How to Bend Destiny with the Navagraha Mantras – 3 – The Sun
Gain grace and authority by channeling the power of the Sun!
This post continues the ongoing series on How to Bend Destiny.
Click here for part 1 and here for part 2.
The Sun – King of the Solar System
In the Solar System, the Sun occupies the most important position. It holds all the planets and moons around it by the force of its gravity, warms each planet with its heat and lights the way for us to go about our daily lives here on Earth. It is a planet of principal importance.
Needless to say, the Sun occupies a similar position in Eastern astrology. It is a powerful planet.
Effects of the Sun
Its position in the horoscope influences your relationships with authority and male figures in your life.
It reflects the enthusiasm and idealism of a person, the vitality, dignity and grace with which they carry themselves and their ambition in life.
Boost your solar power!
The Vedic prayer to the Sun is below, followed by the Surya Gayatri and the Gayatri Maha Mantra.
Vedic prayer to the sun
Transliteration
“Japakusuma Samkaasham Kashyapeyam Mahadhyuthim,
Tamorim Sarva Paapagnam Pranathosmi Divakaram”
Meaning
“I pray to the Sun, the one who creates day, destroys
all sin, the enemy of darkness, who is supremely brilliant, the descendent of Kaashyapa (Rishi), the one who
shines like the prayer-flower (hibiscus).”
Surya Gayatri
Transliteration
“Om Bhaskaraya Vidmahe
Divakaraya Dhimahi
Tanno Suryah Prachodayat”
Meaning
“We know the brilliant one,
We meditate on the shining one,
May Surya inspire us.”
There is more than one Gayatri mantra for Surya – see the link here for a list of the others: http://srisuryadevalayam.org/suryamantras.html.
But WAIT…don’t be too hasty! There’s a better way…
As mentioned in the second post in this series (click here to read it), as one cannot know whether strengthening the Sun’s influence in a horoscope through mantras will be beneficial unless a specialist is consulted, the far simpler path is to pray to the Ruling Deity of each of the planets.
This is a far safer and more desireable method than using a direct mantra as the deity will not only ensure a beneficial influence from the planet, but also bless you themselves. It’s almost like a 2 for 1 deal at the supermarket!
Mantras to Shiva
The Ruling Deity of the Sun is Shiva – mantras which can be used are Om Nama Shivaya (known as the Panchakshari mantra), or Rudra Gayatri (click on the bold to see more about each) or the Maha Mrityunjaya mantra.
The Maha Mrityunjaya mantra is certainly the first choice out of the three, but would ideally require Guru initiation to fully appreciate its beauty. In the absence of this, the simplest is the Panchakshari mantra – which anyone can chant freely.
Coming soon: Part 4 – The Moon
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Rudra Gayatri Mantra
Let the grace of Shiva destroy your sins and empower you!
Transliteration:
“Om Tatpurusaya vidmahe,
Mahadevaya dhimahi,
Tanno Rudrah pracodayaat”
(Semi-literal) Translation:
We know that being,
We meditate on the Supreme God,
May Lord Rudra enlighten us.
Purpose:
- Removes your bad karma
- Removes fear of death, humiliation, loss of reputation and other losses
- Helps protect and improve your health; Shiva is known as the great healer
- Curbs the malefic effects of the Sun (Surya) – Shiva is the Ruling Deity
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How to Bend Destiny with the Navagraha Mantras – 2
Take control of your Destiny!
This post continues from the introduction – click here to read it.
The mantras
Below are the Vedic mantras for each of the Navagrahas (9 planets). Subsequent posts will go through each of the planets in turn and provide information on the attributes and specific Gayatri mantras of each.
A word of caution:
Generally, it is unwise to pray to specific planets to strengthen their influence in your horoscope without knowing the repercussions. In certain situations, it may even be beneficial that they remain weak.
I encourage any interested party to contact a reputable astrologer to get an idea of where you may need help.
Remember: The specific advice given to any one person is rarely appropriate for anyone else to follow and there are very few general conditions under which everyone should to pray directly to a planet.
However, there is a far safer method of gaining positive planetary influence on your life – pray to their controlling deity. We will cover these in the posts to come.
Surya – Sun
Japakusuma Samkaasham Kashyapeyam Mahadhyuthim
Tamorim Sarva Paapagnam Pranathosmi Divakaram
Chandra – Moon
Dadhishamkha tusharaabham ksheero daarnava sambhavam
Namami Shashinam Somam Shambor Mukuta Bhooshanam
Mangal/Bauma/Angaraka/Kuja – Mars
Dharaneegarbha Sambootham Vidhyadh Kaanthi Samaprabham
Kumaaram Shakthihastham Cha Mangalam Pranamaamyaham
Budha – Mercury
Priyam Gukaalikashyamam Rupenaam prathimam Budham
Saumyam Saumya gunor petham tham Budham pranamaamyaham
Brihaspathi/Guru – Jupiter
Devaanaam cha Hrisheenaam cha Gurum kaanchana Sannibham
Buddhibhootam trilokesham tham namaami Brihaspathim
Shukra – Venus
Himakundha Mrinaalabham Daithyaanam Paramam gurum
Sarvashaastra pravatkaaram Bhaargavam pranamaamyaham
Sani – Saturn
Neelaamjana Samaabhaasam Raviputram Yamagrajam
Chchaaya maarthanda samboothm tham namaami Shanishwaram
Rahu – Solar Node
Ardhakaayam mahaveeryam chandradithya vimardhanam
Sinhigaagarbha sambootham tham raahum pranamamyaham
Ketu – Lunar Node
Palashapushpa sankasham taaragagraha masthakam
Raudram raudrathmakamkhoram tham kethum pranamamhyaham
In the next post, we will look at the attributes and mantras to Surya.
