Courtesy: Sri.Krishnan Muralidharan
Dear all,
Greetings and Namaste. At the outset, may I wish you all a Very Happy Pongal/Makara Sankranti festivities on 13-Jan-2013, which marks the beginning of Uttarayana or the northern course of Sun.
As Pongal is associated with Lord Surya worship, I am happy to share a very rare hymn titled Jayaditya Ashtakam by Kamatha in Skanda Purana, Maheshvara Khanda, Chapter 51 appearing as part of Jayaditya Mahatmya. A short Phalashruti mentions that one who worships Lord Aditya on Sundays and prays with this hymn gets all illnesses and poverty destroyed without any doubt.
I have given only the hymn portion although the chapter continues with the special prescriptive worship of Lord Jayaditya after bathing in Koti Teertha (I am not sure which kshetra it actually refers to). One who takes bath in Koti Teertha on a Sunday during Ashvina month and prays to Lord Jayaditya (presumably a temple near Koti Teertha) gives immeasurable benefits such as nullification of Brahma-hatya, fulfilment of all desires, etc - equivalent to all the punya one will accrue by doing pilgrimage in Kurukshetra, Prabhasa, Pushkara, and Varanasi.
As usual a few tidbits on Lord Aditya:
- Though hymns on Lord Surya appear in almost every purana, Samba Purana is entirely devoted to Lord Surya
- Bhavishya Purana, Brahma Parva, Saptami Kalpa is also entirely devoted to Lord Surya. This kalpa contains several hymns on Lord Surya and his Parattattva. In Chapter 160, Lord Aditya is praised as below:
nAstyAditya samo devo nAstyAditya samA gatiH |Aditya mUlaM akhilaM trailokyaM nAtra saMshayaH ||bhavatyasmAj jagat sarvaM sa devAsura mAnuSham |rudrendro upendra kendrANAM viprendra tridivaukasAm ||dyutir dyutimatAM kRRitsnA tejo yat sArva-laukikam ||sarvAtmA sarva-lokesho mahAdevaH prajApatiH |sUrya eva trilokasya mUlaM parama-daivatam ||
Meaning : There is no Deva equivalent to Aditya and there is no greater refuge than Lord Aditya. Aditya is the root of the universe and three worlds and there is no doubt about it... Lord Aditya is indeed the Parama Daivata.
- The above statements would not be a surprise to people who study the Puranas as Puranas extol the deity being discussed in the current chapter as the Supreme and Ultimate and there is none on at par to this deity (which unfortunately is the source of many Deity/Power arguments with we mortals).
- But the same Purana will repeat the same message for a different deity in a few chapters later. If we take the literal meaning, it might look like a contradiction and lack of clarity - because superlatives have meaning and relevance only if there is one and only deity that fits the bill. If every deity is given the same superlative attributes, why bother about superlatives?
- But if we go past the literal meaning of these verses and observe the over-riding themes and messages, there is no contradiction or lack of clarity whatsoever. Because the purans never fail to reiterate these deity forms, though may look different and varied, are all the manifestations of the same Brahman and it is a sin and ignorance to see or inject any differences among these forms. These messages are not given subtly - they are given explicitly and multiple times in the same purana. If this message is imbibed, the flow of honey/milk/nectar is sure to follow.
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