Skandapurana 16.17

Īśvara said: / Now I shall tell you the rule of worship, O glorious one, / of the god of Arkasthala, how he is to be worshipped by the best of men.

The Sun (Āditya) is said to be the first of all the gods; / and because he is the first maker, he is called Āditya.

Without the Sun there is neither night nor day, nor water offering, / neither virtue nor vice; nor could the moving and unmoving exist.

The Sun preserves everything; the Sun always creates; / the Sun dissolves everything; therefore he is composed of the threefold Veda.

I shall proclaim the rite of worship of that great-souled Sun, / O great goddess, through the extensive mantras declared in the Vedas; / listen to that which destroys all sins, O woman of beautiful hips.

The rule by which the twelvefold Sun, dwelling in his image, / is worshipped, O great goddess—that I will tell you in full.

First having purified the mouth, and especially having performed ritual ablution, / having purified one's garments and purified one's body, one should then touch the Sun.

First, however, I shall describe to you the rule of the tooth-stick: / from the madhūka there is the gain of a son; from the arka, delight of the eyes, O beloved.

Eloquence [comes] from the jujube, and with the bṛhatī one conquers wicked people; / sovereignty arises from the bilva, and from the khadira, without a doubt.

Destruction of disease [comes] from the kadamba; gain of wealth from the atimuktaka; / with sticks made of āṭarūṣaka, one goes everywhere among the gods.

Pre-eminence in one's caste [comes from the jātī]; the aśvattha grants fame; / one obtains complete fortune from the use of the śirīṣa.

For one who uses the priyaṅgu, there will be supreme auspicious fortune; / the attainment of one's desired ends comes from the daily use of the plakṣa.

One should not use a tooth-stick that is split, nor one that is blemished, / nor one that is dried at the top, or crooked, nor one devoid of bark.

One should use one that is only a span long, and avoid long or short ones, / facing north or facing east, seated comfortably and with speech restrained.

Holding one's desired wish in heart, and consecrating it, / the wise person should use the tooth-cleanser with this mantra:

'Granting a boon, you recognize my desire, O lord of the forest; / grant me success always, O tooth-stick; salutations to you!'

Having recited this three times, one should chew the tooth-cleanser; / afterwards, having washed that stick, one should cast it in a clean place.

One should not scrape the tongue with the tooth-stick, O ruler of the gods; / that must be done separately if one desires abundant fame.

[Brushing with] a tooth-stick using the finger, [eating] raw salt, / and eating earth are equal to eating beef.

When the mouth is stale [upon waking], a twice-born becomes constantly impure; / therefore, one should chew a tooth-cleanser, whether dry or moist.

And on forbidden days, [one should perform] sixteen mouthfuls of water, / or one should purify the mouth with fragrances of various lotuses.

The twice-born who touches the Sun without having purified his mouth / is born as a leper for three thousand years.

Thus having purified one's clothes and the rest, one should then perform the ritual ablution: / in a clean, delightful place, taking clay with the astra-mantra.

The letter 'ha' joined with an anusvāra and the vowel 'u', accompanied by 'phaṭ'— / taking [clay] with this weapon-mantra, one should perform the ritual ablution there.

Having made three portions, purified and free from grass and stones, / smearing one with the astra-mantra, and likewise another with the sun-mantra,

and consecrating the third with the aṅga-mantras, each one at a time, / having recited the astra-mantra, one should throw it in the directions; then the water becomes free of obstacles.

Covering [oneself] with the second in the Sūryatīrtha, and with the third once each time, / a man should then bathe in the sacred ford of the Sun.

To the sound of trumpets and conches, meditating on the god who makes the day, / having bathed with royal honors, and carefully sipping water again,

and then having performed the ritual ablution, O goddess, joined with the king of mantras: / the 'ha' and 'ra', with a bindu and 'ī' (lakṣmī), and likewise another with a long

vowel mark, joined with 'ra', the letter 'ha' with a bindu, / and the letter 'sa' with a visarga—this is called the king of mantras.

