Worship Of The Sun

Worship of the Sun
By Trichy Sri Kalyanaraman Courtesy : The Hindu

The Sun is none other than Mahavishnu Himself. He is the God manifest before our eyes. He is known as Aditya. Aditya also means the son of Aditi. Who is the son of Aditi? Vamana is the son of Aditi. And who is Vamana, but an avatar of Mahavishnu? So the Sun is indeed Mahavishnu Himself.
That is why we worship the early morning Sun as Vamana. Worship of the Sun in the morning gets rid of our lethargy and laziness, and fills us with energy. Azhvars have extolled the Vamana avatara. Andal celebrates this avatara of the Lord, where He grew in size, and measured the worlds. Thriuvalluvar in kural 610, says a king should be like Vamana in conquering the three worlds. Thiruvalluvar says that if a king were to shed his lethargy, then he can conquer the three worlds that the Lord did. The words ‘Adi Alandaan’, in this verse, refer to the Vamana avatar. And since the Sun is none other than the Lord who took the Vamana avatar, worship of the Sun will help us achieve what seems impossible.
The Sun is the most important among the navagrahas. All planets are controlled by the Sun. The celestial beings, namely the Devas, and all the planets revolve around the Sun. It is important to rise early in the morning and to have one’s bath early too. The Sun is to be remembered through prayer both in the morning and in the evening. In the evening, we worship the Sun as a manifestation of Varuna, or the rain god.
As part of the questions that Yama in the guise of a Yaksha puts to Yudhishtra, there are questions on the Sun too. The Yaksha asks, “Who makes the Sun rise?” Yudhishtra answers that it is Brahmam, the Supreme One, who makes the Sun rise. What makes the Sun set? It is dharma which makes the Sun set. The Sun is anchored in Truth.
What is a daily occurrence, asks the Yaksha. Yudhistra replies that the illusory world may be seen as a vessel, covered with the sky as a lid. Day and night are the firewood, and the fire that lights this firewood is the Sun. Months and seasons constitute the ladle. With this ladle, Time stirs the contents in the vessel, which include all movable and immovable things, and this is a daily occurrence, replies Yudhishtra