Sāmba Sūrya Upāsanā
The Bhavishya Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, tells how Sāmba, the strong son of Śrī Kṛshṇa and Jāmbavatī, earned a śāpa (a curse) from Durvāsa through pride. He then did very hard tapas at the Candrabhāgā tīrtha, received the direct grace of Bhagavān Sūrya, and was cured of a terrible disease. He found the sacred mūrti, and set up the great Sūrya kshetra (holy place) at Mitravanā, also called Sāmbapura, on the bank of the river Candrabhāgā.
The principal Sūrya kshetras
King Śatānīka asked Sumanta Muni which are the best places of Sūrya pūjā in Jambūdvīpa. The ṛshi said there are three main places: Indravana, Muṇḍīra and Kālipriya. Beyond these three, Brahmā himself has named a fourth place, which is very powerful: the Candrabhāgā tīrtha, on the bank of the river Candrabhāgā in the northern region of the Sindhu.
This holy place is also called Sāmbapura or Mitravanā. Bhagavān Sūrya himself, pleased with Sāmba’s devotion, agreed to live there for ever in his Mitra form.
The text also says: “The twelfth form of Sūrya is Vishṇu himself, who came as Vāsudeva Kṛshṇa. His son is Sāmba, and this is the story of Sāmba’s rescue.”
Durvāsa’s śāpa
Durvāsa Muni is an avatāra of Rudra himself. He is known for his blazing tapas and his blazing anger. He once came to Dvārakā. Everyone who knew him bowed at once and honoured him with deep respect.
But Sāmba, the son of Kṛshṇa and Jāmbavatī, a young man of great bodily strength and fine looks, did not know who Durvāsa was. He saw the ṛshi’s unusual walk and the look on his face, and youthful vanity took hold of him. He copied Durvāsa’s walk, twisted his own face to look like the ṛshi’s, and made a mocking show that made people laugh.
Sāmba was drunk with his own beauty, youth and wealth. When the great ṛshi saw this mockery, his anger flared at once. He gave Sāmba a terrible śāpa: the young prince would be struck by a dreadful disease that could not be cured.
The Purāṇa makes a larger point here. The same Durvāsa was later insulted by the Yādavas as a whole, and they were cursed with a śāpa to destroy themselves with a musala (iron club). It says: “So one should either honour the devas, the gurus and the brāhmaṇas, or at least leave them alone. To mock or dishonour them is very dangerous.”
Kṛshṇa’s instruction and Sāmba’s journey
Sāmba had heard the greatness (māhātmya) of Sūrya from Nārada. He came to his father Śrī Kṛshṇa in great humility. He bowed and said:
“Bhagavān Kṛshṇa! Nothing is unknown to you. Through the śāpa of Durvāsa I am struck with a terrible disease. No physician can cure it. No medicine has eased this suffering. If you, as my father, give me leave and your blessing, I wish to go into the forest to do tapas and pūjā. Through sādhana (spiritual practice) I will come back cured.”
Śrī Kṛshṇa blessed his son and sent him out. Sāmba went to the Candrabhāgā tīrtha in the northern region of the Sindhu. There at Mitravanā, the Sūrya kshetra famous throughout the world, Sāmba began the hardest tapas. He gave himself wholly to fasting and the pūjā of Bhagavān Sūrya. His austerity was so fierce that at one point only his bones were left, for the fire of his tapas had burned up his body.
The Sāmba Stava-rāja
Every day during his tapas Sāmba offered a secret (guhya) stotra to Bhagavān Sūrya, the shining and unending one who lives within the Āditya maṇḍala (the sun’s disc). The stava begins:
Ādiḥ sa esha hi bhūtānām Āditya iti saṃjñitaḥ
The Sanskrit line says: He alone is the beginning (ādi) of all beings, and so he is called Āditya. The stava goes on: “He is the eye of the three worlds (trailokyacakshu), the Paramātman, the Prajāpati. The great Purusha who blazes in the maṇḍala is Vishṇu, the Ātman who cannot be thought out, and he is Brahmā the Pitāmaha. Rudra, Mahendra, Varuṇa, space (ākāśa), earth, water, air (vāyu), the moon, Parjanya, the lord of wealth and Vibhāvasu: all of these are the one great Purusha who blazes in the maṇḍala.”
The stava praises Bhagavān Sūrya as the source of time and creation. It praises him as the one who keeps all prāṇas (life breaths) alive with his rays of amṛta (nectar), and as the kind one who cures the sick, the blind, the deaf, the lame and the poor, all through his śakti and grace. It says:
Pratyakshadarśī tvaṃ deva samuddhara si līlayā
This means: O Deva who sees all directly, you lift up with ease!
Bhagavān Sūrya appears and gives varas
Moved by Sāmba’s hard tapas and his heartfelt praise, Bhagavān Sūrya appeared in person before the thin prince and said: “O son of Jāmbavatī! I am pleased with your hard tapas and your praise. Ask whatever you wish.”
Sāmba first said: “Let my devotion to your feet be firm and without end. This is my prayer.”
Bhagavān Sūrya granted this and urged him to ask for more. Sāmba said: “Take away my disease. Make my body pure and bright, O great Bhagavān Sūrya.”
Even as Bhagavān Sūrya spoke his agreement, Sāmba’s disease was gone completely. His body was full of light, beauty and strength. Sāmba fell at Bhagavān Sūrya’s feet and lay there, overcome with thanks.
