image credit: Srinibash Samal
In the fifth verse of his Cidvilāsastava (‘Hymn to the Play of Consciousness’), Amṛtānanda teaches about the deeper meaning of Sūryapūjā, the ritual worship of the sun as a contemplation on consciousness and awareness:
स्वप्रकाशशिव एव भास्करस्तद्विमर्शविभवा मरीचयः ।
यैः स भासयति वेद्यमण्डलं तस्य पूजनमहन्तया मतिः ॥ ५ ॥
svaprakāśaśiva eva bhāskaras tadvimarśavibhavā marīcayaḥ |
yaiḥ sa bhāsayati vedyamaṇḍalaṃ tasya pūjanam ahantayā matiḥ || 5 ||
“The sun is Śiva who is self-luminous. The sunrays are the creative powers of his self-representation by means of which he makes the world of objectivity shine forth. Reflecting upon that self-luminous Śiva as one’s own identity is the true ritual worship of the sun.” (translation by Ben Williams)
