The Hymn to Aditya

Verse 1 (markandeya.100.1)

मार्कण्डेय उवाच तस्य सन्ताप्यमाने तु तेजसोर्ध्वमधस्यथा । सिसृक्षुश्चिन्तयामास पद्मयोनिः पितामहः ॥ 100.1 ॥

mārkaṇḍeya uvāca tasya santāpyamāne tu tejasordhvamadhasyathā sisṛkṣuścintayāmāsa padmayoniḥ pitāmahaḥ

Markandeya said: Then, as his radiance was scorching both above and below, Brahma the lotus-born grandsire, desiring to create, began to reflect.

Verse 2 (markandeya.100.2)

सृष्टिः कृतापि मे नाशं प्रयास्यत्यभितेजसा । भास्वतः सृष्टिसंहारस्थितिहेतोर्महात्मनः ॥ 100.2 ॥

sṛṣṭiḥ kṛtāpi me nāśaṁ prayāsyatyabhitejasā bhāsvataḥ sṛṣṭisaṁhārasthitihetormahātmanaḥ

Even the creation already made will be destroyed by the excess radiance of that great-souled, luminous one who is himself the cause of the creation, destruction, and preservation of the world.

Verse 3 (markandeya.100.3)

अप्राणाः प्राणिनः सर्व आपः शुष्यन्ति तेजसा । न चाम्भसा विना सृष्टिर्विश्वस्यास्य भविष्यति ॥ 100.3 ॥

aprāṇāḥ prāṇinaḥ sarva āpaḥ śuṣyanti tejasā na cāmbhasā vinā sṛṣṭirviśvasyāsya bhaviṣyati

All living beings will be robbed of breath, all the waters are drying up from that heat; and without water there can be no creation for this universe.

Verse 4 (markandeya.100.4)

इति सञ्चिन्त्य भगवान्स्तोत्रं भगवतो रवेः । चकार तन्मये भूत्वा ब्रह्मा लोकपितामहः ॥ 100.4 ॥

iti sañcintya bhagavānstotraṁ bhagavato raveḥ cakāra tanmaye bhūtvā brahmā lokapitāmahaḥ

Having reflected thus, the illustrious Brahma, grandsire of the worlds, becoming wholly absorbed in him, composed a hymn of praise to the illustrious Sun.

Verse 5 (markandeya.100.5)

ब्रह्मोवाच नमस्ये यन्मयं सर्वमेतत्सर्वमयश्च यः । विश्वमूर्तिः परं ज्योतिर्यत्तद्ध्यायन्ति योगिनः ॥ 100.5 ॥

brahmovāca namasye yanmayaṁ sarvametatsarvamayaśca yaḥ viśvamūrtiḥ paraṁ jyotiryattaddhyāyanti yoginaḥ

Brahma said: I bow to him of whom this entire universe consists and who consists of all things — the universal form, the supreme light on whom the yogis meditate.

Verse 6 (markandeya.100.6)

य ऋङ्मयो यो यजुषां निधानं साम्नां च यो योनिरचिन्त्यशक्तिः । त्रयीमयः स्थूलतयार्धमात्रा परस्वरूपो गुणपारयोग्यः ॥ 100.6 ॥

ya ṛṅmayo yo yajuṣāṁ nidhānaṁ sāmnāṁ ca yo yoniracintyaśaktiḥ trayīmayaḥ sthūlatayārdhamātrā parasvarūpo guṇapārayogyaḥ

He who consists of the Rig, who is the storehouse of the Yajur verses and the very womb of the Sama, of power beyond thought; who consists of the threefold Veda, whose gross measure is but half a syllable, whose true nature is supreme and reachable through mastery of the gunas.

Verse 7 (markandeya.100.7)

त्वां सर्वहेतुं परमं च वेद्यमाद्यं परं ज्योतिरवेद्यरूपम् । स्थूलं च देवात्मतया नमस्ते भास्वन्तमाद्यं परमं परेभ्यः ॥ 100.7 ॥

tvāṁ sarvahetuṁ paramaṁ ca vedyamādyaṁ paraṁ jyotiravedyarūpam sthūlaṁ ca devātmatayā namaste bhāsvantamādyaṁ paramaṁ parebhyaḥ

To you, the cause of all, the supreme and knowable one, the primal, supreme light whose true form lies beyond knowing; to you, present also in gross form as the very self of the gods — to you, radiant, primal, and supreme above all others — I offer salutation.

