Sūrya Rathayātrā

Sūrya Rathayātrā · sūrya ratha-yātrā, “the chariot procession of Sūrya”

The Sūrya Rathayātrā is the yearly procession of Bhagavān Sūrya on his ratha (chariot), held in the month of Māgha. The Ratha Saptamī Kalpa of the Brahma Parva of the Bhavishya Purāṇa gives its whole rule in Chapters 55 to 60. Sumantu Muni tells King Śatānīka how Bhagavān Rudra asked Brahmā on the Kāñcana Parvata how Bhagavān Sūrya moves on his ratha and how people on earth should take him in procession, and Brahmā taught him every step.

Brahmā says that he himself proclaimed the rathayātrā of Bhāskara and the Indrotsava for the śānti of the mortal world. In a land where they are held, royal troubles and the fear of thieves do not come, famine is allayed and the people live in happiness. Abhyaṅga is given to Bhagavān Sūrya on Bhādrapada śukla saptamī and abhisheka on Pushya śukla saptamī. Brahmā fashioned the first ratha from the limbs of the year, and because Bhagavān Sūrya is ever in motion, his image alone may be moved in this way. The mūrti of Bhagavān Sūrya, with his two wives Nikshubhā and Saṃjñā, with Garuḍa, Aruṇa and his attendants Dindi, Piṅgala and the rest in their places, is raised on a ratha, kept before the temple through the Saptamī with a night of jāgaraṇa (vigil), and drawn from gate to gate of the town until it returns on the Caturdaśī. All present are fed and no one is turned away. A breaking of the ratha foretells calamity and is met with śānti. Ten days of pūjā, the Daśāhnika, close the festival. Every service to the ratha has its fruit: whoever does it or has it done shines in Sūrya Loka, and none in his family is poor or afflicted. Those who break the yātrā are called Mandeha rākshasas.

Rudra’s questions

Bhagavān Rudra asked Brahmā how people on earth should perform the rathayātrā of Bhagavān Sūrya, at what time, by what method, and how he is to be taken in procession. He asked what fruit comes to those who turn the ratha, those who pull it, those who dance, those who walk along with it, those who sing, those who keep jāgaraṇa (night vigil) with bhakti and śraddhā, those who give a ratha, and those who give bali, food and daily naivedya. Brahmā addressed him as Bhūteśa and Trilocana, praised the question, and promised to explain all in order.

Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, Chapters 52, 55

Offerings before the yātrā

On Bhādrapada śukla saptamī abhyaṅga (anointing) with ghee is given to Bhagavān Sūrya.

• One who daily, with śraddhā, gives abhyaṅga with pañcagavya and mustard to Bhagavān Sūrya, Graheśvara, Jagannātha, mounts a golden ratha with small bells and goes to the divine Agniloka, graced by gandharvas and apsarās.
• One who daily offers śāli rice mixed with sugar, āmalaka with dry ginger and citrānna (coloured or flavoured rice) mounts a shining divine vimāna, praised by maharshis, and goes to that loka.
• Those who offer ghee-cooked food, pakvānna made with sugar, soft laḍḍus, milk, dadhyodana (curd rice), pāyasa and jaggery sweets go without doubt to that same loka.
• One who daily gives ghee for his abhyaṅga with bhakti reaches paramagati.
• One who daily offers citrānna with bhakti enjoys all the bhogas of this world and goes to Śivaloka.
• One who gives nalugu-piṇḍi (fragrant rubbing-flour) goes to Sūryaloka, the supreme place.

Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, Chapter 55

The abhisheka on Pushya śukla saptamī

On Pushya śukla saptamī abhisheka is done to Bhagavān Sūrya according to rule. His image is set up by the Vedic method, and clean water is brought from a puṇya tīrtha or any pure source. Holding the names of the tīrthas in the mind, one makes the bhāvanā (inner contemplation) that the water brought is the water of each of them, in this order: Prayāga, Pushkara, Kurukshetra, Naimiśa, Pṛthūdaka, Candrabhāgā, Śoṇa, Gokarṇa, Brahmāvarta, Kuśāvarta, Bilvaka, Nīlaparvata, Gaṅgādvāra, Gaṅgāsāgara, Kālapriya, Mitravana, Śuṇḍīra-kshetra, Cakratīrtha, Rāmatīrtha, Vitastā, Harshapantha, Devikā, Gaṅgā, Sarasvatī, Sindhu, Narmadā, Vipāśā, Yamunā, Tāpī, Śivā, Vetravatī, Godāvarī, Payoshṇī, Kṛshṇā, Veṇyā, Śatarudrā, Pushkariṇī, Kauśikī and Sarayū, with all other puṇya tīrthas, the seas, the puṇya āśramas and the kshetras. After the snāna one worships, bows, and gives dhūpa and arghya.

