There are two couplets which do not form part of Śrīmad Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa are used as dhyāna verses.

जयतु जयतु सूर्यं सप्तलोकैकदीपं
किरणशमितपाप क्लेश द्ःखस्य नाशम्। (i)

अरुणकिरण गम्यं आदिं आदित्यमूर्तिं
सकल भुवनवन्द्यं भास्करं तं नमामि॥ (ii)

jayatu jayatu sūryaṁ saptalokaikadīpaṁ
kiraṇaśamitapāpa kleśa dḥkhasya nāśam | (i)

aruṇakiraṇa gamyaṁ ādiṁ ādityamūrtiṁ
sakala bhuvanavandyaṁ bhāskaraṁ taṁ namāmi || (ii)

This is a prayer to sun god. “I pray to the sun god who is capable of destroying our sins, pain, anguish, disease and distress”. Word ‘kleśa’ is used in this verse with great diligence. Patañjali in his Yoga Sūtra (II.3) says:

अविद्या अस्मिता राग द्वेष अभिनिवेशाह् क्लेशः।
avidyā asmitā rāga dveṣa abhiniveśāh kleśaḥ |

Meaning: Spiritual ignorance is the major pain bearing obstacle which leads to other four afflictions such as ego, attachment, aversion and attachment to the physical body.

Māyā is the cause for avidyā. Unless one is able to shed the influence of māyā, realisation of the Self is not possible. This is the prayer to sun god to remove the effects of māyā. When māyā is shed, kleśa discussed above is also removed.

Kṛṣṇa also spoke about kleśa in Bhagavad Gītā (XVIII.8)He says, “Anyone who gives up prescribed duties as troublesome or out of fear of bodily discomfort (kleśa) can never be a true renouncer and he can never reach any elevated spiritual state.” He says that one should meticulously follow the path of spiritual practices at any cost.

The above two dhyāna verses say the following:

Let the sun shine in all the seven worlds (seven worlds were discussed in the introduction to this series). He is capable of destroying kleśa by his sheer radiance. I pray to him to remove spiritual darkness by imparting knowledge about the Self. The verse says that he is the beginning of the universe, which subtly conveys that the prayer is offered to Brahman, as Brahman alone exists from the beginning. This is conveyed through ādiṁ in the verse.

Aditya Hrudayam

ततो युद्धपरिश्रान्तं समरे चिन्तया स्थितम्।
रावणं चाग्रतो दृष्ट्वा युद्धाय समुपस्थितम्॥ १

दैवतैश्च समागम्य द्र्ष्टुमभ्यागतो रणम्॥
उपागम्याब्रवीद् रामम् अगस्त्यो भगवान् रिषिः॥ २

राम राम महाबाहो श्रुणु गुह्यं सनातनम्।
येन सर्वानरीन् वत्स समरे विजयिष्यसि॥ ३

tato yuddhapariśrāntaṁ samare cintayā sthitam |
rāvaṇaṁ cāgrato dṛṣṭvā yuddhāya samupasthitam || (1)

daivataiśca samāgamya drṣṭumabhyāgato raṇam ||
upāgamyābravīd rāmam agastyo bhagavān riṣiḥ || (2)

rāma rāma mahābāho śruṇu guhyaṁ sanātanam |
yena sarvānarīn vatsa samare vijayiṣyasi || (3)

Meaning:

1. tataḥ - the place where the war takes place; yuddhapariśrāntaṁ - exhausted due to the war; samare – war; cintayā sthitam – constantly thinking (about the war); rāvaṇaṁ - Rāvaṇa; cāgrato dṛṣṭvā – having seen in front; yuddhāya samupasthitam – well disposed for the battle.

2. daivataiśca samāgamya – all gods coming together; drṣṭumabhyāgato raṇam – reached the war zone to enjoy the battle; upāgamyābravīd rāmam – on noticing Rāma; agastyo bhagavān riṣiḥ - the great sage Agastya.

3. rāma rāma – O! Rāma! Rāma! mahābāho – long armed (Lord Viṣṇu is also known as Mahābāhu because of His long arms); śruṇu – listen; guhyaṁ sanātanam – eternal and ancient secret; yena sarvānarīn – with which all enemies; vatsa – O! Child; samare vijayiṣyasi – can be won over in the war.

Summary 1 -3:

Sage Agastya had come to the battlefield along with other gods and goddesses to witness the battle between Rāma and Rāvaṇa. The war between Rāma and Rāvaṇa signifies the war between good and evil thoughts. Rāmāyaṇa explains how persons with evil thoughts are ultimately annihilated. Though Rāvaṇa was a great worshiper of Śiva, he was not spared for his wicked acts. This also explains that those who are embodiments of evil thoughts would be annihilated in the same birth. Bountiful evil karmas do not wait for the next birth, but manifest in the same birth. What is sown has to be reaped in a short span of time. Good thoughts manifest in the form of spiritual evolution and bad thoughts lead to mental and physical sufferings. As this is the war between good and bad, all gods and goddess accompanied Sage Agastya to witness the battle of good vs bad. Similarly, when Viṣṇu took the form of Nṛsiṁha (man-lion) and killed Hiraṇyakaśipu, all gods and goddesses were present to witness the latter’s annihilation.

Agastya called Rāma twice; the first one addressed to Rāma as the warrior, as the king and above all, God. The second one addressed to Rāma out of love and affection for Him treating him as a child. In Guru-disciple relationship, even today this attitude exists, though very rarely. The first Rāma in the third verse is connected to mahābāho which means mighty armed. His hands are called mighty because, He has long hands. Viṣṇu sustains the universe by upholding dharma and annihilating those who cause imbalance between dharma and a-dharma. The second usage of Rāma is connected to vatsa (child) in the second line of the third verse. In the third verse, Agastya reminds Rāma about the eternal existence of a secretive mantra to destroy all enemies. Rāma as an incarnation will never have enemies, as Brahman does not discriminate. Enemies here refer to evil acts and Rāvaṇa represents embodiment of all evil acts and in particular, disrespecting women. As per dharma śāstra-s, disesteeming women is considered as one of the greatest sins for which there is no remedy. Rāvaṇa had gone to the extent of abducting Rāma’s Consort Sītā Devi.

Rāma does not need any help and He knows what is going to happen to Rāvaṇa. But, the secrecy of Āditya Hṛdayam was made to reveal to the world through Agastya. This expresses the respect Rāma had for great sages and saints. All through His incarnated life, He respected all His teachers.

The above three verses do not form part of Āditya Hṛdaya Stotram. These verses introduce Agastya in order to reveal Aditya Hrudayam to everyone. From the next verse onwards, Āditya Hṛdaya Stotram is revealed.

More articles:
Aditya Hrudayam – Introduction

Aditya Hrudayam - Part 2