The Sūrya Upaniṣad in praise of the Sun is part of Atharva Veda Saṃhitā. An english translation by Dr. A. G. Krishna Warrier is freely available online. - The importance of Sūrya The tradition of Sanātana Dharma (Eternal Law, the original name of hinduism) accords a very important place to Sūrya, the Sun, revered as a remover of darkness, bestower of wealth, energy and happiness, sustainer of all life forms — from vegetal kingdom to humans and even devas — by giving light, heat and vital energy without differentiating among the recipients of his beneficence. Sūrya is the nourisher of all living beings, the life force of the phenomenal world and the originator of time divided into days and nights by the movement relative to the earth. Sūrya is the chief of the Navagrahās (the classic planets of hindu astrology) and one of the five principal forms of Saguṇa Brahman (The Absolute with attributes known as Īśvara, the ruler of the universe). It is a customary to worship him daily as prescribed by two ancient rituals of Sanātana Dharma. The first ritual, Sandhyāvandanam, is the worship of Sūrya during the morning, the mid day and the dusk. The Gāyatrī Mantra recited by the brāhmiṇs during Sandhyāvandanam is the most sacred invocation to Sūrya. You can ear the it in the video from 237 to 253. The second one, reestablished by Ādi Śaṅkarācārya, is the Pancāyatana pūjā, i.e the daily worship of the five principal forms viz., Gaṇeśa, Śiva, Śakti, Viṣṇu and Sūrya among orthodox Hindu homes. Note that Sūrya is a Pratyakṣa devatā, i.e. a deity visible through direct perception, without the need of any other pramāṇa (means of knowledge) like śabda (verbal testimony), anumāna (inference) etc. - Hinduism is neither a polytheism nor a paganism It is important to mention that Sanātana Dharma is not a polytheism as many bad informed people could be tempted to think. The names, forms and attributes of deities are apparently different from the temporary relative truth standpoint (Vyāvahārika sattā), but are essentially equal reflections of the one Saguṇa Brahman. If Saguṇa Brahman or Īśvara were to have a given form, it would be limited in space and time. Yet, according to hindu scriptures and logic, the limited cannot be the higher truth of the infinite Godhead. In other words, nāma (name), rūpa (form) and attributes ascribed to Īśvara are not intrinsic but — just like time and space — superimpositions on the limitless and underlying Reality, undecaying substratum of all. Therefore Saguṇa Brahman is ultimately non-different from Nirguṇa Brahman, the attributeless absolute Being or eternal Consciousness that is immutable, partless, destitute of difference either external or internal. Brahman upholds all and is the Ātman or true Self of all. Brahman appears to be Saguṇa only through Māyā, the power of delusion. Sanātana Dharma is neither a polytheism nor a paganism, not even a monotheism who believe in a relative God external to this world, located somewhere in heaven. According to Sanātana Dharma, the Ultimate Reality is neither five nor three, neither half of two nor third of three, but the unspeakable One-without-a-second called by different names by the sages, as stated by the Ṛg Veda (1-164-46). - Copyrights disclaimers I do not own the copyrights of some visuals featured in the video. BBC owns the copyrights for the 12 seconds sequence of the Ganges shown at the end of the video ; it is extracted from an episode of the nature documentary Ganges, a BBC 2007 serie for television on the natural history of the Ganges in India and Bangladesh. All my thanks to the youtube users Kagnet and Kalcymc for the beautiful sunrises freely shared on their channels. The chanting of the Upaniṣad is a free online resource. Regards from France, Kaviraj
Posted on: Fri, 22 Aug 2014 15:59:46 +0000
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