Then one should offer water to all those mantras with the tips of the fingers: / lifting upward to the gods, with the sacred thread on the right shoulder to the sages, / and with the sacred thread on the left shoulder to the ancestors, one should offer with the heart-bīja.

That which is praised by the wise as the foremost among syllables in the world— / that is proclaimed as the nineteenth syllable of the vowels.

Having thus bathed according to rule, one should worship the twilight according to rule; / then the learned man should afterwards cast an offering of water to the Sun.

And one should recite the three-syllable mantra and the six-faced [mantra] at will, / which was previously declared to you by me, O beloved, as the king of mantras.

Then, drawing in the mantras by means of the sacred ford, one should place them in the heart; / uniting oneself with the mantras in one place, one should offer the argha.

Clean and bathed, with scents of red sandalwood on the surface of the earth, / having made a circular maṇḍala, steady with a one-pointed mind,

Taking oleanders and placing them in a copper vessel, / mixed with sesamum and rice grains, along with kuśa grass and fragrant water,

accompanied by red sandalwood and incense, properly arranged for the offering of arghya, / placing that vessel upon his head, having gone down upon his knees to the ground,

one should offer the arghya to the sun, accompanied by the root mantra. / For whoever presents it thus is freed from all sins.

Whatever fruit is obtained in a thousand Yugādis and a hundred Vyatīpātas, / or in a thousand solstices at Jyeṣṭhapuṣkara, / that fruit one completely attains upon presenting an arghya to the sun.

Even one devoid of initiation and mantras, through devotion over the course of a year, / indeed obtains the fruit through this arghya, O goddess; of this there is no doubt.

Moreover, the wise man who is initiated and presents the arghya according to rule / is not reborn on earth; he merges into the Sun.

In this birth he quickly attains good fortune, long life, health, and wealth; / together with his wife, O goddess, he becomes a vessel of happiness.

Thus the solar rule of ritual ablution has been declared to you in brief, / destructive of all sins, for the benefit of the best among men.

Alternatively, the best of twice-borns may perform the ritual ablution according to the Vedic path, / if he is indeed unable to engage in the detailed mantras without initiation.

Īśvara said: / Now I shall tell you the rule of worship, O glorious one, / according to the divine Vedic path, truly for the benefit of the brahmins.

Having thus assembled the materials and made ready the flowers and other offerings, / one should then invoke the sun and install him upon the pericarp.

Performing the adoration with this mantra, O lady of auspicious vows— / 'ud u tyaṃ jātavedasam' is the mantra proclaimed.

Having invoked [him] with this mantra, 'agniṃ dūtam', O lovely lady, / or with this mantra, 'ā kṛṣṇena rajasā', one should worship [him].

With this mantra, 'haṃsaḥ śuciṣat', one should worship; / with the mantra 'apatye taye', O goddess, one should worship the sun.

And with this [mantra], 'adṛśram asya', O goddess, one should worship the sun. / One should constantly chant with 'taraṇir viśvadarśataḥ'.

With 'citraṃ devānām udagāt', one should always worship the auspicious god; / one should daily worship Vibhūti with 'yena pāvaka cakṣasā'.

One should always [worship] Vimalā with 'vidyām eṣi rajas pṛthu'; / one should daily worship Amoghā with this mantra, O lady of auspicious vows.

With 'sapta tvā haritaḥ', [one should worship] the bestower of success in all undertakings; / and one should worship the god Vidyut with 'sapta tvā haritaḥ'.

One should constantly worship the ninth goddess, Sarvatomukhī, / indeed with this mantra here, O goddess: 'ud vayaṃ tamasaḥ'.

With 'udyann adya mitramahaḥ', one should mutter the first syllable. / With 'śukeṣu me harimāṇam', O goddess, one should worship the second.

With 'ud agād ayam ādityaḥ', the third is also [worshipped]. / With 'tat savitur vareṇyam', the fourth is proclaimed.

'mahāñ hi vaḥ' is proclaimed as the fifth. / 'hiraṇyagarbhaḥ samavartata' is proclaimed as the sixth seed-syllable.

