Human Values and Astrology
Value: Love Sub-value: Forbearance
Planet (graha) Sun (Surya)
Please be kind to me, he who creates the morn.
Salutations to you the creator of day,
Salutations to you the creator of light.
My salutations to the Sun God,
Who rides on chariot with seven horses,
Who is the brightest of lights,
Who is the son of Sage Kashyapa,
And who wears the white lotus flower.
My salutations to the Sun God,
Who is reddish brown in colour,
Who rides on a chariot,
Who has created all the worlds,
And who is the god who kills all the sins
My salutations to the Sun God,
Who is blessed with three fold qualities,
Who is a greatest of heroes,
Who has within himself the great trinity.
And who is the god who kills all sins.
My salutations to the Sun God,
Who developed by the sparkling,
Of air, fire and ether,
And who is the lord of all universe.
My salutations to the Sun God,
Who is as red as the hibiscus flower,
Who wears ornaments of garlands and ear rings,
And who is the god who has one great Wheel
My salutations to the Sun God,
Who is the Lord of all universe,
Who created all the universe,
And who is the God who can destroy all sins.
My salutations to the Sun God,
Who is the lord of peace,
Who is the Lord of this world
Who showers on us knowledge, science and salvation,
And who is the God who can destoy all sins.
The Sun
The Sun is Royalty among the planets, and he becomes pleased with whoever reveres him consistently. Among the planets, he is God incarnate in solar form. Those who regularly and devotedly remember the Sun lose all their worries, disease and poverty, for unwavering worship of the Sun destroys all obstructions and fulfils all cherished desires.
Everything originates from the Sun for he is the soul of all. He is the king of the sky; the ruler of all that falls between the Earth and the celestial regions. Lord of the east, the Sun rules both Sunday and the constellation Leo. He is the Cause of the Day, the Teriffic Fiery-Rayed One, the Significator of World Bliss. He is called the Shiner, the Enlivener, the Generator, the Life-Giver, the Life-Maker, the Day-Causer and He-whose-rays-are-piercingly-hot. The haritas, the Sun’s green horses, are the seven solar rays, which are the seven Vedic metres: Gayatri, Trishrup, Anustrup, Jagati, Pankti, Bhrhati and Ushnik. There is no reckoning of time without the Sun and without time, there can be no poety, no seasons, no rhythm in the world.
A well-placed Sun gives intelligence, perception, and strength of will and character. It affords endurance, stamina, vitality, positive spirit, direction, courage, conviction, confidence, leadership, independence and straightforwardness. Without such strength, whatever we may do or accomplish in life will not be ours and will not give us inner strength or peace. A poorly placed Sun gives lack of intelligence, poor perception, weakness of will and character. It creates lack of endurance, low vitality, melancholy, fear, dependency or servitude, deviousness or dishonesty.
A malefically disposed Sun creates pride, arrogance, and tyranny. When it is too strong, it creates many of the same problems as Mars might do. It can give a deceptive charisma and a manipulative personality. When the Sun is strong we outshine everyone else, for good or ill depending on whether its disposition is benefic or malefic.
A weak but spiritually disposed Sun makes us receptive, self-effacing and eager to do good. However, we may lack confidence and come under the rule of other people. We seek to sacrifice ourselves but do not know what to give ourselves over to.
The Sun rules the heart, the organ of circulation and vitality, and a weak Sun may give problems with that organ. Inwardly the heart is the seat of intelligence that regulates the life, breath, aspiration and perception. The Sun in the chart shows what we really are in our hearts.
The Sun, the enlivener, the day-giver, the life-bestower
Human Values
Our values are our principles, our guides to action. Values are our internal codes of conduct, the principles upon which we run our lives and make our decisions. Our values are first given to us by our parents. These values develop, expand and are tested in experience. Other people impress their values upon us. We may take on the values of people we admire, such as our peers, our teachers, the wider community. Our moral values are often sourced from our faith. The Sun is the excellent example to follow, particularly as the Sun does not discriminate between the deserving nor the undeserving, but follows its right order, its proper duty with its inner effulgence that is shed upon all.
Our values often include universal principles such as truthfulness, peace, love, right conduct and non-violence. These principles are often essential for our personal and social survival. In our observation, when we reverse the order of perception, we can often work out what values are active and guiding a situation or an event or a reaction (our own)(someone else’s) when we analyse the motives of either ourselves or others. We keep in mind that behaviour reveals choices – choices are based on our values. Our values guide our actions.
In Vedic Astrology, the Sun is the embodiment of forbearance. Forbearance is a sub-value of Love, along with compassion, consideration, dedication, devotion, empathy, generosity and friendship. Forbearance is one of the transcendental qualities within the person which are elicted by our education, the guidance of our parents and the human value we call Love.
The Sun and Forbearance:
Forbearance is a sub-value of Love. Love is an action, a behaviour, a commitment, an attitude. Love is not simply intimacy, passion and committment. Values related to Love include – among others – acceptance, affection, care, compassion, empathy and forbearance, to name a few.
When we forbear, we bear with, we have patience with, we put up with a person, a thing, an event, a happening: when we forbear, we are giving toleration. We might endure the absence of something, endure a privation and do without. There is separation, a loss, an internal sacrifice, a detachment from a thing, an event, a happening, a substance, a person. These are the dimensions of forbearance.
Forbearance is a form of suffering or self-sacrifice to exist with; we voluntarily rescind or deny oneself of something. This might also take the form of self-control, and control of the senses.
the department store sale, where forbearance might be control of the senses.
Forbearance might also be that we refrain from being infatuated with the objects of our desire.
Another form of forbearance concerns relations with others. When we engage with forbearance, we abstain from injuring others, we abstain from punishing, we do not give way to resentment against another. Forbearance has this subtle sense of sparing, showing mercy to, giving indulgence to another. Forbearance is merciful.
So when we are acting with forbearance, we,
- dispensing with, refraining from abstaining from;
- cease reacting to, hurting or going against another;
- engage in self-sacrifice, self-discipline, self-control;
- taking up our spiritual intelligence with patience endurance under provocation and giving of indulgence;
- expressing the positive side of the human spirit: generosity;
The Sun is the excellent example to follow, particularly as the Sun does not discriminate between the deserving nor the undeserving, but follows its right order, its proper duty with its inner effulgence that is shed upon all. The Sun shows forbearance of the behaviour of the earthling, causing precipitation and contributing to the welfare of all life on Earth with its heat, its magnetism, its effulgence and shining, day after day. We may learn much about forbearance when we bring the Sun to mind and all that it gives us.
This diagram depicts the water cycle, which is an important part of the ecosystem. The water in the water cycle exists in three different phases, liquid, solid (ice) and gas (water vapor). Water from lakes and oceans evaporates and is carried by rising air currents in the atmosphere due the activity of the Sun
Surya Ashtakam (Prayer to The Sun as Lord Surya) Translated by P.R.Ramachander; sanskrit version chanted daily is given below:
