Sauradharma
Sauradharma, simply known as Sauradharma, Sanskrit: सौरधर्म, Telugu: సౌరధర్మం, Hindi: सौरधर्म.
Sauradharma is the complete path of worship of Bhagavān Sūrya (Sūrya upāsanā). It covers the inner meaning of that worship, the daily practice, the method of pūjā, right conduct and the final fruit. The Bhavishya Purāṇa, in the Brahma Parva, gives it as the highest of all dharmas. Bhagavān Sūrya himself taught it to his charioteer Aruṇa. It passed down the line of teachers to Sumanta Muni, who explains it to King Śatānīka. It destroys every fault that has darkness as its root, it lights up all beings, and it is the direct means to both bhukti (enjoyment in this world) and mukti (freedom).
Sūrya as the pratyaksha devatā
Bhagavān Kṛshṇa speaks to Sāmba and sets out the base of Sauradharma. Among all the devas, Sūrya Nārāyaṇa alone is pratyaksha: directly seen, always present, and the direct source of the world. He says:
“The pratyaksha devatā, the eye of this universe, is Sūrya Nārāyaṇa. There is none greater. This world arose from him and dissolves into him. The counting of time (kāla-gaṇana) of all the yugas was done through him. Graha, nakshatra, yoga, kāraṇa, rāśi, the Ādityas, Vasus, Rudras, Vāyu, Agni, the Aśvins, Indra, Prajāpati, the directions, all the lokas (Bhūḥ, Bhuvaḥ, Svaḥ), mountains, rivers, oceans and nāgas: all arose from Sūrya Nārāyaṇa alone. This moving and unmoving creation arose by his will alone.”
He goes on:
“In all the Vedas, śāstras, Purāṇas and itihāsas, wherever the words Paramātman and Antarātman appear, they mean Sūrya alone. His full glory cannot be told in a hundred years. There is no devatā higher than him, and there never will be.”
The text for this section is the Bhavishya Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, Chapters 47–48.
The goal: bhukti and mukti
Bhagavān Kṛshṇa teaches Sāmba that a person may wish to live in this world free from sorrow, with all desires fulfilled, and at death to reach svarga (heaven) and after that moksha. Such a person should offer pūjā to Bhagavān Sūrya. Kṛshṇa says that he himself gained divine jñāna through long and proper Sūrya upāsanā, by Sūrya’s grace.
Worship of Sūrya gives:
- Freedom from all pāpa (sin) gathered in seven earlier births. This comes with devoted arcana and pūjana.
- Victory over the greatest of kings through ātma-śakti (the power of the self), for those who keep Sauradharma without a break.
- Personal protection. Bhagavān Sūrya himself takes on the care of those who remember him without stopping. Grief and darkness never visit such a person.
- A final home in Sūrya-loka.
The text for this section is the Bhavishya Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, Chapters 47–48 and 151.
The sixteen-limbed Sauradharma pūjana
Bhagavān Sūrya showed Aruṇa a sixteen-limbed (shoḍaśāṅga) form of his worship. Sumanta Muni describes its main parts.
- Rise at dawn, do śauca (cleansing) and bathe.
- After the bath, do ācamana at the riverbank.
- Put on clean garments.
- Complete japa, havana, pūjana and arcana.
- Offer pūjā with bhakti to the brāhmaṇa, the cow and the Aśvattha tree.
- Listen to the recitation of Purāṇa and Itihāsa.
- Have the Veda recited by brāhmaṇas.
- Keep love (prema) for all beings.
- Do the pūjā oneself, and then pass on the knowledge of the Purāṇa to others.
- Keep the constant inner remembrance (smaraṇa) of Bhagavān Sūrya at all times.
Bhagavān Sūrya says:
“Whoever offers fruit, flower, leaf or water with a thought of me, that offering reaches me. To such a devotee I am never unseen. I live where my devotees are, and my devotees are wherever I am. Whoever can see me in all beings, for them I am present anywhere, shining steadily even within their hearts.”
The five main Sūrya mudrās used in pūjā are Vyoma-mudrā, Ravi-mudrā, Padma-mudrā, Mahāśveta-mudrā and Astra-mudrā. Each is shown at the right point in the pūjā, the japa, the dhyāna, the arghya and the tapas.
The text for this section is the Bhavishya Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, Chapters 49 and 151.
Nitya arcana: the daily pūjā
The Bhavishya Purāṇa gives the full method of the daily pūjā of Sūrya as Bhagavān Kṛshṇa taught it.
Morning preparation. Rise before dawn. After śauca, go to the riverbank and do ācamana. At sunrise, rub purifying mṛt (sacred clay) over the whole body and bathe it off. Do ācamana again and put on clean madī garments.
Arghya. Say the seven-syllabled mūla mantra and offer arghya to Sūrya:
Oṃ Khakholkāya svāhā
Prāṇāyāma and bhūtaśuddhi. Do the prāṇāyāmas of pūraka, recaka and kumbhaka. Do dhāraṇā on the four elemental forms: Vāyavī, Āgneyī, Māhendrī and Vāruṇī. By the yoga steps of śarīra-śoshaṇa (drying the body), dahana (burning), stambhana (making still) and plāvana (flooding), purify the whole body before going to the mandir.
