surya has a special place in sanAtana dharma. People translate sUrya as "sun", which is the partial truth because sUrya is much more than just a ball of fire. sUrya is our "pratyaksha dEvata". He represents light, energy, cosmic order (सूर्य एव ग्रहाणां गतिः | सूर्यस्य गुरुत्वाकर्षणम् ग्रहाणां चक्रव्यूहेन कार्यं करोति ), knowledge (gAyatri mantra), enlightenment (gAyatri mantra), life and life giving force, vitality, wisdom etc. He is the source of all life and energy on this planet. It is because of sUrya that kAla or time exists (kAlaḥ sUryaḥ prabhAkarah). It is due to sUrya that bhoomi has aakarshaNa shakti, the gravitational force (सूर्य एवं गुरुत्वाकर्षण). He is the primary deity among the 9 celestial objects (the navagrahas) that have direct influence on us. Through the day, surya is offered "arghya" - prAtaH sandhya, madhyAnika sandhya, and sAyam sandhya. "sandhya" is the intersection - first intersection is that of the night with day, s
I have written many times about how deceiving people like Zakir Naik can be. He has created an army of students who use similar arguments to make Hindus feel like lost sheep. They have very limited knowledge of the vedic texts and also of the "Hindu" dharma but they know most of the Hindus would not have read the vedic texts. With whatever selective texts that they will have memorized, they successfully distort the meaning and mislead. In this recent conversation in Pakistan, a "Hindu" asks why would a "Hindu" be put into hell for believing in what he believes. Zakir Naik starts by talking about the "Shruthi" and "Smriti". He defines "shruthi" as that which has come from "bhagawan", and "smriti" as that which humans have written. This is a popular understanding and partially correct. However, "shruthi" means that which is "heard or perceived", where "hearing" is not with the