Bhagavān Sūrya then gave more varas (boons):
- “From this day this place will be known by your name, Sāmbapura.”
- “Your good fame will never fade in the world.”
- “Set me up here on the bank of the Candrabhāgā. I will live here in my Mitra form. Whoever does pūjā here, I myself receive that pūjā in person. Elsewhere I am present only at certain times. Here I am present at all times.”
The twenty-one secret names
In a dream that followed, Bhagavān Sūrya appeared to Sāmba once more. He gave him twenty-one very secret (ati-śaya gopanīya) names as a short stava-rāja (king of hymns). He said that the full sūrya-sahasranāma (thousand names of Sūrya) is too hard for most people, but these twenty-one names, said with devotion at dawn and at dusk, or twenty-one times in seven days, will cure all diseases, bring wealth and destroy all pāpa (sin).
The names are:
Vaikartano, Vivasvāṃś ca Mārtaṇḍo Bhāskaro Raviḥ |
Lokaprakāśakaḥ Śrīmān Lokacakshuḥ graheśvaraḥ ||
Lokasākshī Trilokeśaḥ kartā hartā tamisrahā |
Tapanas tāpanaś caiva Śuciḥ Saptāśvavāhanaḥ ||
Gabhastihasto Brahmā ca Sarvadevanamaskṛtaḥ ||
Bhagavān Sūrya said: “These are the names I love most. This is the Stava-rāja. It frees the body from disease and increases wealth and fame. For those who say this Stava-rāja, bowing at my rising and my setting each day, all the wrong done by mind, speech and body is destroyed. This alone is my japa, homa, sandhyopāsana (worship at the junctions of the day), bali (offering), mantra, arghya (water offering), dhūpa (incense) and all.”
Sāmba finds the mūrti
Sāmba was overjoyed at the varas he had received. He joined other tapasvis (people of tapas) and went to bathe in the river Candrabhāgā. While he bathed, he was meditating in his heart on the round form of Bhagavān Sūrya. He began to wonder how he would get a mūrti and where he should set it up.
At that very moment a shining mūrti appeared on the surface of the river and floated toward him. He knew at once that it was the image of Bhagavān Sūrya Nārāyaṇa. Sāmba lifted it from the water and set it up with full ceremony in a holy spot at Mitravanā.
Later he bowed before the image and asked, “Who made you? Your form is very beautiful.” The mūrti itself answered: “Long ago, when my form blazed with fierce and unbearable tejas (brightness), all the devas prayed that I take a gentler form. At my command the great tapasvin Viśvakarmā went to Śākadvīpa, used his lathe to turn aside my brightness, and made this perfect mūrti of me from the wood of the Kalpavṛksha, with all the good marks (lakshaṇa). Then, at my request, he sent it down the river Candrabhāgā, especially for you. This place is very beautiful and very auspicious. I am present here at all times. Elsewhere I may be present only at certain times of the day.”
Building the temple
Sāmba called on Nārada, who came at once and gave full instructions for building the temple (mandira-nirmāṇa). The Sūrya temple should always face east. The main shrine is for Bhagavān Sūrya. The bathing room should be to the south, and the yajñaśāla (hall for the fire ritual) to the north.
The size of the mūrti should be one, two, three or three and a half jānas (spans), according to the height of the gateway. A mūrti of one jāna gives gentleness (saumyata). Two jānas give wealth and grain. Three jānas fulfil all wishes. Three and a half jānas bring prosperity, health and good fortune over the whole land.
The image of Bhagavān Sūrya should have wide eyes and a face like a lotus. His lips should be red like the bimba fruit. His head should wear a crown set with gems. He should wear ornaments: maṇi-kuṇḍala (jewelled ear-rings), kaṭaka (bangles), aṅgada (arm-bands) and hāra (garlands). He should hold a blossoming lotus in his hand, wear a golden garland, and shine with all the good marks.
The instructions also name the materials for the mūrti. Wood gives śrī, victory, strength, fame, long life and wealth. Clay serves the good of the people. Gem-stone makes the world pure. Gold gives nourishment. Silver brings fame. Copper increases the people. Stone gives wide land. Iron, glass and tin are forbidden, because they bring misfortune.
The fruits of the Sāmba Stava-rāja
The stava-rāja that Sāmba made and recited during his tapas at Candrabhāgā gives the following fruits when it is recited with devotion three times a day, or 121 times in seven days:
- For one who wants a kingdom, a kingdom is given.
- For one who wants wealth, wealth is given.
- For one who wants a divine, auspicious and healthy body with radiance, that is given.
- For all who recite it, all pāpa is destroyed, and the wrong done by mind, body and speech is wiped out.
Sources
- Bhavishya Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, chapters 72–73 (the three principal Sūrya kshetras, Durvāsa’s śāpa, Sāmba’s journey)
- Bhavishya Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, chapter 127 (Kṛshṇa’s instruction and Sāmba’s journey, the Stava-rāja, Bhagavān Sūrya’s appearance and varas, the fruits of the Stava-rāja)
- Bhavishya Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, chapter 128 (the Stava-rāja, the twenty-one names)
- Bhavishya Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, chapter 129 (the finding of the mūrti)
- Bhavishya Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, chapter 133 (building the temple)