Talk:Suryanamaskara

suryanamaskāra (‘salutations to the sun’)

Hindu places of pilgrimage are legion in India. About 8 kms. (5 miles) away from Ayodhyā (in Uttar Pradesh) is situated the Suryakuṇda. It is a fairly large lake with steps on all the four sides for devotees who want to take bath. On its western side is a temple dedicated to the god Suryanārāyaṇa.

The Hindus always believed in a holistic concept of health. They considered the body and the mind as one unit, each acting and reacting on the other. The suryanamaskāra is one of the earliest techniques discovered and developed by them which accorded with their concept of health. It has twelve postures, each repre¬senting a yogāsana (See YOGĀSANAS.) and a kind of salutation to the sun. The Hindu scriptures call the sun Aditya and describe twelve aspects of the same. They are actually different names of the same sun associated with the twelve signs of the Zodiac. Each has a name The twelve postures along with the yogāsanas they represent as also the associated mantras are as follows: 1. Praṇamasana (prayer pose); om mitrāya namah. 2. Hastauttānāsana (raised-arms pose); om ravaye namah. 3. Pādahastāsana (hand-to-foot pose); om suryāya namah. 4. Aśvasañcalanāsana (equestrian pose); om hhānave namah. 5. Śvānāsana (dog pose); om khagāya namah. 6. Astāñganamaskārāsana (obeisance with eight limbs); om pusne namah. Bhujaṅgasana (serpent-pose); om hiranyagarbhāya namah. 8. Svānāsana (dog-pose); om marlcaye namah. 9. Aśvasañcalanāsana (equestrian pose); om ādityāya namah. 10. Pādahastāsana (hand-to-foot pose); om savitre namah. 11. Hasta-uttānāsana (raised arms pose); om arkāya namah. 12. Praṇāmāsana (prayer pose); om bhāskarāya namah.