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Adityahrudayam

Adityahrudayam 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 Stotram. 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 Upasana evolved from the time of Vedas which are known as "Shrutis" . Although ritual process is not the essence of Upanishads, when we look at Upanishads which are part of "Shruti" literature, we do come across Upasana (for example in Chandogyopanishad). Upasana are more frequently seen in Smritis. Itihasas are part of Smritis. And Itihasas like Mahabharata, Ramayana and Bhagavatam contain mantras and Stotrams, which form the crux of a Upasana .

The Adi Kavya namely Ramayana has one such Stotram addressed to Sun God.
Surprisingly it is the only Stotram in entire Ramayana.
This comes in the 107th Sarga of Yuddhakanda.
The Stotram 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 Stotram 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).
rāma rāma mahābāhō
śruṇu guhyam sanātanaṁ ||

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

aditya hr̥dayaṁ puṇyaṁ sarva śatruvināśanam|
jayāvahaṁ japēnnityaṁ akṣayyaṁ paramaṁ śivam ||4|
sarvamaṁgaḷa māṁgalyaṁ sarvapāpa praṇāśanam|
ciṁtāśōkapraśamanaṁ āyurvardhanamuttamam ||5|
raśmimaṁtaṁ samudyaṁtaṁ dēvāsura namaskr̥tam |
pūjayasva vivasvaṁtaṁ bhāskaraṁ bhuvanēśvaram ||6|

Agastya tells Rama in slokas 4-6 the importance of Adityahrudayam which is auspicious, beneficial, brings victory in the battle. He tells Rama that this prayer (Adityahrudayam) dispels doubts, alleviates sorrow and anxiety, increases longevity of life. He asks Rama to worship rising Sun-God who is greeted by Gods and demons alike and who illumines the world. 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
sarva dēvātmakō hyēṣa tējasvī rasmibhāvanaḥ ...
..... ....
nakṣatra graha tārāṇāṁ adhipo visva bhāvanaḥ| (Sloka 15 line 1).

Bringing out that Sun god is the embodiment of all Gods. He creates and sustains hosts of gods, demons and their worlds by his rays. 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 .. namōstutē').

tējasāmapi tējaśvi dvādaśātman namōstutē||15||
namaḥ pūrvāya girayē paścimāyādrayē namaḥ |
jyōtirgaṇānāṁ patayē dinādhipatayē namaḥ ||16|
jayāya jayabhadrāya haryaśvāya namō namaḥ |
namōnamasśasrāṁśō adityāya namō namaḥ||17|
nama ugrāya vīrāya sāraṁgāya namō namaḥ |
namapadma prabhōdhāya pracaṁḍāya namō namaḥ ||18|
brahmēśānacyutēśāya sūryāyādityavarcasē|
bhāsvatē sarva bhakṣāya raudrāya vapuṣē namaḥ ||19|
tamōghnāya himaghnāya śatrughnāyamitātmanē|
kr̥taghnaghnāya dēvāya jyōtiṣāṁ patayē namaḥ ||20|
taptacāmīkarābhāya vahnayē viśvakarmaṇē |
namastamōbhinighnāya rucayē lōkasākṣiṇē ||21|
...... ...... .....
This goes on till sloka 21. These six slokas are the crux of Adityahrudayam which detail the actual salutations to be made to Sun God referring to him by various aspects of his power. These are the core prayer mantras to be repeated!

Then come the series of statements on the power and spread of the Sun God in four Slokas from Sloka 22 to Sloka 24

nāśayatyēṣa vai bhūtaṁ
tadēva srujati prabhuḥ |
pāyatyēṣa tapatyēṣa
varṣayatyēṣa gabhistibhiḥ||22||

Agastya says 'He alone actually destroys and brings into existence and sustains all that has come into existence. He alone radiates heat by his rays and sends showers'.

Then comes Agastya's exhortation to Rama in Sloka 25

ēnamāmāpatsu kr̥cchēṣu kāṁtārēṣu bhayēṣu ca|
kīrtayan puruṣaḥ kaścit nāvasīdati rāghava ||25||

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

pūjayasva ēnaṁ ēkāgrō dēvadēvaṁ jagatpatim|
ētat triguṇītaṁ japtvā yuddhēṣu vijayiṣyasi ||26||

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 Mangala sutra is made with three knots !!

asmin kṣaṇē mahābāhō rāvaṇaṁ taṁ vadhiṣyasi|
ēvamuktō tadā agastyō jagāma ca yathāgatam ||27||

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!

atharaviravadan nirīkṣya rāmaṁ
muditamanāḥ paramaṁ hr̥ṣyamāṇaḥ |
niśicarapatisaṁkṣayaṁ viditvā
suragaṇamadhyagatō vacastvarēti ||

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

For countless millions it is a daily Upasana.
|| om tat sat ||