Mantras for purifying the materials. Six mantra sequences are said for the six aṅgas, which are hṛdaya, śiras, śikhā, kavaca, netratrayam and astra. They are said while sprinkling water on the pūjā materials.
Pūjā of the Sūrya maṇḍala. See in the mind a six-petalled lotus in the Sūrya maṇḍala. In its centre, think of Sūrya blazing with thousands of kiraṇas (rays). Offer red sandalwood (rakta-candana), karavīra and red flowers, dhūpa, dīpa, many naivedyas, and the upacāras of cloth and ornaments. Or else draw the six-petalled lotus with red sandalwood on a copper plate and do the pūjā there.
Parivāra pūjā. In the six petals, do the shaḍaṅga pūjā. Then offer pūjā by name to the eight grahas, beginning with Candra, and to the eight Dikpālakas, beginning with Indra. Use this formula for each:
Oṃ [name in the caturthī vibhakti] namaḥ
Their āyudhas (weapons) are also given pūjā in the matching directions.
Day and night. By day, offer pūjā to the image of Sūrya. At night, offer it to the fire (agni). At dawn face east. At dusk face west. At night face north.
The phala. One who offers pūjā to Sūrya in this way for a full year is freed from all diseases, and all wished-for purposes are fulfilled. At the end of life, moksha is reached. Even one offering made with bhakti and tanmayatā (full absorption) removes all pāpa.
The text for this section is the Bhavishya Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, Chapter 49.
Sadācāra of the Sūrya devotee
Sauradharma is not only ritual. It covers a whole way of life. Sumanta describes the conduct required of a devotee of Sūrya (Sūryopāsaka).
Service to those in need. A Sūryopāsaka must help the hungry, the thirsty, the afflicted, the tired and those in dirty clothes, to the full limit of his means, holding nothing back. This practice fulfils all desires.
Compassion for all. Feed all beings from whatever one has, whether of high or low class or standing, whether animal or bird, whether fallen (patita), low or untouchable. Give some part of it as dāna. This gives phala that never runs out.
Speech. Words must flow like nectar and be cool like sandalwood, both dharmic and sweet. “Sweet speech is the unmoving ladder to svarga. Beside it, dāna, pūjā and teaching all grow pale.” Harsh and wounding speech is wholly forbidden.
Welcoming guests. When an atithi (guest) appears at the door, go out at once to receive him with praṇāmas and ask after his welfare. Before guests leave, offer good wishes (śubhākāṅkshā) first, with these words: “May your journey be maṅgalamaya (full of good), may you accomplish all dharmic purposes and return in happiness.”
Forgiveness. “Kshamā alone is the most direct path to puṇya among all tīrtha-snānas. One moment of anger destroys all the fruit gathered by jñāna, yoga, tapas, yajña and dāna.” The Sūryopāsaka must never let revenge enter the mind.
The five companions of dāna. The best dāna comes with five things:
- Audāratā (generosity)
- Svāgata (welcome)
- Maitrī (friendship)
- Anukampā (compassion)
- Amatsara (peace, freedom from jealousy)
The text for this section is the Bhavishya Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, Chapters 171–172.
Sauradharma and the Trimūrtis
Bhagavān Sūrya says: “Merely seeing me gives a person the fruit of Gaṅgā-snāna. A praṇāma to me gives the fruit of serving all tīrthas and destroys all pāpa. One who offers my pūjā even once offers pūjā at the same time to the Trimūrtis and the Pitṛs, and all of them are satisfied.”
He adds: “The devas and the Pitṛs all depend on me (āśrayante). So worship of me alone satisfies them all.”
When the arcana of Sūrya and the honouring of a devotee of Sūrya are done during śrāddha, the Pitṛs are satisfied even more than by the śrāddha alone.
The text for this section is the Bhavishya Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, Chapters 151 and 188–189.
Conduct above learning
The Bhavishya Purāṇa teaches that a person’s excellence does not rest on learning the Veda by heart. It rests on sadācāra, right conduct. “Even the most learned person falls through lack of Vedic conduct (vedācārahīnatā). Good conduct alone gives excellence, not learning alone.”
The virtues of a brāhmaṇa are śama, dama, tapas, śauca, kshamā, ṛjuta, jñāna, vijñāna and āstikatā. A person born in a lower varṇa who keeps pure conduct is better than a brāhmaṇa who has given up ādhāra. The śūdra with śīla (good character) is a better brāhmaṇa than the brāhmaṇa without ādhāra.
The text for this section is the Bhavishya Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, Chapters 40–45.
The phala in brief
The Sauradharma section of the Bhavishya Purāṇa ends with the words of Sumanta to King Śatānīka:
“There is no śāstra higher than the Veda, no river equal to the Gaṅgā, no yajña greater than the Aśvamedha, no happiness like the birth of a son, no refuge beyond one’s mother, and no devatā greater than Bhagavān Sūrya. And none is dearer to him than his true devotees.”
Sources
- Bhavishya Mahā Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, Chapters 40–45
- Bhavishya Mahā Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, Chapters 47–48
- Bhavishya Mahā Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, Chapter 49
- Bhavishya Mahā Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, Chapter 151
- Bhavishya Mahā Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, Chapters 171–172
- Bhavishya Mahā Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, Chapters 188–189