Ratha Saptami Sadhna — Devoting 108 Surya Namaskars with Aditya-Hridayam

There are times in life when you don’t have a solution to the problem at hand. It’s a situation of dilemma where you start questioning your strength because you don’t know how to proceed further.

A similar situation was faced by Prabhu Shree Ram when he was on the battlefield with Ravana! Using his worldly strength, Shree Ram was not able to defeat Ravana. Then Sage Agastya visits him. Shree Ram briefs him about his agony. Sage Agastya recommends him to recite Aditya Hridayam of Lord Sun. He told Shree Ram that it will give him the required strength to conquer the Ravana. Finally, after the recitation and getting the blessing of the Lord Sun, Shree Ram was able to defeat Ravana! And the rest is history.

Shree Ram and Rishi Agastya (via google images)

According to the Hindu calendar, Ratha Saptami falls on the seventh day of Maagh Ritu. It is symbolically represented in the form of the Sun God, Surya turning his Ratha (Chariot) drawn by seven horses (representing seven colors) towards the northern hemisphere, in a north-easternly direction. It also marks the birth of Surya and hence celebrated as Surya Jayanti (the Sun-god’s birthday). Hence reciting AH for a month before Ratha Saptami is auspicious.

Seven horses symbolizes seven Chakras (via google images)

Lord Sun symbolizes the overall consciousness. And his seven horses symbolizes seven chakras in the body. Shree Ram and Ravana are embodiment of good and bad in us respectively. There are situations when bad is overruling the good. For good to win over bad, we need to pray to overall consciousness (which symbolizes sun). The consciousness will drive the seven chakras (the seven chariot) which will let good win over the bad. As a human being its easier to nurture bad qualities as its less efforts. It becomes difficult overtime to overcome them. Hence we chant Aditya Hridayam(AH) to conquer those bad qualities with the blessing of Universal pranas. And we should remember whatever happens outside is the manifestation of what is running inside. If we win on ourself we can win the world.

Whenever I face unsolvable problems in life, reciting the Aditya-Hridayam always helped in overcoming those problems. If you haven’t got a chance to learn AH, I highly recommend reciting and understanding it.

Also on Ratha Saptami, many Yoga practitioners across the globe dedicate 108 Surya Namaskars (Sun Salutations) to Lord Sun. Surya-namaskars(SN) is also known for activating the 7 chakras in the body, which increases the good praanas in the body. As we focus on various chakras during the course of 12 poses in Surya Namaskar with Chakras beej mantra.

We also offer 108 SN’s at our Dhrti center. Additionally, we recite AH chanting from a month before Ratha Saptami. Every day we typically perform 6 Surya Namaskars(SN). Although on Rathasapthami we dedicate 108 SNs. Which is almost 18 times our usual strength. It’s a marathon of Surya Namaskars for Yoga Sadhakas. It seems unachievable initially.

Hence to increase our will power and strength we recite the AH regularly, to seek blessings from the Lord Sun. It helps us to perform 108 SN’s on the Ratha Saptami. Year over year, Lord Sun blesses us in achieving this target very easily. Every year so many sadhakas completes 108 SN’s so easily. Even they don’t believe themself after achieving it. To our utter surprise even our elder practitioners of 60+ age ends up performing 70–80 rounds very easily. Unbelievable right?

How to prepare

Here are the few tips on how you can prepare.

1. There are 31 stanza’s in the Aditya Hridayam. Since we start from a month before, everyday we learn a new stanza and revise the previously learned ones.
2. We try increase Surya Namaskar rounds by 1 every day. E.g. if we are doing 12 rounds in the coming days we do 13,14, 15 respectively. To reach to a good limit like 25–30 per day. And it usually takes 1 minute for one set of Surya Namaskar for regular practioners.
3. Also additional efforts we give over the weekends to reach higher numbers. We try to target for 50–70 rounds last weekend before the Ratha Saptami.
4. Also another important point, as mentioned by Swami Niranjanananda Saraswatiji, is if you have any nose/sinus related concerns, Jalneti can be done before practicing the SNs.