Coming Soon: Part 3
How to Bend Destiny with the Navagraha Mantras – 1
Take control of your Destiny!
The 9 powerful forces in astrology
If you believe in and follow Hindu astrology, the Navagrahas (9 ‘planets’ or celestial bodies) are the primary rulers of your pre-destiny. They are the Sun, Moon, Mercury, Mars, Venus, Jupiter, Saturn and Rahu and Ketu).
As a quick word of explanation – the concept of Rahu and Ketu is the stuff of many textbooks in astrology, but in a nutshell, they are nodes of the Sun and Moons’ respective orbits. In mythology, they are respectively considered the head and body of a demon named Rahu, who by his guile ended up consuming the nectar of immortality along with the rest of the Devas.
The essence of Eastern astrology is that the celestial bodies’ positioning at the exact moment of your birth (as arranged on your birth chart) reflect your karma or pre-destiny for this lifetime.
There is Destiny but also free will!
You need not despair that our lives are purely at the mercy of destiny; there is also free will!
You may think this is a strange dichotomy, but once explained, the concept makes perfect sense: the actions of your past lives (karma) drives your pre-destiny – ie the big events and turning points in your life which will inevitably occur; but your RESPONSE to these events is entirely under your own control, and therein lies your free will. Of course events may be structured so they leave you little choice – but there always is one.
The Window when the Door has closed
There is a saying: “When God closes a door, he also opens a window”. This means that although some difficult events in your life must come to pass, there is usually a silver lining (eg character development through hardship) – or way out of it with some sacrifice (eg sacrifice your dignity, but save your life). This may sound very theoretical, but examples will be given going forward.
So how can mantra yoga help??
Cutting to the chase, there are two ways to try and bend the arrow of fate with mantra yoga.
- The first, is to dissolve your bad karma through good deeds and prayer.
- The second is to pray directly to the planets for their favour in future events.
This series will look at each of the planets in turn and highlight the benefits of prayer to them, powerful relevant mantras and auspicious timings.
Navaratri 2011: Make your Life Shine! Worship Surya through Gayatri
Illuminate your Life - pray to the Sun
Sun worship is not primitive
Sun worship is as old as time. From the very origins of mankind, people realised that the Sun is the controlling and sustaining principal on planet Earth.
Worshipping the Sun is by no means a primitive technology. The Sun emits a multitude of rays; some seen, but the majority of which lie well beyond the visual spectrum of humans – beyond infrared and ultraviolet.
More than light
Beyond these still are the spiritual rays of illumination emitted by the being powering the sun itself. Although this is a crude metaphor, the point is the Sun embodies the very spirit of the Paramatma (The Supreme Soul).
How so? To understand this, we must ask – what is Godliness? Giving and never taking back, unconditionally nourishing and lighting the path for all of us perhaps? Is that not exactly what the Sun does daily for us?
Let us give thanks
The deity behind the Solar disc has many levels of interaction with humans. We have already covered the physical attributes (warms our bodies and the earth plane, lights our path during the day, illuminates our night by reflection off the moon etc) and the highest level (Paramatma) , but there are many gradients in between.
In puranic lore, and indeed the Mahabharata, the Sun appears as one of the Devas. In the Ramayana interestingly, He is worshipped as so much more! One can search the term ‘Aditya Hrudayam’ to read about, hear and understand the prayer that Rishi Agastya initiated Rama into to help him bring the battle with Ravana to a gripping finalé. I would recommend this site: http://www.agasthiar.org/a/ah.htm (click here to access).
Drink in the attributes of the Sun!
The Gayatri Maha Mantra is the supreme salutation of the Sun. It is said that one who fully understands the 24 syllables of the Gayatri mantra is on par with the Brahmarishis (The highest classification of Rishi, or holy person, in Hindu cosmology).
One such attribute is the ability to shine. Not just in physical terms (although this is also possible as one of the siddhis of the Gayatri Maha Mantra is to control prana and cause a physical glow or tejas to appear around oneself), but also in terms of your speech, actions and thought.
Navaratri is the ideal time to start chanting the Gayatri
The essence, embodiment and energy or shakti (power) behind the Gayatri Maha Mantra is the Goddess Gayatri. Worshipping the Divine Feminine over Navaratri is conducive to multiples of mantra japa over any other part of the year.
Give yourself this gift and start chanting today!
The Original Mantra: the Pranava - OM
Swami Mantra Yogi 