SrI:
Dear
VedAbhimAnis:
adiyEn has been
writing about Veda Mantrams from AruNa PraSnam . One of the readers of the
postings from Chennai asked a few questions about Sooryan as celebrated in
Vedams and Dhivya Prabhandhams . His question was : AzhwArs make reference
to 12 Sooryans ( Swamy NammAzhwAr in Periya ThiruvandhAti and and Poygai AzhwAr
in his Mudhal ThiruvandhAthi) ,where as AruNam( Yajur Veda Samhitai) informs us
that there are only eight Sooryans . He also shared with me his recent findings
of 8 figures of Sooryan in the Soorya Prabhai Vaahanam used at ThirucchAnUr
for Sri PadmAvathi ThAyAr's utsavams .Our reader wanted to know which
number is right . Are ther 8 or 12 AadhityAs ? Are the 8 Sooryans just the
names of the eight Sooryans or 8 different positions of the Sooryan from the
equator to the poles? ?.The number of AadhityAs is confusing because
both ( Sanskrit Vedams and AzhwAr's Tamizh Vedams) are
considered as Iyka KaNDa Vedams . If so , how can we have a conflict between the
two Vedams ? This is a very good question and adiyEn thought that we can
focus on this "anamoly " and use it to post a few essays on Vedic Gods referred to in
AruNam .
The Name and Lore
of Sooryan:
Let us state at the outset that
the Sanskrit Name, Sooryan means " The Supreme Light". He is depicted in general
with two hands holding lotus flowers driving around
Mahaa Meru mountain in a
divine chariot drawn by seven horses representing the seven colours of the
Rainbow ( Violet , Indigo, Blue, green , Yellow,orange and
red).
Book 1 Hymn 35 of Rg Vedam
salutes the Sooryan driving in His chariot with one wheel with His charioteer
AruNan and watching all happenings in the world as ViSva Saakshi ( Part of
Maadhyhnika UpasthAna mantram):
AasatyEna rajasA
vartamAnO nivESayan amrutam martyam cha
hiraNyayEna savitA
rathEnaa dEvO yaati bhuvanAni paSyan
(Meaning): " Throughout the dusky firmament advancing,
laying to rest the immortal and mortal , borne in the golden chariot He cometh ,
SavitAr , God who looks on every creature" as the universal witness and
dispenses fruits as per their karmAs.
He has temples in Soorya
NaarAyaNan Koil ( near Aadhuthurai) , KanjanUr , Arasavalli in A.P ,
Thriumangalakkudi and Konark in Orissa . His chariot houses the Vaidhika VimAnam
at Thirukkudanthai AarAvamudhan's Temple .
AruNa PraSnam from the VedAs,
SooryAshtakam and Adhitya Hrudhayam from IthihAsams are his favorites . His
vastram is red . He is invoked in Yaagams with YeRukku samith and his favorite
flower is Red Lotus. His favorite dhAnyam and NaiVedhyam are Wheat and Sakkarai
Pongal. The mode of worship is Soorya NamaskAram . He is the Father of KarNa and
Sugreevan in the IthihAsams .
The religion where He is the
center of worship as established by Aadhi Sankara,
as one of the six Mathams , is
Souram .
Vedic Gods
:
There are many Vedic Gods: Agni,
Sooryan , Indhran, Bruhaspati, Rbhus, ViSvE dEvA: , Ushas,VaruNan , Mitra ,
Asvin DEvAs , the Maruts, Vaayu , VishNu et al.
They are all celebrated in Rg
Vedam , the oldest of the four Vedams.We will focus first on Sooryan (Aadhityan) inview of
His celebration through Soorya Namaskaram using AruNa PraSnam .The AadhityAs are
recognized in the VedAs as the sons of Aditi Devi and KaSyapa PrajApati
.
Time Line for
Sources/developments on Vedic Gods
Sruti ,BrahmaNAs ,AaraNyakAs ,
Upanishads , Brahma Sutrams , smritis, ItihAsams ,PurANams/VishNu
PurANam and dhivya Prabhandhams( Tamizh Vedams) are the chronological
order. We have to take this order into account , while understanding the
evolution of the numbers of AadhityAs ( 8 or 12 ?).
In Rg Veda , the SooryAs/AdhityAs
are eight ( Rg Veda: Hymn LXXII, Book 10).
As a category of Gods ,these Rg
Vedic AdityAs not to be mixed up with Maruts, VisvE dEvAs and the Rbhus . We
mentioned earlier that the 8 AadhityAs are the sons of Aditi and KaSyapar . When
She ascended to Her former home in the heaven,
Aditi Devi is said to have taken
the first seven of Her sons with Her and left the last son , MartanDa
behind . The names of the First 7 sons , who ascended to heaven with Her are:
VaruNa, Mitra, AryamAn , Bhaga , Amsa , DhAtru and Indhra.
Taittiriya YajurvEda Samhita
gives the number of AdityAs as Eight .It views the name of the
8th Aadhityan left behind is VivasvAn . The BrahmaNAs( Satapatha BrahmaNa) lists the number
of AadhityAs as TWELVE . VishNU PurANam follows suit.
The names of the
Rg Vedic AadhiytAs are :
(1) VaruNa (2) Mitra (3) AryamAn
(4) Bhaga (5) AmSa (6) Dhaatr(7) Indra and
(8) MartaanDa
.
The Names of the
TWELVE AadhityAs according to VishNu PurANam are:
(1) Amsa (2) Aryaman (3)
Bhaga (4) DhUti (5) Mitra (6) Pushan (7) Sakra (8) Savitr
(9) Tvashtar (10) VaruNa (11)
VishNu and (12) Vivasvat .
To be continued
,
V.Sadagopan
__._,_.___
Your email settings: Individual Email|Traditional
Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required) Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch to Fully Featured Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe __,_._,___ |
Home Page
http://www.ibiblio.org/sripedia |
srirangasri-subscribe@yahoogroups.com To subscribe to the list |