'savitā paścātāt savitā' is the seventh, O lady of fair complexion. / Having thus installed the seed-syllables, one should establish the sun, O auspicious one.

Having installed the sun, one should then install the limbs.

Placing the heart in the south-east, one should place the head in the north-east, / the topknot in the south-west, and the armor in the region of Vāyu (north-west).

Having placed the weapon in the [cardinal] directions, and the pericarp with its own seed-syllable, / one should worship the heart with this [mantra]: 'amo 'si prāṇite na'.

One should worship the head, O goddess, with 'āyuṣyaṃ varcasyam'; / and having worshipped the topknot with the Gāyatrī, situated in the south-west,

one should worship the armor separately with 'jīmūtasyeva bhavati'; / one should always worship the weapon with 'dhanvanā gā dhanvanā'.

And one should worship the eye, O goddess, with 'aśvinā tejasā'. / Then on the east Soma, and on the south Budha;

having placed Guru on the west and Bhārgava on the north; / having placed Maṅgala in the south-east and Śanaiścara in the south-west;

one should place Rāhu in the north-west and Ketu in the region of Īśāna (north-east). / One should constantly worship Soma, O goddess, with the mantra 'āpyāyasva'.

There one should constantly worship Budha with 'ud budhyadhvam', O great goddess; / one should constantly worship Guru with the mantra 'bṛhaspate'.

And one should worship Bhārgava, O goddess, with 'śukraḥ śuśukvān'; / one should always worship Maṅgala with the mantra 'agnir mūrdhā'.

One should worship the son of the Sun with the mantra 'śaṃ agniḥ'; / one should always worship Rāhu, O goddess, with the mantra 'kayā naś citraḥ'.

The wise man should constantly worship Ketu indeed with 'ketuṃ kṛṇvan'. / On the outside, Śukra in the east, and Yama in the south;

one should recognize Īśvara in the north-east, and Agni is spoken of in the south-east; / Virūpākṣa in the south-west, and Pavana in the region of Vāyu (north-west).

Then one should worship Indra with this: 'tam u ṣṭavāma'; / one should always worship Vaivasvata with 'udīratām avarāḥ'.

One should worship Varuṇa, O goddess, with the mantra 'tat tvā yāmi'; / one should worship the Bestower of Wealth with the mantra 'indrāsomāvatam'.

One should worship Pāvaka, O goddess, with 'agnim īḷe purohitam'; / one should always worship Virūpākṣa with 'rakṣohaṇaṃ vājinam'.

One should always worship Vāyu, O goddess, with the mantra 'vāyav ā yāhi'. / The wise man should worship all these in due order, O goddess:

on the outside, on all sides beginning with Indra in the east, O goddess. / [Him who is] red in color, of great splendor, seated upon a white lotus,

endowed with all auspicious marks, adorned with all ornaments, / having two arms and one face, his hands holding five gentle [objects],

standing in the center of a circular orb of light, wearing red garments— / having meditated upon this form of the sun, worshipped in all worlds, / one should daily venerate the raised altar situated in the maṇḍala.

The Goddess said: / The procedure by which the Sun residing in the maṇḍala is worshipped with devotion / by mortals, O best of the gods, has been declared by you.

Tell me, O Śaṃkara, the rite by which one should worship the Sun-god, born of the lotus, / the all-pervading god residing in an image.

Īśvara said: / Excellent, excellent, O great goddess! Well have I been asked, O virtuous lady. / Listen with a focused mind, O goddess, [to the rite] by which one should worship him residing in an image.

With the mantra 'iṣe tvā', one should always worship the head. / With the mantra 'agnim īḷe', one should worship the right hand.

With the mantra 'agna ā yāhi', one should worship the two feet of the god. / With the mantra 'ājighra', one should worship [him] with a flower garland.

With the mantra 'yoge-yoge', one should throw an open handful of flowers. / With that which is stated as 'samudrād āgaccha', one should bathe the Sun.

With that which is declared as 'imaṃ me gaṅge', O beautiful lady, / and with the mantra 'samudrajyāḥ', one should wash the Sun according to the rule.

