Continuing with the Harikatha series by Smt Sharada Gannavaram, we have come to the third deity in the "shanmata (6-deity)" pantheon- i.e., Lord Surya.
Sringeri's 34th acharya Sri Sri Chandrashekhara Bharati mahaswami has composed a stotra on Lord Surya called "Megha-aavrta-surya-varnanam".
It looks as though the acharya looked at the sky on a cloudy day and that sight...triggered this stotra. As the name says, the stotra is a "description of the sun"- "surya varnanam". What kind of sun is it? The acharya says, the sun...that is presently covered (aavrta) by the clouds (megha).
Hence, these verses are composed on the sun....that is now covered by the clouds!
Verse 1:
Clouds, the children...cover the sun, their parent!
In this stotra, we get the following verse:
Having covered the sun, the clouds are looking for some justification. They argue, "What harm is there? We are following a precedent that is already seen in the creation! Hence, we are perfectly justified!"
What is the precedent? That explanation is given in the first line of the verse. The acharya makes the Vedantic leap by connecting the "sun and cloud" (line 2) with "atma and maya" (line 1). As per Vedantic teaching, there is only one reality- the atma. It is present everywhere. "Maya" is a mysterious entity, that is seen as an "appearance in the atma". It is like the "mirage in the desert". The sand is the reality of the desert. In that dry sand, we see an appearance of water. So too, with maya. It is like the mirage water. The world that we experience is this maya.
Maya owes its appearance to atma, much like the mirage water owes its appearance to the desert sand. Atma is the basis, the substratum...the "parent" and maya i.e. this world, is the "child" for this atma. The irony is, though the world/maya is the "child" of atma, the world manages to successfully cover the atma. We do not notice the atma ever! Our attention is so much on the world...that we miss atma altogether and never notice its presence! It is like the cinema characters that distract us, so much so, we never notice the screen!
The acharya says, this is the precedent that is seen in the creation. The clouds argue, "When such an example already exists in the creation, where the child covers the parent, what harm is there, if we repeat the same mischief and cover our creator, the sun?"
Answer from the Hastaamalaka stotra:
The acharya leaves the verse open-ended. We get the answer to this riddle from the Hastaamalaka stotra, a poem composed by Adi Shankara's disciple. In this poem, we get the same example of the cloud covering the sun. The poem says, "People conclude that the sun is covered by the clouds. They miss the presence of the sun. What they fail to realise is the fact, that the cloud itself is seen, because of the sun! In and through the sight of the cloud, the sun is very much present. So too, we feel that atma is covered by maya, covered by this world. But every experience of the world, is the experience of the reality, the atma, in and through the things and beings of this world!"
Verse 2:
In another verse in the same "megha-aavrta-surya-varnanam" stotra, the acharya gives a "neeti", makes a particular observation. The verse goes as follows:
The acharya says, the sun is shining and resplendent. This is the fact. For such a bright parent, a child may be born (i.e. the cloud) that manages to dim and dampen the effulgence of the parent, i.e. the sun! It is indeed a wonder!
The acharya says, sometimes, in this world, we notice a similar phenomenon. The parent may be outstanding, but his child may be "dush-putra" and may successfully cover the brilliance of the parent! We can take many examples from the Puranas. Ravana had an illustrious lineage. His father was Sage Vishravas, his grandfather was Sage Pulastya (one of the sapta-rishis) and his great-grandfather was Lord Brahma himself! Coming from such a noble lineage, Ravana managed to dampen the brilliance of all his ancestors.
We need not end the verse on this solemn note that we have "dush-putras" in this world. Adi Shankara answers this problem in his Subrahmanya Bhujanga stotram. He says, even if we are "dush-putras" and guilty of offences, just like a father and mother forgive "sahatey" the faults of their children "sva-putra-aparaadham", so too, the Lord, as the eternal and affectionate parent, must forgive even this dush-putra! Shankara says, there is redemption for everyone, under the Lord's benevolent, parental ambit!
We pray to Lord Surya, the pratyaksha devata, to bless us. May we invoke his blessings through our daily sandhya-vandana. May he brighten our mind and lead us to the ultimate goal of life.
References:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Yy9hAkjNN4
Also, many thanks to Smt Sharada for sharing the above verses from the "Gururaaja-sukti-maalika"