The image is kept in adhivāsa at the place of abhisheka for three nights, seven nights, a half-month or a month, and is worshipped there in the snāna-gṛha with bhakti. In the courtyard a square vedi is made, cleaned by smearing and drawn with muggulu (auspicious floor-designs), under a canopy with silver kumbhas on the four sides.

Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, Chapter 55

When the yātrā is held

On Māgha kṛshṇa saptamī one performs the agnikārya by rule and gives food to brāhmaṇas. With conch and bherī, with the sound of the Vedas and abundant puṇyāhavācana mantras, the brāhmaṇas perform svasti-vācana. Then, with bhakti, Bhagavān Sūrya is placed on a beautiful ratha adorned with toraṇas of small bells and taken in great festival procession.

In Māgha śukla paksha too the rathayātrā may be held, after havana and the feeding of brāhmaṇas. Before starting, one satisfies all people with food and dakshiṇā, and worships the devatās, the brāhmaṇas of pure speech, the best of brāhmaṇas who expounds itihāsa and purāṇa, and one’s ishṭadaiva.

The days before are kept so: on Māgha śukla pañcamī one meal, on caturthī ayācita (food unasked for), on shashṭhī a meal at night.

On shashṭhī, in the night itself, the ratha is taken out of the rathaśālā and kept standing, after the pūjā and meals of the devatās, brāhmaṇas, vācakas (reciters) and the rest are finished. On the Saptamī one fasts, adorns the ratha and performs the havana rite in front of it. On Māgha śuddha saptamī the mūrti of Bhagavān Sūrya, Bhūtabhāvana, is raised onto the ratha, and the ratha stays the whole day in front of the temple. Through the night, in the presence of the deva on the ratha, jāgaraṇa is kept with dance, instruments and song, rows of lamps and decorations, conch and tūrya, and abundant Veda-ghosha. On the Ashṭamī, with conch and bherī, Bhagavān Sūrya is taken on the ratha to the north gate of the city, then by way of east and south and west-north, and brought back to his place.

If the rathayātrā is carried on so for one year, people live in happiness, the king conquers his enemies, the people are healthy and peace settles on the earth. Those who perform it become worthy of svarga, and those who drive the ratha go to Sūryaloka.

Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, Chapter 55

Why his image may be moved

Hearing this, Bhagavān Rudra asked: “O Brahmā, how can an image once installed be moved? Remove this doubt of mine.”

Brahmā answered that for the journey of the great Sahasrakiraṇa (the thousand-rayed one), he himself long ago fashioned this ratha out of the limbs of the year, and it is the first of all rathas. Seeing it, Viśvakarmā built separate rathas for Candra and many other devatās. Bhagavān Sūrya gave the ratha that Viśvakarmā had prepared for him to Manu, for pūjā, and Manu gave it to Ikshvāku. From that time arose the custom of mortals worshipping the ratha of Bhagavān Sūrya.

So moving Bhagavān Sūrya in a rathayātrā is prescribed and is no dosha, for he is ever in motion. Bhāskara with his ratha encircles the whole earth, but men cannot see the going of that ratha or the moving of the Sūrya-maṇḍala, and because he moves unseen the wise behold him through rathayātrās. But Brahmā, Vishṇu, Śiva and the other devatās, once installed according to rule, must not be moved to another place. So the Sūrya Rathayātrā is performed by rule each year for the welfare of the people.

Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, Chapter 55

The ratha and the feeding of all

The ratha is built of gold, or silver, or strong wood, with firm axles and wheels, so that it turns easily. The image is set on it and horses of good marks are yoked: shining with a yellow-green lustre, of good faces, obedient to the charioteer, smeared with kuṅkuma, adorned with cāmaras and flower garlands. Arghya is given to the ratha, and the devatās are worshipped with dhūpa, flowers and gandha.