With the mantra 'sinīvālī', one should bathe him with conch-water. / With the mantra 'yajñaṃ yajñena', one should protect him with astringent decoctions.

One should bathe him with milk, O goddess, using the mantra 'āpyāyasva'. / With the mantra 'dadhikrāvṇaḥ', one should bathe the Sun with curd according to rule.

With that which is proclaimed as 'imaṃ me gaṅge', and with the mantra 'samudrajyāḥ', / O passionate woman, bathing with medicinal herbs is traditionally taught.

Then one should rub the Sun with the dvipadā verses, O fair-faced lady. / With the mantra 'mā nastoke', one should perform a simultaneous bath.

With the mantra 'viṣṇor rarāṭam', one should bathe him with fragrant water. / With the mantra 'sauvarṇam', one should offer water for the arghya and pādya.

With the mantra 'idaṃ viṣṇur vicakrame', one should offer the arghya. / With the mantra 'vedo'si', one should present the sacred thread.

With the mantra 'bṛhaspate', one should give garments to the Sun. / With 'yena śriyam prakurvāṇaḥ', one should worship him with a flower garland.

With the mantra 'dhūr asi', one should offer incense accompanied with bdellium. / With the mantra 'samiddho'ñjana', one should apply collyrium.

With the mantra 'yuñjānaḥ', one should smear the Sun with yellow orpiment. / And one should perform the waving of lamps for the sake of long life.

With 'sahasraśīrṣā puruṣaḥ', one should worship the Sun on the head. / With the mantra 'śaṃbhavāya', one should touch the two eyes of the Sun.

With 'viśvataścakṣuḥ', one should touch the body of the Sun. / With 'śrīś ca te lakṣmīś ca', one should worship the Sun on all his limbs.

Īśvara said: / Now, O great goddess, O virtuous lady, I shall tell you in brief / the rites and mantras for the worship of the eight-peaked Meru.

One should worship the eight peaks, O great goddess, by this rule: / First, one should worship in the center with this mantra, O virtuous lady:

With 'mahāhi vo mahāya', [one should worship] with clusters of various flowers. / With the mantra 'trātāram indram', one should always worship the eastern peak.

With the mantra 'tam uṣṭavāma', O celestial beauty, / [or] with 'agnim īḷe purohitam', one should worship the southeastern peak.

And with the Gāyatrī addressed to Agni, or one should worship with this: / 'yamāya tvā makhāya tvā', one should worship the southern peak.

Or one should worship with this: 'udīratām avare'. / With the mantra 'āyaṃ gauḥ', one should worship the southwestern peak.

One should worship the [quarter] near the asuras with 'rakṣohaṇaṃ vājinam', / or one should worship with the mantra that is 'indrāsomā'.

With 'abhi tvā sūra nonumaḥ', one should worship the northeastern peak; / or with 'yenedam bhūtam', one may worship with that.

With 'namo 'stu sarpebhyaḥ', one should always worship the Meru pedestal. / With 'hiraṇyagarbhaḥ samavartata', one should worship again in the center.

With 'savitā paścātāt', one should worship with a flower garland. / One should worship at the three junctures of the day, O goddess, offering arghya with reverence.

One should worship in the morning with 'mātā rudrāṇāṃ duhitā vasūnām'. / In the midday, O goddess, one should worship with 'tad viṣṇoḥ paramaṃ padam'.

Or in the afternoon one should always worship with 'haṃsaḥ śuciṣat'. / Thus one should worship the Sun together with the planets, O woman of excellent complexion.

The goddess said: / Which flowers are beloved always in the worship of the Sun, / and which have been spoken of, O lord of gods? Tell me out of your grace.

Īśvara said: / Listen, O goddess, I shall speak of the supreme chapter on flowers, / by which, when worshipped at the place of the Sun, O goddess, he is quickly pleased.

Worship with mālatī flowers brings about his presence. / And by means of mallikā flowers, a man comes to enjoy pleasures.

