The Sun is in the news. It is presenting itself up in the sky as round light bulb with scarlet ring. The ongoing forest fires in the Interior of BC has tinted the Sun god because of the haze produced which spreads out in the Greater Vancouver area. Whereas, we are wishing that the BC Sun takes a few days off and let the natural showers douse the devastating fires, the reverence for Sun is always there in Hindu thought as a divine appearance.
Surya Devta or sun god enjoys unique status in Hindu iconography as the visible divine personality emerging from the horizon every day. His celestial arrival frees a devotee from ritualistic customs or caste-based barricades and taboos to have an independent face to face obeisance and worship. The sun god is approachable without any medium.
The Sun’s universal distribution of light and energy has been recognized since Vedic time as the ultimate source of life, the cause of our existence and the environment it nourishes.
From metaphysical viewpoint, light and energy occupy fundamental ranking in Hindu faith. And Sun is the spirited and analogous force in this numinous discernment. Light and energy are the divine elements to lead us to the path of knowledge, reality, and truth. The Gayatri mantra predicates the divinity in light and energy.
The life and soul of the universe is the Sun.
– https://promodpuri.com/
Excerpts from my book https://progressivehindudialogue.com/…/09/11/about-the-book/
Photo courtesy Ashok Bhargava