Verse 8 (markandeya.100.8)

सृष्टिं करोमि यदहं तव शक्तिराद्या तत्प्रेरितो जलमहीपवनाग्निरूपाम् । तद्देवतादिविषयां प्रणवाद्यशेषां नात्मेच्छया स्थितिलयावपि तद्वदेव ॥ 100.8 ॥

sṛṣṭiṁ karomi yadahaṁ tava śaktirādyā tatprerito jalamahīpavanāgnirūpām taddevatādiviṣayāṁ praṇavādyaśeṣāṁ nātmecchayā sthitilayāvapi tadvadeva

It is your power, the primal one — when I create, impelled by it I fashion this form made of water, earth, wind and fire, and that whole domain of the deities beginning with the Pranava, together with its preservation and its dissolution likewise — never by my own separate will.

Verse 9 (markandeya.100.9)

वह्निस्त्वमेव जलशोषणतः पृथिव्याः सृष्टिं करोषि जगतां च तथाद्य पाकम् । व्यापी त्वमेव भगवन्गगनस्वरूपं त्वं पञ्चधा जगदिदं परिपासि विश्वम् ॥ 100.9 ॥

vahnistvameva jalaśoṣaṇataḥ pṛthivyāḥ sṛṣṭiṁ karoṣi jagatāṁ ca tathādya pākam vyāpī tvameva bhagavangaganasvarūpaṁ tvaṁ pañcadhā jagadidaṁ paripāsi viśvam

You alone are fire, and by drying up the earth's waters you bring about creation, and this day the ripening of the worlds; you alone, Lord, pervade all things in the form of the sky; you alone protect this entire universe in five ways.

Verse 10 (markandeya.100.10)

यज्ञैर्यजन्ति परमात्मविदो भवन्तं विष्णुस्वरूपमखिलेष्टिमयं विवस्वन् । ध्यायन्ति चापि यतयो नियतात्मचित्ताः सर्वेश्वरं परममात्मविमुक्तिकामा ॥ 100.10 ॥

yajñairyajanti paramātmavido bhavantaṁ viṣṇusvarūpamakhileṣṭimayaṁ vivasvan dhyāyanti cāpi yatayo niyatātmacittāḥ sarveśvaraṁ paramamātmavimuktikāmā

Those who know the Supreme Self worship you, O Vivasvat, through sacrifices, in your form as Vishnu made of every oblation; and ascetics too, their minds wholly restrained, meditate on you, lord of all, supreme, desiring liberation of the self.

Verse 11 (markandeya.100.11)

नमस्ते देवरूपाय यज्ञरूपाय ते नमः । परब्रह्मस्वरूपाय चिन्त्यमानाय योगिभिः ॥ 100.11 ॥

namaste devarūpāya yajñarūpāya te namaḥ parabrahmasvarūpāya cintyamānāya yogibhiḥ

Salutation to you of divine form; salutation to you, whose form is sacrifice itself; salutation to you whose true nature is the Supreme Brahman, meditated upon by the yogis.

Verse 12 (markandeya.100.12)

उपसंहर तेजो यत्तेजसः संहतिस्तव । सृष्टेर्विधाताय विभो सृष्टौ चाहं समुद्यतः ॥ 100.12 ॥

upasaṁhara tejo yattejasaḥ saṁhatistava sṛṣṭervidhātāya vibho sṛṣṭau cāhaṁ samudyataḥ

Withdraw that radiance which is the mass of your own light; O Lord, I am eager to begin creation — be the one who makes that creation possible.

Verse 13 (markandeya.100.13)

मार्कण्डेय उवाच इत्येवं संस्तुतो भास्वान्ब्रह्मणा सर्गकर्तृणा । उपसंहृतवांस्तेजः परं स्वल्पमधारयत् ॥ 100.13 ॥

mārkaṇḍeya uvāca ityevaṁ saṁstuto bhāsvānbrahmaṇā sargakartṛṇā upasaṁhṛtavāṁstejaḥ paraṁ svalpamadhārayat

Markandeya said: Thus praised by Brahma, the maker of creation, the radiant one withdrew his radiance and retained only a small, supreme remainder of it.

Verse 14 (markandeya.100.14)

चकार च ततः सृष्टिं जगतः पद्मसम्भवः । तथा तेषु महाभागः पूर्वकल्पान्तरेषु वै ॥ 100.14 ॥

cakāra ca tataḥ sṛṣṭiṁ jagataḥ padmasambhavaḥ tathā teṣu mahābhāgaḥ pūrvakalpāntareṣu vai

Then the lotus-born one brought about the creation of the world; and, O illustrious one, just as he had done in those bygone cycles before —

Verse 15 (markandeya.100.15)

देवासुरादीन्मर्त्त्यांश्च पश्वादीन्वृक्षवीरुधः । ससर्ज पूर्ववद्ब्रह्मा नरकांश्च महामुने ॥ 100.15 ॥

devāsurādīnmarttyāṁśca paśvādīnvṛkṣavīrudhaḥ sasarja pūrvavadbrahmā narakāṁśca mahāmune

O great sage, Brahma created, just as before, the gods and demons, mortal beings, cattle and the rest, trees and creepers, and the hells as well.