With white lotuses comes good fortune and enduring wealth. / With kadamba flowers, O ruler of gods, one enjoys supreme sovereignty.

Food becomes inexhaustible through the worship of the Sun with bakula flowers. / Worship with mandāra flowers destroys all leprosy.

With the leaves and flowers of the bilva tree, one enjoys great prosperity. / A garland of arka flowers yields wealth that grants the fruits of all desires.

When worshipped with a garland of bakula flowers, he will bestow a shapely maiden. / When worshipped with kiṃśuka flowers, O goddess, the Sun causes no affliction.

Likewise, with agasti flowers, he grants favor. / And with oleanders, O ruler of gods, one becomes an attendant of the Sun.

With a garland of hundred-petaled lotuses, O goddess, one goes to the world of the Sun. / With baka flowers, O great goddess, poverty does not arise at all.

Having worshipped the day-maker with seasonal flowers and perfume, / he enjoys this earth bounded by the four oceans.

Whoever smears the shrine of the Sun with devotion using red chalk / shall attain great fortune and is freed from diseases.

The eighteen types of leprosy here, and whatever other ailments of men exist, / all of them go to destruction if one smears [it] with clay.

Among all ungents, saffron and red sandalwood are praised, / and among flowers, oleanders are commended, O fair-faced lady.

There is nothing superior to this for causing pleasure to the Sun / such as saffron, jasmine, the hundred-petaled lotus, and agarwood.

What would not come to be in the world for him who worships the Sun with these, / and who, having smeared the temple, makes an auspicious circle?

With one [mandala] one gains wealth, with two one attains health, / with three one possesses all knowledge, and with four one becomes an enjoyer of pleasures.

With five [one gains] abundant grain; with six, longevity, strength, and renown; / with seven mandalas drawn, a man becomes the lord of a realm.

By offering a lamp of clarified butter, a man becomes possessed of good sight; / by offering a lamp of pungent oil, a man conquers his own enemy.

By offering a lamp of [sesame] oil, one is glorified in the world of Sūrya; / by a lamp of madhūka oil, one obtains supreme good fortune.
Among flowers, jasmine is superior; among incenses, vijaya is foremost; / among fragrances, saffron is best; and among unguents, red sandalwood.

In offering lamps, clarified butter is best; in food offerings, a sweetmeat is foremost; / with these the lord of gods is pleased and grants his presence.

Having thus worshipped according to rule, and having made circumambulations for the ancestors, / having bowed with the head to the god at that Arkasthala, O beloved,

sitting comfortably, he should then look, remaining facing the sun, / having placed a single white mustard seed in his hand along with water.

Having formed whatever desire he wishes in his heart near Arkasthala, / he should drink it with the water, O goddess, untouched by his teeth, all at once.

By doing thus, O goddess, a man obtains the fruit of ten million pilgrimages. / Brahmā, Viṣṇu, Mahādeva, the Fire-god, and likewise Kubera—

all of them rejoice in heaven relying upon the Sun, O lady of good vows; / therefore I see no god equal to the Sun.

Having done this, O great goddess, he should again perform circumambulation / around the Sun seven times with mantra[s], O goddess of gods, O fair-faced one.

‘Tam u ṣṭavāma’ is celebrated as the first ṛg-verse; / ‘Eta u nv indraṃ stavāma’ is celebrated as the second;

‘Indra śuddho na ā gahi’ is celebrated as the third; / ‘Indraṃ śuddho hi no rayim’ is celebrated as the fourth;

‘Asya vāmasya’, O auspicious one, is celebrated as the fifth; / and ‘Tribhiṣ ṭvaṃ deva’ indeed is celebrated as the sixth.

Those ten superior Sāmans that are always sung by wise Sāman-chanters— / with them he should have the seventh [circumambulation] performed.

I tell those ten Sāmans to you today, O beautiful woman: / the huṃkāra, the praṇava, the udgītha, and the prastāva make four;

the fifth is where the prahāra is, and likewise the sixth is the Āraṇyaka; / the seventh is the nidhana of the Sāmans, remembered as the saptasiddhi.

