We often hear of the practice of the Sun Salute or the Surya Namaskar in yoga and power yoga. This powerful physical routine is often confused to have a strong religious bearing to Hinduism. Ignorance can often lead to confusion and so this article attempts to throw more light on the religious bearing of the Surya Namaskar or the Sun Salutation.
The Sun Salutation or the Surya Namaskar is a common feature of all yogasana classes and a regular feature of power yoga. This physical ritual has been a traditional routine of Ancient India. Very few recognize the religious bearing of the Surya Namaskar and when introduced only in its physical form it creates unrest as it is thought to be ritual for reverence to the Hindu Sun God. In order to dispel the duality of the uninformed and ignoramus minds, explaining the religious aspect of the Surya Namaskar was felt necessary.
‘Surya Namaskar’ is the salutation made to the Sun for its quality of unbiased support of life and nourishment to Earth. Its practice dates as far back as the Vedas and reference of this salutation is also found in the Puranas and Ramayana. This ancient practice of obeisance was an Aryan tradition that was initiated in early childhood both as a physical exercise as well as a form of grateful reverence to the Sun God. It is a prayerful physical routine consisting of twelve steps or ten steps (depending onthe School of yoga) paying homage to the Sun deity marking the start of every morning for every Aryan, adult or child.
The Sun is saluted not once a year or month but every day recognizing its regular dispassionate brilliance and the power of its illumination to sustain life and dispel ignorance. The Sun is the primal source of warmth due to which this entire Universe subsists. The Surya Namaskar not only includes reverence to the Sun but also includes gratitude to Mother Earth in the physical routine. The salutation to the Sun is practiced usually at Sunrise or Sundown when the Sun can be visibly observed by the naked eye. The Salutation has two aspects - A religious and a yogic aspect.
Presently, only the religious feature of the Sun Salutation is discussed. A prayer is chanted prior to beginning the physical routine. The prayer invokes guidance from the Sun God to protect, guide and lead our paths towards progress. This prayer is the Gayatri Mantra. The Sun of the Universe is revered to guide us and illuminate our intellect with its effulgent brilliance.
Gayatri means 'that which saves, when repeated'! It is the torch of spiritual wisdom. The Gayatri mantra is the prayer addressed to the Sun.
The Gayatri mantra relates to the three aspects of time - past, present, and future: Bhur Bhuva Svaha .
Tat Savitur Varenyam, Bhargo Devasya Dheemahi, Dheeyo yo nah Prachodayaath - that light dispels darkness --without light, darkness will not leave.
Bhargo devasya, signifies that the Sun is the dispeller of darkness.
Thus , the ancients believed that there was a supreme power - The Sun, whom they looked upon as Godwho has the power to remove ignorance with its shining effulgent light.
Each of the twelve steps of the salutation is accompanied by chanting the twelve names of the Sun God.
1. Om Hram Mitraya Namaha
Salutations to the friend of All
2. Om Hrim Ravaye Namaha
Salutations to the Shining one
3. Om Hroom Suryaya Namaha
Salutations to the one who engages in activity of the universe
4. Om Hraim Bhanave Namaha
Salutations to the one who illuminates
5. Om Hroum Khagaya Namaha
Salutations to the one who moves swiftly across the sky.
6 Om Hrah Pushney Namaha
Salutations to the giver of Strength
7. Om Hram Hiranyagarbhaya Namaha
Salutations to the Cosmic Golden Self
8 Om Hrim Marichaye Namaha
Salutations to the Lord of the Dawn
9 Om Hroom Adityaya Namaha
Salutations to the son of Aditi
10 Om Hraim Savitre Namaha
Salutations to the benevolent mother
11 Om Hroum Arkaya Namaha
Salutations to the one worthy of praise
12 Om Hrah Bhaskaraya Namaha
Salutations to the one who leads us to enlightenment.
Hram, Hrim, Hroum, Hraim, Hroum, Hrah are bija mantras or seed mantras. Right pronunciation and resonance of the ‘bija’ mantra produce waves that permeate through the entire being. These waves in the presence of sunlight produce positive effects on the mind, body, emotions and intellect as a whole. Every chant has two dimensions, the esoteric and the exoteric dimension.
The exoteric dimension is the external gross dimension which massages, relaxes or stimulates the physical body, strengthens the vocal chords and cultures the voice with regular chanting. The esoteric dimension transforms from the gross level to the subtle level. The correct practice, chanting with the right intonation and regularity in practice initiates the opening of the seven psychic energy centers or chakras of the body. The working and energy is rebalanced thus eliminating ill-health.
Every sun salutation when accompanied by the chanting of the universal prayer-the gayatri mantra bears a religious significance, which every Aryan culture and civilization of the past has always revered to the Sun as God. The Surya namaskar encompasses all the four aspects of yoga viz-asana, mudra, kriya and pranayam. This discussion along with the yogic benefits of the salutation will be discussed separately.
In conclusion, a Surya namaskar without the Gayatri mantra or the chanting of the twelve names of the Sun God has no religious bearing- it is then just a physical routine.
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