Canto 2 -
Ayodhyā-kāṇḍa
Chapter 95: Rāma Describes Mandākinī’s Beauty to Sītā
Text 2.95.7

आदित्यमुपतिष्ठन्ते नियमादूर्ध्वबाहवः।
एते परे विशालाक्षि मुनयः संशितव्रताः॥

ādityam upatiṣṭhante niyamād ūrdhva-bāhavaḥ
ete pare viśālākṣi munayaḥ saṁśita-vratāḥ

ādityam = the sun; upatiṣṭhante = they are worshiping; niyamāt = according to scriptural regulations; ūrdhva-bāhavaḥ = while lifting their arms; ete pare = here are other; viśāla-akṣi = O large-eyed one; munayaḥ = sages; saṁśita-vratāḥ = firmly adhering to their vows.

O large-eyed one, here are other sages firmly adhering to their vows. While lifting their arms, they are worshipping the sun according to scriptural regulations.

NOTE. Elevated sages meditate on the Supreme Personality of Godhead while worshipping the sun by offering Him prayers such as:

yac-cakṣur eṣa savitā sakala-grahāṇāṁ
rājā samasta-sura-mūrtir aśeṣa-tejāḥ
yasyājñayā bhramati sambhṛta-kāla-cakro
govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi

“Let me worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Govinda [Kṛṣṇa], who is the original person and under whose order the sun, which is the king of all planets, is assuming immense power and heat. The sun represents the eye of the Lord and traverses its orbit in obedience to His order.” (Brahma-saṁhitā 5.52 quoted in Bhagavad-gītā 4.1 purport)

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (5.7.13-14) describes how King Bharata, the son of Ṛṣabhadeva, worshipped Lord Nārāyaṇa when he became a vānaprastha:

itthaṁ dhṛta-bhagavad-vrata aiṇeyājina-vāsasānusavanābhiṣekārdra-kapiśa-kuṭila-jaṭā-kalāpena ca virocamānaḥ sūryarcā bhagavantaṁ hiraṇmayaṁ puruṣam ujjihāne sūrya-maṇḍale ’bhyupatiṣṭhann etad u hovāca.

“Mahārāja Bharata appeared very beautiful. He had a wealth of curly hair on his head, which was wet from bathing three times daily. He dressed in a deerskin. He worshiped Lord Nārāyaṇa, whose body was composed of golden effulgence and who resided within the sun. Mahārāja Bharata worshiped Lord Nārāyaṇa by chanting the hymns given in the Ṛg Veda, and he recited the following verse as the sun rose.

paro-rajaḥ savitur jāta-vedo
devasya bhargo manasedaṁ jajāna
suretasādaḥ punar āviśya caṣṭe
haṁsaṁ gṛdhrāṇaṁ nṛṣad-riṅgirām imaḥ

“The Supreme Personality of Godhead is situated in pure goodness. He illuminates the entire universe and bestows all benedictions upon His devotees. The Lord has created this universe from His own spiritual potency. According to His desire, the Lord entered this universe as the Supersoul, and by virtue of His different potencies He is maintaining all living entities desiring material enjoyment. Let me offer my respectful obeisances unto the Lord, who is the giver of intelligence.”