With many kinds of food one satisfies, as far as one is able, the best of brāhmaṇas, the poor, the lame, the blind and all the people present, and then begins. At this Sūrya-kratu no one, uttama, madhyama or adhama, is to be turned away even a little. If in this Sūrya-yajña in the form of a rathayātrā anyone is left in despair, suffering from hunger, thirst, cold and the like, then by this ill deed the yajamāna’s pitṛdevatās, even those in svarga, fall. This Savitṛ-yajña without dakshiṇā is not praiseworthy and bears no fruit. So people are fed on the four kinds of food with the six rasas and satisfied with dakshiṇā.

Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, Chapter 55

The bali mantra

Having honoured all the people, one recites the bali mantra, whose sense is given in the text: “May the Ādityas, Vasus, Maruts, Aśvins, Rudras, Suparṇas, sarpas, grahas, asuras, yātudhānas and the other devatās on the ratha accept this bali of mine. May the dikpālas, the lokapālas, the vighna-vināyakas, the divyas and the maharshis, all accept the bali and give good to the world. May there be no obstacle to me in any work. May pāpa not touch me. May there be no enemies. May the devatās and the bhūta-gaṇas be satisfied and gracious.”

One recites the mantras of Vāmadeva and the pavitra mantras, with the Mā Nastoka and Rathantara mantras and the one ṛk “Ākṛshṇena Rajasā“. Then one performs puṇyāhavācana and begins moving the ratha to the sound of auspicious instruments.

Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, Chapter 55

Who rides and who draws

The rathayātrā goes on a level road. The ratha is pulled by men with bhakti in Bhagavān Sūrya, or by strong, enduring bullocks tied with ropes, and bullocks especially on an uneven road. Thirty, or sixteen, good brāhmaṇas, disciplined, excellent and fasting, move the installed image and set it firmly on the ratha.

Bhagavān Sūrya has two wives, Nikshubhā and Rājñī, whom the text’s bracket gives as Chāyā and Saṃjñā. Both are carefully installed on the ratha, Nikshubhā on the south side and Saṃjñā on the north side.

• Only two brāhmaṇas stay on the two sides of the ratha, and one brāhmaṇa sits on the yoke-pole.
• Behind the mūrti is set an image of Garuḍa flying.
• Above is set a white chatra with a golden staff, shining with gems and pearls and glittering with golden dots.
• Above is set a dhvaja with a golden staff, adorned with seven-coloured flags, and at its top is placed Aruṇa.
• Brāhmaṇas stay at the front end of the ratha, and the charioteering is done as a thing for one’s own śreyas.

Those without bhakti and śraddhā must not climb the ratha, for if they mount it their offspring perish. The ratha should as a rule always be pulled by brāhmaṇas; kshatriyas and vaiśyas may also pull it, and śūdras must never pull it. Those devoted to other devatās and those who drink liquor must not pull it either. Those who pull must be keeping the upavāsa vrata.

Before the ratha moves, those who speak of Brahman (brahmavādīs) should undertake to draw it, and those who have fasted, yogīs and those who have mastered the Vedas and śāstras should draw it first. A śūdra must not mount the ratha of Bhagavān Sūrya; one who does goes to a low state (adhogati). By this stated cause there is always śānti for men.

Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, Chapters 55, 58

The order of the procession

Bhagavān Rudra asked again how the ratha is to be driven and who go with Bhagavān Sūrya in their order. Brahmā told him that on a rough road the ratha must go slowly, with great care, seeking out the level way, driven gently so that the yoke, axle and wheels do not break.

1. The Pratīhāri (door-keeper) is sent ahead of the ratha to set the road right.
2. After him the Daṇḍanāyaka (staff-bearer or commander) is sent.
3. After him Piṅgala is sent.
4. The two named Rakshaka and Dvāraka mount the ratha and stay in its rear part.
5. Dindi is seated on the ratha in its front part.
6. Ahead of him is the Lekhaka (scribe), who is dear to Bhāskara.

Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, Chapter 56

The route

The ratha, once moved from its place, is first stopped at the east gate of the village. With the pūjā of the king and other leading persons it stays there the whole day, with dance, song, purāṇa-pravacana, Veda recitation and the feeding of brāhmaṇas.

After the Ashṭamī has passed, on the Navamī, the ratha is brought to the south gate, and stays a day there too, with the pūjā of the leading men of the king and of the people. From there it goes to the west gate and then to the north gate, where by rule Bhagavān Sūrya receives pūjā from the śūdras.

