Surya Dwadasha Naam
Overview
Surya Dwadasha Naam moves through twelve short salutations, each naming the sun through a different epithet — Mitra, Ravi, Surya, Bhanu, Khaga, Pushan, Hiranyagarbha, Marichi, Aditya, Savitr, Arka, and Bhaskara — and closes with a two-line verse of direct address, asking Surya’s grace.
Origin and source
This particular set of twelve names, in this order, followed by the closing couplet, is a compilation widely used in devotion to the sun rather than a passage traced to one specific, universally agreed scripture. It is the sequence most commonly encountered under the name “Surya Dwadasha Naam” (or “Surya Dwadashakshari”), and circulates in Surya Namaskar practice — where each of the twelve names is often paired with one of the twelve postures of the sequence — as well as in Chhath Puja and other everyday solar devotion. Several of these names individually go back to the Vedas, where Surya, Mitra, Pushan, and Savitr already appear as related but distinct solar figures; over time, later tradition gathered these and other epithets into a single list addressed to Surya as one deity.
Word-by-word meaning
| Sanskrit | IAST | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| ॐ | oṃ | the sacred syllable, placed before each of the twelve salutations below |
| मित्राय | mitrāya | to Mitra, "friend" — a Vedic solar deity closely paired with Varuna in the earliest layer of Vedic religion, later gathered into the broader Surya cluster |
| रवये | ravaye | to Ravi, one of the plainest, most common names for the sun |
| सूर्याय | sūryāya | to Surya, the sun itself — the central name in this list |
| भानवे | bhānave | to Bhanu, "light, radiance, splendor" |
| खगाय | khagāya | to Khaga, "sky-goer" (kha, "sky" + ga, "goer") |
| पूष्णे | pūṣṇe | to Pushan, a Vedic solar deity associated with nourishment, journeys, and guardianship of flocks and paths — distinct from Surya in the earliest Veda, later folded into the same solar cluster |
| हिरण्यगर्भाय | hiraṇyagarbhāya | to Hiranyagarbha, "golden womb" or "golden egg" — a cosmological, creation-associated name found in Vedic literature (the Rigveda's Hiranyagarbha Sukta), carrying a meaning beyond simply "the sun" |
| मरीचये | marīcaye | to Marichi, "ray of light" |
| आदित्याय | ādityāya | to Aditya, "son of Aditi" — the Vedic mother of a group of celestial deities called the Adityas; perhaps the most common alternate name for Surya in later tradition |
| सवित्रे | savitre | to Savitr, the Vedic solar deity addressed specifically in the Gayatri Mantra — gathered here as one name among the broader Surya cluster; see "Meaning of the whole" below |
| अर्काय | arkāya | to Arka, "ray, flash of light, the sun" |
| भास्कराय | bhāskarāya | to Bhaskara, "maker of light" (bhās, "light" + kara, "maker") |
| नमः | namaḥ | salutation, homage — repeated after each of the twelve names above |
| आदिदेव | ādideva | O primordial god (ādi, "first, original" + deva, "god") |
| नमस्तुभ्यं | namastubhyam | salutation to you (namaḥ + tubhyam, "to you") |
| प्रसीद | prasīda | be gracious, be favorably disposed — imperative |
| मम | mama | to me, mine |
| दिवाकर | divākara | O maker of the day (divā, "day" + kara, "maker") — an epithet of Surya used here in direct address |
| प्रभाकर | prabhākara | O maker of light (prabhā, "light, splendor" + kara, "maker") — likewise an epithet of Surya used here in direct address |
| नमोऽस्तु | namo'stu | let there be salutation (namaḥ + astu, "let there be") |
| ते | te | to you |
Meaning of the whole
The first twelve lines are a list of names, each in the dative case (“to Mitra,” “to Ravi,” and so on) followed by namaḥ, “salutation.” Some of these names are simply descriptive: Ravi and Surya are plain words for the sun; Bhanu, Marichi, and Arka all point to light and radiance; Khaga, “sky-goer,” and Bhaskara and Divakara (in the closing couplet), “maker of light” and “maker of the day,” describe what the sun does. Others carry more history. Mitra and Pushan were, in the earliest Vedic hymns, solar deities in their own right, distinct from Surya and each other, only later drawn together into a single cluster of names for the sun. Aditya, “son of Aditi,” became perhaps the most common alternate name for Surya in later devotional life. Hiranyagarbha, “golden womb,” reaches further still — it is a cosmological name in the Rigveda associated with the origin of the universe, so its presence in this list carries a creation-associated weight beyond a simple description of sunlight.
Savitr, addressed here as the tenth name, deserves its own note. Savitr is the Vedic solar deity invoked specifically in the Gayatri Mantra, one of the most widely recited verses in the Vedic tradition. This list gathers Savitr in among Surya’s other names, in keeping with the way later tradition treats the various Vedic solar deities as aspects of one sun — but the Gayatri Mantra itself is addressed to Savitr by name, a connection worth holding onto if you recite both.
The closing couplet turns from listing names to direct address: “Primordial god, salutation to you, be gracious to me, O Bhaskara; O Divakara, salutation to you, O Prabhakara, salutation be to you.” Ādideva, “primordial god,” reaches back before the list of names to something more original still, and the couplet ends, as the opening names began, in salutation.
How it is recited
Surya Dwadasha Naam is traditionally recited once, moving through all twelve names in sequence rather than being counted repeatedly on a mala the way a single short mantra might be. It is chanted facing the rising sun, often alongside Surya Namaskar, and during Chhath Puja and other occasions of sun worship.