We can write the sum as \[\sum_{a_1 = 0}^\infty \sum_{a_2 = 0}^\infty \dotsb \sum_{a_7 = 0}^\infty \frac{a_1 + a_2 + \dots + a_7}{3^{a_1 + a_2 + \dots + a_7}} = \sum_{a_1 = 0}^\infty \sum_{a_2 = 0}^\infty \dotsb \sum_{a_7 = 0}^\infty \left( \frac{a_1}{3^{a_1 + a_2 + \dots + a_7}} + \frac{a_2}{3^{a_1 + a_2 + \dots + a_7}} + \dots + \frac{a_7}{3^{a_1 + a_2 + \dots + a_7}} \right).\]By symmetry, this collapses to \[7 \sum_{a_1 = 0}^\infty \sum_{a_2 = 0}^\infty \dotsb \sum_{a_7 = 0}^\infty \frac{a_1}{3^{a_1 + a_2 + \dots + a_7}}.\]Then \begin{align*} 7 \sum_{a_1 = 0}^\infty \sum_{a_2 = 0}^\infty \dotsb \sum_{a_7 = 0}^\infty \frac{a_1}{3^{a_1 + a_2 + \dots + a_7}} &= 7 \sum_{a_1 = 0}^\infty \sum_{a_2 = 0}^\infty \dotsb \sum_{a_7 = 0}^\infty \left( \frac{a_1}{3^{a_1}} \cdot \frac{1}{3^{a_2}} \dotsm \frac{1}{3^{a_7}} \right) \\ &= 7 \left( \sum_{a = 0}^\infty \frac{a}{3^a} \right) \left( \sum_{a = 0}^\infty \frac{1}{3^a} \right)^6.\end{align*}We have that \[\sum_{a = 0}^\infty \frac{1}{3^a} = \frac{1}{1 - 1/3} = \frac{3}{2}.\]Let \[S = \sum_{a = 0}^\infty \frac{a}{3^a} = \frac{1}{3} + \frac{2}{3^2} + \frac{3}{3^3} + \dotsb.\]Then \[3S = 1 + \frac{2}{3} + \frac{3}{3^2} + \frac{4}{3^3} + \dotsb.\]Subtracting these equations, we get \[2S = 1 + \frac{1}{3} + \frac{1}{3^2} + \frac{1}{3^3} + \dotsb = \frac{3}{2},\]so $ S = \frac{3}{4} $. Therefore, the given expression is equal to \[7 \cdot \frac{3}{4} \cdot \left( \frac{3}{2} \right)^6 = \boxed{\frac{15309}{256}}.\]