On the shore of the great salty ocean lies a land of extraordinary purity and delight, its sands stretching everywhere, and its nature endowed with every virtue. This sacred place is graced by groves of campaka, aśoka, bakula, karavīra, pāṭala, puṃnāga, karṇikāra, and nāgakesara trees, their blossoms filling the air with fragrance. Among them flourish tagara, dhava, bāṇa, atimukta, kubjaka, mālatī, kunda, and other jasmine-like flowers, their beauty and scent enchanting all who come near. There, lush thickets of ketakī bloom radiantly in every season, surrounded by stately kadamba, lakuca, śāla, jackfruit, and devadāru trees. The landscape is further adorned by sarala, mucukunda, sandalwood—both white and otherwise—aśvattha, saptaparṇa, mango, and wild mango trees. Palms, areca nut, coconut, wood apple, and countless other varieties flourish on all sides, making the whole region a paradise of natural splendor. Within this wondrous land lies the sacred field of the Sun, famed throughout the world. It extends a yojana and a quarter in every direction, bestowing both worldly enjoyment and ultimate liberation to those who come. Here dwells the divine Sun himself, the thousand-rayed lord known as Koṇāditya, ever ready to grant the fruits of both enjoyment and freedom to his devotees. It is in this holy place, during the bright fortnight of the month of Māgha, on the seventh day, that the devoted—having disciplined their senses and observed a fast—arrive to bathe in the abode of Makara. With body and mind purified, remembering the Sun with reverence, they bathe in the ocean at the break of dawn, their thoughts fixed in concentration. Afterward, they honor the gods, sages, fellow humans, and their ancestors, and, having crossed the waters, they wash their garments and don spotless, clean clothes. Sipping water to further purify themselves, they sit at the ocean’s edge, facing the rising Sun in the east, their minds serene and intent. At sunrise, the wise one draws a lotus with red sandalwood water—a round blossom with eight petals, rich filaments, and an upright pericarp. Into a copper vessel, he places sesame, rice, and water, mixed with red sandalwood, along with a red flower and sacred grass. If copper is not available, the offerings are placed in an arka leaf, one vessel set within another, as tradition prescribes. With heart and limbs, the devotee performs sacred gestures, meditating upon himself as the Sun, filled with unwavering faith. In the center of the lotus, on the petal of Fire, in the southwest on the petal of Wind, and in the domain of the enemy of Desire, and again at the center, he offers his worship. Having thus honored the pure, essential, and supremely blissful presence, and having paid full homage to the lotus, he invokes the Sun from the sky. He places the invoked presence upon the pericarp of the lotus, displays the appropriate hand gesture, and, having completed all the bathing and preparatory rites, meditates with full concentration upon the Sun. He envisions the Sun established on a white lotus, a radiant orb with tawny eyes, two arms, and a red form clothed in garments the color of lotus petals. The Sun shines forth with every auspicious mark, adorned with splendid ornaments, beautiful of form, bestower of boons, peaceful, and encircled by a luminous halo. As the Sun rises, glowing like dense vermilion, the devotee takes the vessel and, going to the ground on his knees, places it upon his head with single-mindedness and controlled speech. With the three-syllabled mantra, he offers arghya—water—to the Sun. If he is not initiated, he offers arghya simply with the Sun’s name, for the Sun accepts devotion offered with faith and a pure mind. In the directions of Fire, Nirṛti, Wind, Īśa, East, and others, he worships the heart, head, topknot, armor, eyes, and weapon of the deity. After offering arghya, he also presents fragrance, incense, lamps, and food, reciting hymns, praising, bowing, and performing the dismissal gesture to conclude the worship. Whoever offers arghya to the Sun with controlled senses—be they Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya, woman, or disciplined Shudra—with constant devotion and a purified inner self, after enjoying their desired pleasures, ultimately attains the supreme state. Those who take refuge in Bhāskara, the Sun who lights the three worlds, become the recipients of happiness. Until the offering of water is given to Bhāskara, as prescribed, one should not worship Viṣṇu or Śaṃkara, the lords of the gods. Therefore, with effort and purity, one should offer water every day to Āditya, with delightful flowers and fragrances. Whoever, with a pure mind and after bathing, offers such water to Āditya on the seventh day, attains the fulfillment of their desires. The sick are freed from illness, those seeking wealth obtain riches, the seekers of knowledge gain learning, and those longing for children become parents. Whatever desire a wise person contemplates while offering water to Sūrya, he fully attains the fruit of that very wish. Having bathed in the ocean, after offering water and bowing to Sūrya, whether man or woman, all their desires are fulfilled. Then, taking flowers and with controlled speech, the devotee proceeds to the temple of Sūrya, enters, and worships Bhānu, circumambulating him three times. With supreme devotion, he worships Koṇārka with fragrances, flowers, lamps, incense, and food offerings. He prostrates like a staff, cries out in victory, and sings hymns, thus honoring the thousand-rayed lord of the world. By such worship, a person gains the merit of ten Aśvamedha sacrifices, becomes free from all sins, and, youthful, attains a divine body. Moreover, he uplifts seven generations before and after, and ascends in a radiant, wish-fulfilling chariot, resplendent like the Sun himself.