Salutations to the Supreme Soul.

Accompanied by the "Illuminator of Hidden Meanings"

The Surya Siddhanta The "Sun Canon," a foundational Sanskrit treatise on Indian astronomy.

I bow to the curved-trunk god Ganesha, the son of Shiva,

who grants wisdom to man and by whose memory

one attains the obstacle-free completion of desired tasks.

Victory to my parents, Gejiba and Lallaji, the embodiments of Mother Parvati and Lord Shiva,

from whom five sons were born, who are the causes of the world of light referring to their expertise in Jyotisha or astronomy/astrology.

I bow to my brother Krishna, the wise world-teacher,

whose speech was a place of trust for the Universal Emperor Jahangir original: "Sārvabhauma-Jahāngīra"; this refers to the Mughal Emperor Jahangir, indicating the commentator lived in the early 17th century.

Having thoroughly examined various texts, I, Ranganatha,

compose this commentary on the Surya Siddhanta, titled "The Illuminator of Hidden Meanings."

Now, a certain sage—desiring to relate the true reality as he knows it, consisting of the dialogue between the Man-who-is-part-of-the-Sun and Maya the Asura Maya is the traditional architect of the Asuras who receives the astronomical knowledge from a representative of the Sun God to the other sages who are curious about the motions of the planets—records the auspicious salutation to Brahma. This was performed for the obstacle-free completion of the narration and serves as instruction for his students:

Salutations to Brahma, whose form is inconceivable and unmanifest,
who is beyond the three qualities the Gunas: sattva, rajas, and tamas yet is the soul of all qualities,
the embodiment who is the support of the entire universe. || 1 ||

"To Brahma" means to the Lord who pervades the universe because of His vastness and limitlessness; the meaning is that He is the one established by sacred scriptures in passages such as "From this very Self, space was produced." "Salutations" implies a specific mental and intellectual devotion characterized by the actions of body and speech...