The Heart of the Sun

Years later Rāvaṇa, the demon king of Laṅkā, carried Sītā away, and Rāma made war on him to win her back. On the battlefield before Laṅkā, Rāma stood worn out with fighting and lost in thought, and Rāvaṇa stood in front of him ready for battle. Agastya had come with the gods to watch the battle, and he came to Rāma and spoke.

Rāma, Rāma, mighty-armed, he said, listen to an eternal secret, by which, my son, you will conquer all your enemies in battle. It is the Ādityahṛdayam, the heart of the sun: holy, the destroyer of every enemy, the bringer of victory, to be recited always, imperishable, supreme and auspicious, the blessing of all blessings, the destroyer of all sins, the end of worry and grief, the best giver of long life.

Then he taught Rāma the hymn. Worship the sun, he told him, rising with his rays, honoured by gods and asuras, the bright lord of the worlds, who holds all the gods in himself, who with his rays protects the gods and the asuras and all the worlds; who is Brahmā and Viṣṇu and Śiva, Skanda and Prajāpati, Indra and Kubera, Time and Yama and Soma and Varuṇa. He named the sun by his many names and bowed to him again and again: to the eastern mountain and the western mountain, to the lord of the lights and of the day, to the one who wakes the lotus, to the slayer of darkness and frost and enemies. This lord destroys what has come to be and creates it again, the hymn says. He dries, he burns, he pours rain with his rays. He is awake in those who sleep, dwelling within all beings. A man who sings his praise in trouble, in hardship, in the wilderness and in fear, does not sink, Rāma.

Worship him with a single mind, the god of gods, lord of the world, Agastya said. Recite this three times and you will win in battle. In this very moment, mighty-armed, you will kill Rāvaṇa. Having said this, Agastya went back the way he had come.

Rāma heard it, and his grief left him. He took the hymn to heart, gazed at the sun and recited it, and great joy came over him. He sipped water three times and was purified, took up his bow, looked at Rāvaṇa with a glad heart, and went to fight him, set with all his strength on killing him.