Sri:
Dear VedAbhimAnis :
In the previous post , adiyEn mnetioned
about the links of AruNa PraSnam ( Surya
Upanishad, AaruNam, Surya NamaskAra
Mantrams ) to Ratha Sapthami celebrating
Surya NaarAyaNa Murthy sitting in
the middle of the orbit of Aditya
( Aditya Mandalam).
Let us assemble some information
Points about AruNa Prasnam before
delving deep into the AruNa PraSna
Veda Mantrams :
1. AruNa PraSanam is housed in
Yajur Veda Taitareeya SaakhA
AraNyakam .It is recited for the
Phalans of disease free body
( arOga dhruDagAtram) , life
enhancement ( Aayush Abhivruddhi)
and banishment of premature death
( apamruthyu dhOsha nasanam ) .
2. It contains 32 anuvAkAs housing 130
PanchAtees ( individual Veda Mantrams).
At the end of reciting each PanchAsat ,
the reciter facing the Sun prostrates before
the Sun . Those who are not able to
prostrate 130 times , simply offer their
worship with the prayer: " Sri ChAyaa
SuvarcchalAmBhA SamEta Sri
Soorya NaarAyaNa SwaminE Nama: "
followed by Ashtakahsara mantram .
3. The Mantrams of AaruNam ( AaruNa
Kethuka Saayanam) deal largely with
Surya UpAsanA . That is why it is called
Surya Upanishad . This is different
from Akshi Upanishad also recited for
freedom from eye disoeders.
4.As mentioned before ,The recitation of
these mantrams with the performance of
Surya Namaskarams at Sunrise yields
long life, perfect health and other desired
goals of Life.
5. The famous Prasnam known as Mantra
Pushpam is housed as the 22nd anuvAkam.
The importance of Mantra Pushpam and
the meanings of the mantrams of this
anuvAkam have been included in
the 106th ebook in the Sundarasimham
series :
http://www.sundaras imham.org
AnuvAkam by AnuvAkam Content
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A wide variety of subject matter is
covered in AaruNam .
AnuvAkam 1 to 6
Prayers to Suryan and His links
to Kaalam ( day/night/paksham/ Maasam/
Rutu/ayanam/ Samvatsaram are
covered in the first 6 anuvAkams.
Suryan is meditated upon as Kaala
Svaroopi . In this visualization of
Kaalam as a fast flowing river ,
the beauty of Ruthus (seasons)
and their atidEvatais are praised .
Seventh AnuvAkam
The seventh anuvAkam provides
a description of Soorya Mandalam
and 8 AadityAs along with Mahaa
Meru mountain .The abode of the 8th
Aditya , Kasyapa , is identified as
Mahaa Meru Mountain ( Uttara dhruvam).
Eighth AnuvAkam
In the 8th anuvAkam , the three
Mantra drushtA rishis talk about
Kaala Mruthyu, akAla Mruthyu ,
( Untimely death) and the reason
and cause of death .The prayer to
Agni to bless us to travel in
the righteous direction also finds
its home here .
Ninth AnuvAkam
The 9th anuvAkam prays to many
devatAs and ways to defeat apamruthyu
are included . Jamadhagni Maharishi
is the mantra dhrushtaa for the Ninth
anuvAkam
The focus of the 10th anuvAkam is
Aswini dEvAs .
The 11th anuvAkam celebrates
the Vaibhavam of Surya NaarAyaNan
and the power of Surya UpAsanaa to
gain the PurushArthams . Gayatri Mantram
eulogizing the antharyAmi Brahman
of the Sun God finds its place here .
The 12th anuvAkam is a prayer to Indra.
The 13th AnuvAkam deals with
Kaala Mruthyu , a son of Adithi
Devi and how He reduces the longevity
of one with the rise and setting of
Kaala Mruthyu ( MaarthANDan) .
Ways to blunt the power of
MaarthANDan thru sandhya
UpAsana is referred to here .
The next three anuvAkAs (14,15&
16)
consist of many prayers to Suryan .
The 17th and the 18th AnuvAkAs
address prayers to Vaayu .
The 19th anuvAkam is about
the description of various narakams.
The tattvam of AruNa Kethuka Saayanam
is explained in the 20th and the 21st
AnuvAkams .
The 22nd AnuvAkam is a salutation to
the Jala Devataa . This is the Mantra
Pushpa anuvAkam mentioned earlier .
The 23rd anuvakam touches on
the subjects of Jagath Srushti ,
sankalpam to gain one's wishes .
The 24th , 25th and the 26th AnuvAkams
deal with many rituals like
procurement of
water from six different sources, Construction
of Uttara vEdhi , spreading of lotus leaves ,
Agni Prathishtai et al.
The 27th anuvAkam is a compilation of
the seven daatus of the Body ( Skin , Blood,
Flesh, Medhas, bone , majjaa ,Suklam , Ojas).
Addiitonal information on the nava dhvArams of
the body , Jaraa ( old age), rOgha grahaNam
( acquiring diseases) , rebirth , release from
the cycles of birth and death ( Moksham) are
covered .
The 28 th anuvAkam instructs us on how to
pray to Lord Agni . The 29th offers instruction on
how to pray to the Rain God ( Parjanya ) . The 30th
anuvAkam is a prayer for long life ( Veda PrAyam).
The 31st anuvAkam deals with VaiswAnara Yaj~nam
thru prayer to KubhEra to fulfill desires for material
wealth to serve BhagavAn and His BhAgavathAs.
The 32nd AnuvAkam
In this final anuvAkam describes as how to
perform Samvatsara Vratam and points out
that anyone who completes that vratam
would accumulate many auspiciousness
( PuNyams) : " Tapasvee puNyO bhavati ,
Tapasvee PuNyO bhavathi ".
adiyEn will provide the meanings of
the mantrams of the individual
PanchAsathis of the 32 anuvAkams
in future postings .
Sriman NaarAyaNa Smruti ,
Daasan , Oppiliappan Koil V.Sadagopan