Twelve Names of the Sun

Recently I was reading a poem by Swami Ramalingam, a famous Tamil saint who left Earth in a light body in 1874. He is famous for sharing a mantra given directly to him by Shiva, archetype of dissolution, for dissolving the physical body into light: Arut Perum Jyoti Arut Perum Jyoti Tanni Perum Karunai Arut Perum Jyoti Swami Ramalingam left many poems praising ARUL, the great grace light. In one of the poems he praises ARUL as “…the transcendent Light, which puts to shame the light of the twelve suns…” I was intrigued when I saw mention of the 12 Suns. Almost every indigenous tradition on Earth has some form of honoring the Sun. Without the Sun, we literally have no life on Earth. The Sun is important for our health and self-esteem. In the Christian tradition I grew up in, Saint Francis of Assisi is famous for his lyrical “Canticle for Brother Sun and Sister Moon.” Praising the Sun seems a natural instinct for all. Here in Tamil Nadu, a yoga teacher who taught a series of yoga poses called Surya Namaskar (Salute to the Sun) for morning exercise had also taught 12 names of the Sun. As we began each round of poses, he would recite a seed syllable with a name of the Sun. It was a very peaceful way to start the day. Some days we did only 3 or 6 rounds as he had other yoga poses to share with us. In that case, on the next day he would start with the next 3 or 6 names of the Sun. In this way, we would eventually loop through the 12 names of the Sun on a regular basis. Some days we would do all 12 rounds in one morning. Anyone can do this at any pace they are comfortable with. For yoga beginners, it is ok to start with doing just 1 round of Surya Namaskar and take 12 days to loop through the 12 names of the Sun. Other people may want to experiment with sitting quietly and chanting the 12 names of the Sun 9 times for a total of 108 sounds. You are welcome to chant 1 name of the Sun repeatedly if that name has a quality you are especially interested to grow in yourself. This week in mid-April in India, the Sun will transit into Aries, the sign where the Sun is exalted or most strong. This is celebrated as Vedic New Year as the Sun now begins a fresh annual journey through all the 12 Zodiac signs. It is considered a very auspicious time for new beginnings. In addition, each of the 12 names of the Sun is said to have some association with one of the 12 Zodiac signs. The table below summarizes 12 names of the Sun, their meaning, their quantum sounds and their associated Zodiac sign.

Name	Meaning	Quantum Sound	Zodiac
Mitra	Friend of all	Om Hram Mitraya Namaha	Aries
Ravi	Praised by all	Om Hrim Ravaye Namaha	Taurus
Surya	The stimulator	Om Hrum Suryaya Namaha	Gemini
Bhanu	Giver of beauty and luster	Om Hraim Bhanave Namaha	Cancer
Khaga	Stimulator of senses	Om Hroum Khagaya Namaha	Leo
Pusan	The nourisher	Om Hrah Pushne Namaha	Virgo
Hiranyagarbha	One who possesses power to develop energy and power	Om Hram Hiranyagarbhaya Namaha	Libra
Marici	Destroyer of diseases	Om Hrim Maricaye Namaha	Scorpio
Aditya	One who attracts	Om Hrum Adityaya Namaha	Sagittarius
Savitr	Begetter	Om Hraim Savitre Namaha	Capricorn
Arka	Fit to be revered	Om Hroum Arkaya Namaha	Aquarius
Bhaskara	Refulgent	Om Hrah Bhaskaraya Namaha	Pisces

  You are welcome to run a free Birth Chart at AstroVed and see what Zodiac sign your Sun is in your own Vedic Birth Chart. Look at the above table and see what name of the Sun is associated with your Vedic Sun sign and reflect on this for yourself. This may give you some insights on attributes the Sun may focus you on developing in this lifetime. Sometimes when I do astrology consultations people ask me to suggest services from AstroVed to help them connect better with a particular planet. These are some additional ideas to explore to experience greater blessings from the Sun:

• Sun Fire Lab (Homa)
• Sun Pooja
• Sun Yantra
• Proxy Mantra Writing for Sun

May the Sun give everyone blessings for health, self-esteem, leadership, wisdom, power, vitality, higher intelligence and enlightenment. May the Sun bless us with enlightened leaders, enlightened citizens, enlightened laws, enlightened countries and entire enlightened civilizations. May the ARUL grace light which is even greater than the 12 names of the Sun enter into all of us and transform our world. Arut Perum Jyothi. Written by Swamini Valli Wells Valli is available for ½-hour and 1-hour Live Astrologer Consultations (LAC) at AstroVed (USD global version only). She encourages people to create a free account at AstroVed and run free reports about their own Birth Chart, Birth Star, Moon sign, and Planetary Influences. This is a simple way to begin to make friends with astrology. She invites everyone interested to learn more about Vedic astrology to join a newly formed Facebook group for Astrology Club – AstroVed. Reminder: All the planets like it when we help others in need. Please consider making a donation to Dr. Pillai’s non-profit charity Tripura Foundation.