This is taught as fivefold; but with hrīṃkāra and the praṇava, / the eighth is Sādhya, and the ninth is Vāmadevaka,

and the Jyeṣṭhasāman is the tenth Sāman, beloved of the Creator and supreme. / The recitation of these Sāmans, O goddess, must indeed be performed according to rule.

Hear also from me as I speak of another that is beyond the Jyeṣṭhasāman; / that second one is not to be recited aloud, but murmured by one desiring liberation.

That supreme text to be muttered was proclaimed by the Sun God himself; / learn from me the ritual application and characteristics of this recitation: / the essence of stobhas, merging with the breath, beginning with the syllable Oṃ, is remembered by the wise.

‘Ūr, the sun, and likewise dharma; dharma is truth and indeed cosmic order; / dharma, those who are dharmic in dharma, have indeed attained the conclusion in dharma.’

When one worships with these words as appropriate for Sāma-singing twice-born [brahmins]— / this supreme recitation was taught by the Sun God himself.

Being muttered, one does not return again [to rebirth]; / freed from all diseases, he is released from [the sin of] killing a brahmin.

‘Ājyadohādyadohā’ is also the characteristic of the Jyeṣṭhasāman.

Having thus worshipped the lord of gods, he should then utter supreme praise / with five ṛg-verses; listen to them attentively:

‘Ukṣāṇaṃ pṛśnim’ is celebrated as the first; / ‘Catvāri vāk pari’ is celebrated as the second;

and ‘Indraṃ mitraṃ’ is celebrated as the third ṛg-verse; / ‘Kṛṣṇaṃ niyānam’ indeed is celebrated as the fourth;

‘Dvādaśaprathamaḥ’ is celebrated as the fifth. / With ‘Yo ratnavāhī’, he should fasten the crown of the Sun.

With ‘Gatehanām’, he should place the avyaṅga belt on the Sun. / In this manner, O goddess, he should worship the Sun according to rule.

Thus has the rule for worshipping the image been declared to you by me.

He who continually worships the Sun according to this rule / obtains superior desires in this world and in the next.

He who desires a son obtains a son; he who desires wealth obtains wealth; / he who desires a maiden obtains a maiden; he who desires knowledge becomes a knower of the Veda.

He who worships without desire goes surely to liberation / because of the māhātmya of this sacred field and by the power of the Sun of Arkasthala.

Whatever fruit one may obtain elsewhere by [feeding] ten million brahmins, / that same fruit is gained by feeding just one [brahmin] at Arkasthala.

Whatever ritual ablution, gifting, recitation, and oblation is performed on a solar eclipse / is multiplied ten million times by the power of ten million suns.

Whatever man faithfully keeps a vigil on the seventh day [of the lunar fortnight] falling on a Sunday / in the dark fortnight of the month of Māgha, O great goddess, / near Arkasthala, he goes to the supreme state.

Whatever fruit [comes] from giving a hundred cows in Kurukṣetra, / one obtains that same fruit from the darśana of Arkasthala there.

Arkasthala should be worshipped by those dwelling in that place, / especially by the sick, with hibiscus flowers and arka flowers.

The Sun should not be worshipped with patrorṇa flowers, / nor with those arising from dhattūra, nor with flowers produced from hog-plum.

The flower of the hog-plum appears like an already-used offering / because it is not fresh on the outside; therefore, one should avoid it.

One desiring prosperity should not offer an unknown garland, nor one that is withered, / nor one that is tainted, nor one that is stale.

