Courtesy: Sri.Krishnan Muralidharan
Dear All,
Greetings and Namaste. As Makara Sankranti/Pongal festival falls on Tuesday (14-Jan-2014) I am happy to share a very rare Ashtottram on Lord Surya by Sage Narada in Skanda Puranam, Maheshvara Khandam, Chapter 43 titled Bhattaditya Mahatmyam. In this chapter, Sage Narada explains (to Arjuna) the greatness of Lord Surya worship as well as the procedure and this Ashtottaram appears as part of that.
In the first few stanzas of this chapter, Sage Narada mentions to Arjuna that it is rare to find/attain devotion to Lord Surya and perform Archana to him (durlabhA bhaktiH sUryo vA durlabhaM tasya cA.arcanam || ). He also declares that one does so is a Kritartha:
ye smaranti raviM bhaktyA kIrtayanti ca ye narAH | pUjayanti ca ye nityaM kRRitArthAs te na saMshayaH || 43.3 ||
Let us see what Sage Veda Vyasa has to say on Lord Surya to Bheeshma in Bhavishya Purana, Brahma Parva, Saptami Kalpa, verses 1-4:
nAsti-sUrya-samo-devo nAsti-sUrya-samA-gatiH ||
nAsti-sUrya-samaM-brahma nAsti-sUrya-samaM-hutam | nAsti-sUrya-samo-dharmo nAsti-sUrya-samaM-dhanam || 3 ||
nAsti-sUryAddRRite-kAmo nAsti-sUryAddRRite padam | nAsti-sUrya-samo-bandhur nAsti-sUrya-samaH-suhRRit || 4 ||
nAsti-sUrya-samA-mAtA nAsti-sUrya-samo-guruH | nAsti-sUrya-samaM-tIrthaM na pavitraM tataH param || 5 ||
taM arcantaH stuvantash ca prApnuvanti parAM gatim | te prapnnAstu ye bhaktyA muktAs te bhava-sAgarAt || 7 ||
Meaning (Gist) : There is no Deva equal to Surya; there is no refuge equal to Surya; there is no Brahma equal to Surya; there is no dharma or wealth equal to Surya; there is no mother or relative equal to Surya; there is no Tirtha (holy water) equal to Surya and there is nothing more sacred than Surya. Those who prays and worships Surya gets the ultimate Gati and emancipation from this ocean of Bhava.
Going by the above literally , as well as other verses of Sage Vyasa in the wealth of Puranas where he more or less mentions similar things to different deities in different places, will I not start doubting Sage Vyasa - is he contradicting himself or is he hypocritic? For example, in the same Skanda Purana/Khanda, in Chapter 19, Lord Vishnu mentions thus:
shivAt parataro nAsti pUjanIyo hi bho dvijAH | ... vinA shivena yat ki~ncid ashivaM bhavati xaNAt || shivAt parataro nAsti bhukti mukti pradAyakaH ||
Meaning : There is none who is more venerable than Lord Shiva ... There is none beyond Lord Shiva who can given Bhukti/Mukti. Without Shiva everything becomes Ashiva (inauspicious)...
Lord Shiva also repeats the same message to Lord Vishnu several times in Skanda Purana itself. Lord Brahma mentions the same to Lord Vishnu, Shiva many hundreds of times. What is the meaning of these unless this is for politicking or mukha-stuti? Why ddn't he tell in plain English (sorry Sanskrit) who is the real supreme and which of the other claims should be discounted?
This doubt will obviously come only when I choose to be a manda-bhAgya with selective listening and reading and surface level understanding. A balanced study of Puranas will prove there is no contradiction whatsoever in the verses of Sage Vyasa nor he seems to be hypocritic. It will also reverse the pointer to me - unfortunately I am the hypocrite who refuse to see/understand the plain obvious as I try to see through the lens of my own egos and prejudices. No marks for guessing who is the loser. Until it dawns on me that I need to graduate beyond names if I were to make semblance of spiritual progress, I will unfortunately remain a loser by choice.
May We Seek The Blessing of Lord Surya - a yet another name to denote the one and only Brahman on this Makara Sankranti Day! May I also extend best wishes for Pongal festivities.
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