First timer tips

If you are first time participating in this practice, the number might look overwhelming. Also you might have doubts in the minds about whether you will be able to achieve it or not. Here are the few tips for the same:

1. Don’t worry about the final target. Leave it on Lord sun, he will give the strength that day :-)
2. Go with the flow in the sessions and keep increasing the numbers based on the strength. Anyday do not try do more than your strength.
3. Take care of diet. Eat fresh and healthy food with lot of proteins and vitamins.
4. Drink lot of water to keep yourself hydrated. As in winters you might not feel thirsty but body may get dehydrated because of the sweating in SNs.

Significance on Health

Every practice in Yoga Sadhana has a frequency at which it needs to be performed to get maximum benefits. 108 Surya Namaskars is one such sadhana that is done once a year , and it has significant and innumerable health benefits. Lets understand them:

1. Surya Namaskars are known to increase the Agni (or the fire element) in the stomach which improves digestive strength. The onset of summer gradually and eventually reduces this Agni. Hence performing this sadhana elevates the it to its maximum so that it sustains through out the year.

2. During winters, we tend to eat more carbohydrates to keep warm. And this might lead to additional weight gain. This Sadhana helps in burning those additional fats and tones the body into good shape.

3. This practice helps remove toxins not only from the physical body but our energy field also. At a physical, mental and emotional level, SNs increase the overall positive vibrations, be it in thoughts, emotions or actions. It also boosts the confidence. And in turn, all residual negativity is eliminated completely with the Yagna agni of 108 SNs.

SNs help us overcome obstacles and limitations. It’s when we push our body, little by little daily (without force), we come to know where our body has limitations. And once we are aware of these limitations, we work on it and overcome it. And before we know it, with regular practice, we have overcome those obstacles. For example, just the thought of even 10 SNs seems such a daunting task to begin with, but before we know it, we have crossed 30 or 40.

And this works on a mental and emotional level too. So in essence, SNs help us uncover our own hidden potential, which is otherwise dormant or sleeping

The day — Auspicious Ratha Saptami

Usually, on Ratha Saptami, we get up at 4 AM and take bath. In many places in India people take bath on 7 Erukkam leaves (Calotropis/Arka)). More rituals explained nicely in this article.

At 5 AM we reach on the venue for the event. Usually it will be a garden and terrace having good sunlight access. We first recite the Aditya Hridyam together.When so many Sadhaks recite together, trust me its powerful an d magical. Then we recite Surya ashtottara shatanamavali is recited with Surya Namaskars. One name of Surya and its explanation is recited by Prabhuji and we complete one round. Hence reciting 108 names with 108 rounds. The entire session from start to end take about 2–2.5 hours. Always listen to the body, never go to a point of exhaustion. At the end the best effort is only we should target. Never feel peer pressure, just dedicate your SNs with full devotion based on your strength. We also take couple of short breaks to re energize quickly. Towards the end a good relaxation is very important, hence we practice Yoga Nidra to recover.

Also for the accomplishment, medals are distributed which are specifically hand designed by Dhrti Sadhaks only. Dhrti Sadhaks do a wonderful seva of management of the complete event. And wonderful prasadam served towards the end.

Also a very important point to remember - Dhrti School was established on Ratha Saptami in 2004 .

To get a sense of joy and accomplishment after performing 108 SNs on Ratha Saptami folder, you can view few pics of Dhrti — https://www.dhrti.com/gallery/.

Finishing 108 SNs gives a sense of accomplishment. It also increases the will power to overcome any problem in our life. And you also realize that nothing is impossible if you have will and gratitude.

This year because of COVID the session will be conducted both online and direct at Dhrti Yoga Center 2-Adyashakti yogadarshana. We already started AH recitation and increasing SN rounds. Looking forward towards the remaining journey.

Also, lets pray to Lord Sun to bless all of us with the strength to cope up with this pandemic.

Thanks a lot Prabhuji and Mataji for introducing us to such a wonderful tradition. Sincere gratitude to all the Dhrti Sadhakas who gave the early feedback and corrections and for all the help in organizing such a great event.

Hari Om!