sanatanam ) to Rama to rejuvenate his spirits.

The stotra starts with a preamble. The first two slokas announce the state of the battle and the arrival of
Agastya to address Rama as follows ( Sloka 3).

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The third sloka makes it clear that Agastya is there to teach an ancient secret ( )
and elaborates on Aditya Hrudayam from fourth sloka onwards.

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Agastya tells Rama in slokas 4-6 the importance of Aditya Hrudayam which is auspicious , beneficial,
brings victory in the battle. He tells Rama that this prayer ( Aditya Hrudayam) dispels doubts,
alleviates sorrow and anxiety , increases longevity of life. These three slokas are beautiful and are
wonderful to read ! Most people even remember these slokas and recite them and feel as though
they have recited complete Adityahrudayam.
Then Agastya extols the Sun god with his various facets in slokas starting from
...
..... ....
| (Sloka 15 line 1).

Bringing out that Sun god is the embodiment of all Gods. He is Brahma, Vishnu, and Maheswara.
Indeed it falls in line with the first level concept of Vedic Gods which included all of nature in the
pantheon of Gods ,Sun being the key.

Then from the second line of Sloka 15 onwards Agastya teaches direct prayers to Sun God ( namostu te ..
).

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...... ...... .....
This goes on till sloka 21 . These six slokas are the crux of Adityahrudayam which details the actual salutations
to be made to Sun God or the mantras to be repeated !

Then come the series of statements on the power and spread of the Sun God.
ఏ ...
..... ఏ !
( Esha supteshu jaagarti.. , sarva eva raviH prabhuH)

Then comes Agastya's exhortation to Rama.

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That is to say that any person lost in wilderness or difficulties, singing the glories of Sun God, he will
not come to grief.

ఏ ఏ |
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Then he tells Rama the process of the Upasana. He tells Rama "Recite the mantras three times and
you will be victorious". Three is number that repeats in several such instructions. For example
Nachiketa is made to repeat the process of fire three times in Kathopanishad. In marriages the tying
of mangalasutra is made with three knots !!

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Then Agastya tells Rama that in that moment "you will be able to kill Ravana" . Having conveyed the
ancient secret Agastya disappears.

The slokas 28 and 29 confirm that Rama followed the advice of Agastya and was ready for the battle
( sloka 30). This state of Rama is diametrically opposite to that of Rama in the first sloka.

The last sloka was the poetic reaffirmation. The bright Sun pleased by the prayer of Rama , looking at
Rama as though he is asking him to "hurry up " and complete the task !

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Thus the Aditya Hrudayam conveys the essence of the Sun God and beneficial nature of prayers
addressed to him.

For countless millions it is a daily Upasana

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