Whoever strips the deity immediately out of greed for flowers— / [whether] fragrant flowers or others [offered] by a temple priest—

The bhojaka, deluded by greed, incurs the sin of killing a brahmin; / having reached Mahāraurava, he is cooked for eternal years. // 169

Come, I shall declare to you the supreme rule for offering incense, / [and] which fruit comes from which incense by offering it to the God of gods: // 7.1.17.170

With regular worship by means of incense, the Sun grants proximity; / he would grant every desired thing, whatever a mortal wishes. // 171

Likewise, through aloe incense he would grant a desired treasure; / one who desires health and desires wealth should continually burn bdellium. // 172

The Sun is ever pleased by offering piṇḍāta incense; / he would himself grant health, and supreme happiness would ensue. // 173

Through incense of pine resin, one obtains complete [success in] trade; / and to one who burns the resin of the Sāla tree, influx of wealth will come. // 174

And to one who burns deodar wood, food becomes inexhaustible; / anointment with saffron grants the fruit of all desires. // 175

Having become happy in this world, he would attain imperishable heaven; / through anointment with sandalwood paste, he finds fortune and longevity. // 176

Through anointment with red sandalwood, the Sun gives everything; / even if afflicted with hundreds of diseases, he would attain well-being and health. // 177

A man obtains pleasant fragrance and supreme good fortune; / through massage with musk, he will obtain peerless sovereignty. // 178

With perfumes combined with camphor, he becomes a sovereign of kings; / with fourfold perfume, he will attain all desires. // 179

This excellent māhātmya of the Sun has been told to you, O Goddess; / it has been proclaimed in detail by me; what else do you ask? // 7.1.17.180

The Goddess said: / If the divine Sun is thus the foremost of all luminous beings, / how, O Lord, is he swallowed by Rāhu, the son of Siṃhikā? // 181

Īśvara said: / Listen, O Goddess, I will declare that which destroys all sins, / the cause of the eclipse, which destroys delusion. // 182

Rāhu stands below the solar orb, O spirited lady, / seated in an aerial chariot, desiring nectar, as long as the nectar trickles. // 183

It is screened by the orb, O Goddess; that is indeed the solar eclipse. / No one is able to swallow [him]; the Sun certainly burns. // 184

Brahmā and the others worship him; he is the origin of all denizens of heaven. // 185ab

All gods and Dānavas and others were born from the body of the Sun. // 185cd

Because he is himself the original creator, he is called Āditya; / the god is situated at Prabhāsa, destroying all sins. // 186

The god grants enjoyment and liberation, destroying diseases and wicked deeds; / there, in ancient times, O Goddess, the guardians of the worlds and great seers became perfected. // 187

Siddhas, Vidyādharas, Yakṣas, Gandharvas, and likewise sages; / Dhanada as well, and likewise Bhīṣma, Yayāti, and Gālava; // 188

and Sāmba as well, O Goddess, attained supreme perfection from here. / This secret, O ruler of the gods, is the supreme māhātmya of the Sun. // 189

It must not be given to evil-minded persons, and especially not to sinners; / not to an atheist, not to an unbeliever, nor ever to a cruel person. // 7.1.17.190

One may recite this narrative, O auspicious lady, to one who is not envious; / this should be told to a son, to a disciple who is righteous and righteous in conduct, // 191

O lady of noble vows, this great sacred lore [should be told] to a devotee of the Sun; / this is the supreme māhātmya of the god of Arkasthala. // 192

Whoever recites [this] at a śrāddha to brahmins of strict vows, O Goddess, / endless indeed becomes whatever gift that man gives, O Goddess. // 193

Where this sacred text is recited, prosperity is indeed ever present. // 194ab

Overcome with fear, the Yātudhānas do not disrupt that śrāddha. // 194cd

Even those who defile the dining row attain the status of sanctifiers of the row; / he will have sons, have a noble birth, and be pleasing in all desires. // 195

A man will always be reunited with his kinsmen living abroad; / he is reunited with lost wealth, and with other desired things as well. // 196

He is protected by Yoginīs, and is not separated from his beloved ones; / having touched water and become pure, a brahmin should always listen to it; / he obtains all desires, there is no doubt about this. // 197

A vaiśya [would obtain] peerless prosperity, a kṣatriya would become a ruler of the earth, / and merchants would obtain undivided trade hundreds of times over, / from the recitation of this origin of the Sun, O fair-faced lady. // 198

And śūdras will obtain their cherished desires, O spirited lady; / the terrible fear of premature death, which is even a greater fear than death, // 199