navagraha sūkta - mantra for āditya (sun god)

The navagraha sūkta is an important mantra recited daily by the devout people. Let us start with the first mantra - that for sūrya or āditya. Each of these navagraha mantras is purported to be about the graha or planetary deity (the first mantra) followed by one mantra each for its adhidevatā & pratyadhidevatā respectively. But here also, different sources define the adhidevatā & pratyadhidevatā differently and the mantras do not seem to give any definite picture. 'adhidevatā' means 'supreme or tutelary god or deity'; "pratyadhidevatā" is an adhidevatā who stays in front or near one, here the grahadevatā concerned.

ऋषिः - आंगिरसः हिरण्यस्तूपः । छन्दः - जगती । दॆवता - सविता
ṛṣiḥ - āṃgirasaḥ hiraṇyastūpaḥ | chandaḥ - jagatī | devatā - savitā

आसत्यॆन रजसा वर्तमानो निवॆशयन् अमृतं मर्त्यञ्च ।
हिरण्ययॆन सविता रथॆनाऽऽदॆवो याति भुवना विपश्यन् ॥ ऋ. वॆ. १. ३५. ०२

āsatyena rajasā vartamāno niveśayan amṛtaṃ martyañca |
hiraṇyayena savitā rathenā:':'devo yāti bhuvanā vipaśyan || ṛ. ve. 1. 35. 02

This mantra is found in this way in the taittirīya saṃhitā of ṛgveda but in all other places - samhitas and manuscripts - the word 'ākṛṣṇena’ is used instead of 'āsatyena’.

The initial ā gets linked to yāti in the second line, to make āyāti; that is a characteristic peculiar to samskṛtam !

The meaning of this verse, if we take the word "ākṛṣṇena" is that the sun with his appearance brightens the world which is dark (kṛṣṇa) before its arrival (sunrise). Hence, with the substitution by the word ākṛṣṇena with āsatyena, the meaning will become, "the real world" in the place of 'the dark world'. It is not posssible that in those days when the taittirīya saṃhitā was initially given shape to, there could have been loss of exact words because all the vikṛtis which were referred to in the introduction would have been memorized by many scholars. Hence this is most probably a conscious change made or the reverse may also be equally true, viz., from the original 'āsatyena’ in taittirīya saṃhitā in the earlier period, to 'ākṛṣṇena’ in the later śākhās like ’śākala’ which is the only one that is followed mostly now. ( Incidentally, kindly see the nuance here: whosoever (the ṛṣi of taittirīya saṃhitā) made this change firmly believed this world to be a true or real one. This seems to go contrary to ādiśaṃkara’s advaita. Of course, this is my observation.)

Now, for the meaning in full:

The savitṛ deva appears in the real world everyday, again and again, seated on his golden chariot, traveling through the sky and keeeping the devas and human beings in their respective places, and overseeing and illuminating all the worlds.

The second mantra is-
ऋषिः - काण्वॊ मॆधातिथिः । छन्दः - गायत्री । दॆवता - अग्निः
ṛṣiḥ - kāṇvo medhātithiḥ | chandaḥ - gāyatrī | devatā - agniḥ

अग्निं दूतम् वृणीमहे होतारम् विश्ववेदसम् ।
अस्य यज्ञस्य सुक्रतुम् ॥ --१-१२-०१

agniṃ dūtam vṛṇīmahe hotāram viśvavedasam |
asya yajñasya sukratum || -- 1. 12. 01

agni is considered to be the messenger (dūta) for the devas - and śukra for the asuras - according to the mantra portion of the taittirīya brāhmaṇa - and here the ṛṣiḥ is calling agni - the messenger to the devas as also a mighty lord with sovereignty, supremacy, power, sway, etc. (aiśvaraya), possessor of all wealth and accomplisher of the yajña.

The third mantra is-

यॆषामीशे पशुपतिः पशूनां चतुष्पदां उत च द्विपदाम् ।
निष्क्रीतॊऽयम् यज्ञियम् भागमॆतु रायस्पोषा यजमानस्य सन्तु ॥तैत्तिरिय संहिता (यजुर्वॆद) ३.१.४.४

yeṣāmīśe paśupatiḥ paśūnāṃ catuṣpad ā ṃ uta ca dvipadām |
niṣkrīto:'yam yajñiyam bhāgametu rāyaspoṣā yajamānasya santu ||taittiriya saṃhitā (yajurveda) 3.1.4.4

This mantra appears in atharva veda also as 2. 34. 01 with some changes as under:

य ईशॆ पशुपतिः पशूनां चतुष्पदां उत च द्विपदाम् ।
निष्क्रीतः स यज्ञियं भागमॆतु रायस्पॊषा यजमानं सचन्ताम् ॥

ya īśe paśupatiḥ paśūnāṃ catuṣpadāṃ uta ca dvipadām |
niṣkrītaḥ sa yajñiyaṃ bhāgametu rāyaspoṣā yajamānaṃ sacantām ||

Here, in the atharva veda the details of ṛṣiḥ - chandaḥ - devatā for this mantra are as under (In yajurveda I am not able to find these details):

ऋषिः - अथर्वा । छन्द: - त्रिष्टुप् । दॆवता - पशुपतिः
ṛṣiḥ - atharvā | chanda: - triṣṭup | devatā - paśupatiḥ

The meanings of the two versions are essentially the same despite the small differences in words.

What cattle the lord of cattle ruleth [1],

Both the four-footed and the two-footed.

May he, bought off, go to his sacrificial share;

May abundances of wealth be attached to the sacrificer.'

This forms part of the mantras to be chanted during animal sacrifice as part of the soma sacrifice. It is not clear how this becomes relevant in a prayer to āditya.