Shloka 63
Sūrya-stava: Dhaumya’s Counsel and the Aṣṭaśata-nāma of Sūrya
दिवाकर: सप्तसप्तिर्धामकेशी विरोचन: । आशुगामी तमोष्नश्न हरिताश्वश्न कीर्त्यसे,आप ही हंस (शुद्धस्वरूप), सविता (जगतकी उत्पत्ति करनेवाले), भानु (प्रकाशमान), अंशुमाली (केरणसमूहसे सुशोभित), वृषाकपि (धर्मरक्षक), विवस्वान् [सर्वव्यापी), मिहिर (जलकी वृष्टि करनेवाले), पूषा (पोषक), मित्र (सबके सुहृद), धर्म (धारण करनेवाले), सहस्ररश्मि (हजारों किरणोंवाले), आदित्य (अदितिपुत्र), तपन (तापकारी), गवाम्पति (किरणोंके स्वामी), मार्तण्ड, अर्क (अर्चनीय), रवि, सूर्य (उत्पादक), शरण्य (शरणागतकी रक्षा करनेवाले), दिनकृत् (दिनके कर्ता), दिवाकर (दिनको प्रकट करनेवाले), सप्तसप्ति (सात घोड़ोंवाले), धामकेशी (ज्योतिर्मय किरणोंवाले), विरोचन (देदीप्यमान), आशुगामी (शीघ्रगामी), तमोघ्न (अन्धकारनाशक) तथा हरिताश्व (हरे रंगके घोड़ोंवाले) कहे जाते हैं
divākaraḥ saptasaptir dhāmakeśī virocanaḥ | āśugāmī tamo-ghnaś ca haritāśvaś ca kīrtyase ||
Yudhiṣṭhira said: “You are praised by many names—Divākara, Saptasapti, Dhāmakeśī, Virocana, Āśugāmī, Tamo-ghna, and Haritāśva.” In this litany he honors the Sun as the swift, radiant dispeller of darkness, implicitly invoking the ethical ideal that light (clarity, truth, right order) should overcome obscurity (confusion, wrongdoing) in one’s conduct and in the world.
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse models reverent remembrance of the Sun through meaningful epithets: the radiant, swift dispeller of darkness. Ethically, it gestures to dharma as illumination—cultivating clarity, truth, and right order that remove the ‘darkness’ of error and moral confusion.
Yudhiṣṭhira addresses and praises the Sun by listing well-known divine names. This functions as a stuti (hymn-like invocation), situating the Sun as a cosmic witness and beneficent power whose light and regular course uphold the world’s order.