एनमापत्सु कृच्छ्र्षु कान्तारेषु भयेषु च।
कीर्तयन् पुरुषः कश्चिन्नावसीदति राघव॥ २५

पूजयस्वैनमेकाग्रो देवदेवं जगत्पतिम्।
एतत्त्रिगुणितं जप्त्वा युद्धेशु विजयिष्यसि॥ २६

अस्मिन् क्षणे महाबाहो रावणं त्वं वधिष्यसि।
एवमुक्त्वा ततोऽगस्त्यो जगाम च तथागतम्॥ २७

एतच्छ्रुत्वा महातेजा नष्टशोकोऽभवत् तदा।
धारयामास सुप्रीतो राघवः प्रयतात्मवान्॥ २८

enamāpatsu kṛcchrṣu kāntāreṣu bhayeṣu ca |
kīrtayan puruṣaḥ kaścinnāvasīdati rāghava || || (25)

pūjayasvainamekāgro devadevaṁ jagatpatim |
etattriguṇitaṁ japtvā yuddheśu vijayiṣyasi || (26)

asmin kṣaṇe mahābāho rāvaṇaṁ tvaṁ vadhiṣyasi |
evamuktvā tato'gastyo jagāma ca tathāgatam || (27)

etacchrutvā mahātejā naṣṭaśoko'bhavat tadā |
dhārayāmāsa suprīto rāghavaḥ prayatātmavān || (28)

Meaning:

25) enam – this (according to Sanskrit literature, this is seldom used and instead idam or etam is used); āpatsu – to assail; kṛcchrṣu – miserable and painful; bhayeṣu ca – and also from dismay, danger and peril; kīrtayan – repetitions; puruṣaḥ - embodied soul (irrespective of the gender); kaścinnāvasīdati – no one will be punished; rāghava - a descendant of Raghu dynasty to which Rāma belongs.

26) pūjayasvai – worshiping; enam – this; ekāgra – one pointed attention (absorption); deva devaṁ - chief of gods; jagatpatim – the one who rules the universe; etat triguṇitaṁ - this hymn (Āditya Hṛdayam) to be repeated three times; japtvā – muttering (meaning that it should not be recited loudly); yuddheśu – in the battle; vijayiṣyasi – assured of victory.

27) asmin kṣaṇe – at this very moment; mahābāho – long armed (mighty shoulders);  rāvaṇaṁ - Rāvaṇa; tvaṁ - You (Śrī Rāma);  vadhiṣyasi – killing; evam uktvā – having said so; tato'gastyo (tat Agastya) – then Agastya; jagāma ca tathāgatam – went back in the same way as he had come.
28) etacchrutvā (etat śrutvā) – having thus listened to this hymn (Āditya Hṛdayam);  mahātejā – great splendour; naṣṭaśoko'bhavat tadā – then his sadness disappeared; dhārayāmāsa – prayed to sun god with great attention; suprīto -  extremely delighted and pleased; rāghavaḥ - Śrī Rāma;  prayatātmavān – being in the state of devotion.

Summary of verses 25, 26, 27 and 28:

Verses 25 and 26 are phala śruti of Āditya Hṛdayam. Agastya reveals to the world the benefits of reciting Āditya Hṛdayam.

In verse 3, Agastya addressed Rāma, “O! Rāma! Rāma! My child!” But in verse 25 Agastya addresses Rāma as Rāghava, not even by his name, but by referring to his dynasty. By doing so, Agastya also conveys to the world, how teacher – student relationship should be revered and preserved. In the initial stages, Agastya treated Rāma as his student. By carefully listening to Agastya, Rāma could realize His own Self by getting rid of māyā. As far as Rāma  is concerned, His Power alone is known as māyā. This subtly conveys that only an evolved teacher alone can lead others towards the path of realization. Mantra sādhana is only an infantile stage. Supreme form of sādhana is becoming a sthitaprajña and then a yogi. This is not the end of Self-realization. The state of being a yogi is only the initial stage of realization. In order to attain liberation, we have to enter into the fifth stage of consciousness, turyātīta, which is also known as Universal realization. Even then, we come back to remain in the body and this state is known as jīvanmukta. We merge unto Brahman only if all our karmas are exhausted through experience. This is what we learn from a realized Teacher.

Verse 25 says that when one is in difficulty he or she has to pray to the sun god with Āditya Hṛdayam and his or her pains, unfounded fears, miseries, dismay, etc will be annihilated. This means that the main part of Āditya Hṛdayam was over with verse 24. If this is repeated regularly (devotion is implied), he will never be afflicted with any types of miseries, some of which are referred above. This verse subtly conveys mahāvākya. Chāndogya Upaniṣad (VI.viii.7) beautifully explains the role of a teacher. The teacher said to his student, “That which is the subtest of all is the Self of all this. It is the Truth. You are That (tatvamasi).” The student is not able to understand the meaning of “You are That” at one go. He raises several doubts to his teacher. Teacher patiently clears every doubt of his student and the student in all earnestness analyses the teachings by meditating on the words of his teacher. One fine morning the student realizes and affirms that he is in fact Brahman.  This is explained in Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad (I.iv.10), which says, “ahaṁ brahmāsī” (I am Brahman). The student would not have come to this conclusion (realization) had his teacher not told him that he is Brahman. This is exactly what Agastya told Rāma in the previous verses. Hence, Agastya’s sayings were interpreted by comparing the planet sun as the miniscule aspect Self-effulgent Brahman. When Agastya told Rāma about His own nature, Rāma realized His Brahman stature and annihilated Rāvaṇa to uphold dharma to make the universe exist.

Verse 26 explains the path to Self-realization. The gross meaning of the verse is that one should mentally recite Āditya Hṛdayam three times. The verse says that it should be recited mentally. To emphasise this point, Agastya uses the word ‘japtvā’ (japa means muttering, which means low and continuous indistinct sound). Therefore Āditya Hṛdayam is a japa mantra and should not be recited aloud. In order to win over enemies, Āditya Hṛdayam should be recited mentally or muttered with mild tone three times with single pointed focus on the sun. If this is muttered as directed by Agastya, victory in the battle is assured. The verse subtly conveys spiritual advancement. The verse says that if we are able to meditate with intent concentration on the Supreme Self within, all our internal enemies such as ego, pride, anger, hatred, attachment, desire, etc will be annihilated. The verse clearly says that we have to meditate on Jagatpatim, Brahman, not the planet sun. If we meditate with one pointed attention on the Brahman, our internal enemies are destructed and ultimately we transcend māyā to realize the Self within.

In verse 27 Agastya says that Rāma should kill Rāvaṇa at that very moment and having said that, Agastya walked away. Subtly, the verse says that once we decide to seek the spiritual path, we have to start sādhana immediately. Kālapuruṣa (time) will not wait for us and if we want to realize the Self within, we have to begin the practice right at this moment. Agastya as Śrī Rāma’s Guru came in search of Him and not Śrī Rāma approached Agastya. This also reminds us the saying that one will get a realized person as Guru, provided his or her karmic account is good. Agastya approached Śrī Rāma, revealed to Him His essential Self and walked back leaving the rest to Śrī Rāma to complete the task. Similarly, a Guru initiates someone, should stay with him and after making him or her perfect in sādhana, he initiates another disciple and works with him or her towards the path of realization. This verse also emphasises the importance of one to one contact between Guru and disciple. If there is no one to one contact, the efforts of the Teacher as well as his or her students go futile.

Verse 28 says that after having known about Āditya Hṛdayam, Śrī Rāma became His original Self. This means that Śrī Rāma realized His Brahman stature, became splendorous, got rid of all the afflictions and entered His own state of Bliss, which is His perpetual state. The verse uses the word dhārayāmāsa, which can be interpreted to mean focused worship (something like dhāraṇa, which means intent concentration of the mind upon the object and here it refers to the sun). This proves that unless mind is fixed on Brahman, any type of meditation becomes futile. Verse also says that if such intent meditation is practiced, the practitioner becomes extremely delighted and pleased, which refers to the state of Bliss. Bliss is the penultimate state to realization. Realization is different from liberation. Liberation is possible only if there is not karmic account, whereas realization is possible by sādhana.

It is also interesting to note that Agastya only explained the Grandeur of Brahman. He did not give any mantra to Rāma to annihilate Rāvaṇa. It is not the mantra alone that takes us forward towards realization; it is also the mind that makes realization possible. Mantra only forms the strong foundation, so that we do not fall from highly exalted spiritual level. If the foundation is not strong for spiritual life, the fall if any could be disastrous. There is a well known saying “mananāt trāyate iti mantraḥ”, which means if mind is protected and preserved without any afflictions, that is known as mantra, which is constantly repeated to protect the mind from straying. Mantras are more to do with the mind rather than their effects. However, repetition of mantras causes subtle vibrations in the mind, which aids in purifying the mind.

More articles:

Aditya Hridayam - Part 9

Aditya Hridayam - Part 11 - Concluding Part