Then it goes to the middle of the village, where the brāhmaṇas, full of bhakti and śraddhā, worship Bhagavān Sūrya standing on the ratha, with conches and other instruments, dance and song, many kinds of Veda-ghosha and rows of lamps shining all around. His pūjā goes on with gifts of wealth, and with gifts of food and clothing to brāhmaṇas, the poor, the blind and the destitute.

From the centre of the town the ratha is stopped in front of his own mandira, where the townspeople offer unbroken pūjā, and, worshipped day and night, he remains seated on the ratha. The next day, when trayodaśī has passed and caturdaśī has come, the ratha and the mūrti are brought back to their place. So every year, with his parivāra, Bhagavān Sūrya, destroyer of pāpa, Graheśvara, is carried in procession on the ratha.

Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, Chapter 55

What each breakage foretells

Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, Chapter 56

The śānti

When such utpātas occur, the bali karma is done again and a śānti homa is done. Puṇyāhavācana is done through brāhmaṇas and dānas are given again. A kuṇḍa is built at the north-east of the ratha and Agni is installed in it. Homa is done with samidhs soaked in ghee, and offerings are made in order to the devatās, the grahas and the Prajāpatis, each by name: first with “Agnaye svāhā, Somāya svāhā, Prajāpataye svāhā”.

The śānti prayer says: “May there be svasti for brāhmaṇas. May there be svasti for kings. May there be good for cows and for the people. May śānti settle in the world. May there be happiness for us humans. May there be śānti for the four-footed. May there be happiness for the people. May there always be happiness for the ātmā. May there be śānti everywhere for Bhūḥ, Bhuvaḥ and Svaḥ lokas and for Ravi. O Deva! You create the world. You alone nourish it. You rule the people. O Sūrya Deva, master of the grahas, grant śānti.”

Graha śānti for the one who conducts the yātrā

From the janma-kuṇḍalī of the one who conducts the yātrā, the grahas standing in evil places are known and śānti is done for them. The samidhs are one prādeśa long, the measure between the stretched forefinger and thumb.

As armour stops the blows of arrows, so śānti karmas stop calamities that arise through fate.

The grahas show favour to one who does no hiṃsā, who bears the hardships of tapas, who lives on wealth earned according to dharma and who is always bound by niyama. One who wants wide fame, wealth or śānti keeps doing graha yajña. Graha śānti is done when rain, long life or strength is wanted, when black rites have been done against one, by a woman who wants children, by a woman with wicked offspring, when children die after birth and when only daughters are born. A king fallen from his kingdom does graha yajña to gain it, and the sick do it for health.

Mūrtis of the grahas may be made of copper, crystal, red sandalwood, gold, silver, iron, lead and the like, or their figures may be drawn on a sheet of gold or on cloth. According to each graha’s colour, cloths, flowers, sandal pastes and naivedyas of that colour are offered, with guggulu dhūpa. With the mantras and the samidhs named, offerings are made to each graha 108 times or 28 times, with samidhs, ājya, honey and curd. Brāhmaṇas are fed and given dakshiṇā according to one’s means. Whichever graha stands in an evil place for a person at a given time, that person worships that graha then.

Brahmā says: “I myself gave these a vara: being worshipped, show favour.” The rise and fall of kings and the plenty and want of the world rest on the grahas. Grahas, cows, kings, gurus and brāhmaṇas show favour when honoured and burn one up when dishonoured. As a yantra is lifted and struck by a yantra alone, so the affliction of the grahas is quieted by graha śānti alone. From those who perform yajñas, keep to truth in speech, fast regularly and are devoted to japa and homa, every affliction falls away.

Having performed the śānti and done svastivācana, one adorns the ratha again and goes on with the yātrā. Having finished the remaining road and worshipped the ratha devatās, one brings the mūrti back to the temple. At times of utpāta the ratha devatās who dwell on the ratha of Bhagavān Sūrya are worshipped as the grahas are.

Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, Chapter 56

The offerings to the devatās of the ratha

Brahmā, addressing Bhagavān Rudra as Bhūta-gaṇa-nātha, gives each being its food, and then a further offering for each. The lists stand in the text’s order.

To Bhāskara, shining with the radiance of fine gold, all the things told before, honey, ghee and the rest, are offered. To the horses of the ratha, morning, noon and evening, with bhakti and a one-pointed mind, maṭṭi-paṇḍlu are offered. The wise man offers dhūpa to all the devatās according to his bhakti and means, each with its own mantra.

