Yantra · Surya
Surya Yantra: the number square of 15 and its meaning, with the Surya mantra
The Surya Yantra is the simplest and oldest of the number yantras: the numbers 1 to 9 in a square, so that every row, column and diagonal adds up to 15. It is honoured as the yantra of the Sun, the giver of light and the first of the nine grahas.
The Surya Yantra
Top row 6, 1, 8; middle row 7, 5, 3; bottom row 2, 9, 4. Every line of three adds up to 15, with 5 at the centre.
What the Surya Yantra means
Surya, the Sun, is praised from the Rig Veda onwards as the eye of the world and the one who wakes all beings each morning. The Gayatri mantra is addressed to Savitri, the Sun as the power that brings things forth, and the Aditya Hridayam of the Ramayana is a hymn to him.
The square itself is one of the oldest pieces of recreational mathematics in the world: it is the only way, apart from turning and mirroring, to arrange 1 to 9 so that every line has the same total. In China it is known as the Lo Shu; in India it has long been used as the yantra of Surya, and, with a number added to every cell, as the yantras of the other planets.
How the square works
- Rows: 6 + 1 + 8 = 15; 7 + 5 + 3 = 15; 2 + 9 + 4 = 15.
- Columns: 6 + 7 + 2 = 15; 1 + 5 + 9 = 15; 8 + 3 + 4 = 15.
- Diagonals: 6 + 5 + 4 = 15; 8 + 5 + 2 = 15.
The Navagraha Yantra sets this square in the centre and gives each of the other eight planets the same pattern with larger numbers.
Surya mantras, with meaning
Surya mantra
ॐ घृणिः सूर्याय नमः॥
Om ghrinih suryaya namah.
अर्थ: ॐ, प्रकाशमान सूर्य को नमस्कार।
Meaning: Om, salutation to Surya, the radiant one.
Surya bija mantra
ॐ ह्रां ह्रीं ह्रौं सः सूर्याय नमः॥
Om hram hrim hraum sah suryaya namah.
अर्थ: ॐ, बीज अक्षरों ह्रां, ह्रीं, ह्रौं, सः के साथ सूर्य को नमस्कार। बीज अक्षरों का शब्दार्थ नहीं होता; वे देवता के ध्वनि-रूप माने जाते हैं।
Meaning: Om, with the seed syllables hram, hrim, hraum, sah: salutation to Surya. Seed syllables have no word meaning; they are taken as the sound form of the deity.
How it is traditionally kept
Surya is traditionally honoured at sunrise, often on Sundays, by offering water towards the Sun from a copper pot (arghya) and saying his mantra; some families keep the yantra near where they do this.
Many families keep it in the puja space facing east, towards the rising Sun; keep it however feels right to you.
Questions
What is the total of the Surya Yantra?
15. Each row, column and diagonal of the square of 1 to 9 adds up to 15.
Why do some Surya yantras show the numbers in a different order?
The square can be turned or mirrored in eight ways and every total stays 15. All of these are the same square.
Is the Surya Yantra connected with the Gayatri mantra?
Both are addressed to the Sun: the Gayatri mantra to Savitri, the Sun as the source of light and understanding. Many people say it at sunrise along with the Surya mantras.
Text and sources
The square is the classical 3×3 magic square, as printed in Surya and Navagraha yantras; the build checks its totals by program. The two mantras are in their widely used forms; the transliteration and meanings are our own.
More in the library
Surya Chalisa
The full Surya Chalisa, with its twelve names of the Sun and a simple meaning for every verse.
Surya Aarti: Jai Kashyap Nandan
Jai Kashyap Nandan, the aarti of the Sun god, verse by verse with meaning.
Gayatri Mantra
The Sanskrit text, the meaning of every word, and how to chant it at sunrise.
Navagraha Chalisa
One hymn for all nine planets, four verses each, with a simple meaning for every verse.