For śānti, sesame is given to brāhmaṇas, and sesame mixed with ghee is cast into the fire. Offered with svāhā to the devatās and with svadhā to the Pitṛ Devatās, it is like amṛta to them. The sesame seeds arose from the body of Kaśyapa, and they are the best in snāna, dāna, homa, tarpaṇa and food.

Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, Chapter 57

The Daśāhnika

Having worshipped the devatās and grahas with śraddhā, one brings Bhagavān Sūrya down from the ratha and places him in the maṇḍala. To ward off the evil eye, ārati is done with lamps, water, yava, akshatas, cotton seeds, salt, husk and the like. Bhagavān Sūrya with his wives is installed on the vedī, and there he is worshipped for ten days. On earth this pūjā is famed as the Daśāhnika.

On the fourth day of the ten the bathing service is done, and abhyaṅgana, food and the honours of pūjā are done specially. When the ten days’ pūjā of Divākara is done and the closing rite is done separately, he is brought back to his usual place.

Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, Chapter 57

The phala of each service

One who does, or causes to be done, with bhakti and śraddhā, the rathayātrā of Bhāskara by this procedure shines in Sūrya Loka for a hundred thousand lakh crore years, and in his family there will be none poor and none afflicted.

• One who gives ghee for his abhyañjana, or gives coloured tilaka, goes to svarga.
• One who brings tīrtha water or Gaṅgā water for the abhisheka, and one who gives things of three colours for the pūjā, enjoys all bhogas in this world and goes to Varuṇa Loka.
• One who gives red havishyānna and guḍānna becomes radiant and goes to Sūrya Loka.
• One who bathes Bhagavān Sūrya and worships him goes to Prajāpati Loka.
• One who causes him to mount the ratha, and one who cleans the ratha road, becomes radiant and goes to Sūrya Loka.
• One who levels the road so that it has no rises and hollows gains the valour of Vāyu Deva and goes to Vāyu Loka.
• One who adorns the road with flower garlands and toraṇas goes to a puṇya loka.
• One who arranges the sound of śaṅkhas and tūryas and spectacles of dance and song on the road reaches Sūrya Loka, the supreme place.
• One who goes along with the ratha dancing, singing and doing pūjā, and with bhakti makes a mahotsava, attains the supreme state.
• One who keeps jāgaraṇa in the presence of Bhagavān Sūrya on the ratha becomes puṇyavān and stays in joy for many years.
• One who provides servants and attendants who are bhaktas enjoys all the bhogas of this world and reaches Sūrya Loka.

The darśana of Bhagavān Sūrya seated on the ratha, above all as he moves forward, is especially great and hard to obtain. Blessed is the one who has darśana of Bhāskara, the lover of his bhaktas, as he moves facing north or facing south.

Holding the yātrā daily for a year or for six months gives the excellent fruit that dhyāna-nishṭhas, yogīs and those on the path of Sūrya bhakti obtain. Those who draw the ratha with bhakti are healthy and wealthy in every birth, and those who perform the yātrā reach Sūryaloka and sport there happily. One who offers Bhagavān Sūrya a ratha of gold or silver, with gems, horses, yoke and pole, travels in a vimāna with rows of small bells, goes to svarga and sports there with apsarās. One who gives a fine wooden ratha mounts a vimāna of the colour of Sūrya and goes to Sūryaloka.

Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, Chapters 58, 93

If the yātrā is broken

If, after a year has passed, the rathayātrā is not begun on the day it must begin, one who wants his good undertakes it again only in the twelfth year, and the same holds for the festival of Indradhvaja. Before twelve years it must not be done in between. This rule applies only to those who have broken the yātrā.

Those who break it are called Mandeha rākshasas, and so are those who disrupt it through moha or krodha, given over to pāpa deeds. Those who carry on the rathayātrā of Dharmadhvaja, Bhagavān Sūrya, are recognised as Indra and the other devatās, and they attain the supreme state.

Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, Chapters 58, 93

The contemplation of Bhagavān Sūrya on the ratha

In the month of Māgha, Bhagavān Sūrya with the deva gaṇas is to be installed on the ratha in the mind, and contemplated so. When he stands between earth and sky, the sky is contemplated as Saṃjñā Devī and the earth as Nikshubhā Devī, so that he stands between his two wives. His attendants Dindi, Piṅgala and the others, all the ratha devatās, and the dikpālas and lokapālas are contemplated as standing in their places. The presence of his attendants Dindi, Piṅgala and the others is also a chief thing in the ratha yātrā.

This Sūrya Deva is Vedamaya and Sarvadevamaya. The Sūrya maṇḍala is made of rays. The seven chandases are his face: Gāyatrī, Trishṭup, Jagatī, Anushṭup, Paṅkti, Bṛhatī and Ushṇik. By such contemplation Bhagavān Sūrya becomes honoured by the worlds.

The rathas are kept standing only near the temple. First Bhagavān Sūrya is worshipped with dhūpa, dīpa and naivedya, and after him the parivāra devatās and the dikpālas, who then favour the worshippers with wealth and grain. If other devatās are worshipped without worshipping him first, they do not accept that pūjā, for Bhagavān Sūrya is the leader of all the devatās.

Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, Chapter 58

The holy times of darśana

When the time of the rathayātrā comes, those who with bhakti have darśana of Sūrya Nārāyaṇa in his form initiated for the journey become free of pāpa. On Pūrṇimā, Amāvāsyā, Shashṭhī and Saptamī his darśana gives puṇya, above all in the months of Āshāḍha, Kārttika and Māgha. In Kārttika such a tithi is called Mahākārttikī. If such tithis fall during the yātrā they gain a further special quality, and darśana then is great puṇya and removes all pāpa. One who, fasting, keeping niyama and vrata and full of bhakti, does arcana of him at such times attains the supreme state. This Deva-deva is the Yajña Purusha, and to show favour to the world he stays in the form of the pratimā and, full of compassion, accepts the pūjā of his bhaktas.

By snāna, dāna, japa, homa, by being ever absorbed in the work of the devatās, and by having the moustache, beard and head hair shaved, a person becomes dīkshita, made pure in the Sūrya kratu. For all four varṇas the upāsanā of Bhagavān Sūrya gives moksha, and those who so practise it are nitya-dīkshitas. Those who keep the Sūrya vrata are mahātmās and attain the supreme state.

Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, Chapter 58

The ratha at the pratishṭhā

Nārada tells Sāmba that at the pratishṭhā of Bhagavān Sūrya, a golden ratha of seven horses is set so that its nābhi-sthāna comes at the middle of the garbha-gṛha. The yajamāna, wearing all seeds and oshadhis, gives arghya and sets it there. Amid the sound of conches and dundubhis, with cries of “jaya jaya”, pradakshiṇa of the temple is done.

Before this the pratimā is laid on a bed in a mandira made in the north-east, on darbha spread with white cloths, and it is bathed, adorned and guarded by the devotees, who keep vigil and praise it through the whole night. Then, at an auspicious tithi, vāra and nakshatra, in a muhūrta of the Ravi horā, it is set on the ratha, facing level, not downward, not upward, not leaning aside, with his wives on either side: Nikshubhā on the right and Rājñī on the left. A pratimā set by this rule stays ever in sānnidhya (near presence) for its devotees and brings them growth and prosperity.

Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, Chapter 136

The close of the teaching

In the Ratha Saptamī, Brahmā tells Bhagavān Rudra, when a year of the Māgha śukla observance has passed, the rathayātrā of Bhagavān Sūrya is conducted in the way told before. One who conducts this yātrā in the kṛshṇa paksha and has darśana of Bhagavān Sūrya, Jagannātha, on the ratha attains the supreme state. In the Mahā Saptamī too, Vāsudeva tells Sāmba that at the close in Māgha one performs, according to one’s means, the pūjā of Bhagavān Sūrya, ratha-dāna and ratha-yātrā.

The Sūrya rathayātrā stands among the things studied in the āśrama of Śaṅkha Muni, with the Saptamī Kalpa and the pratishṭhā-kalpa. Having explained in full to Śaṅkara the rathayātrā of Bhagavān Sūrya of boundless tejas, Brahmā departed.

Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, Chapters 51, 59–60, 66

The phalaśruti

“I have thus told you of the rathayātrā of Bhagavān Sūrya,” Brahmā says. “By hearing it, by telling it and by causing it to be told, all diseases are destroyed.” By hearing the procedure of the yātrā, freedom from all pāpas comes, without doubt. One who keeps the Sūrya vrata with bhakti according to the śāstra goes to Sūrya Loka.

Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, Chapter 58

Sources

• Bhavishya Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, Chapters 51–52, 55–60, 66, 93, 136