Surya namaskara chapter

The Sūrya-namaskāra chapter is the first chapter in the Taittirīya Āranyaka of Krishna Yajur Veda. It is so-called because it has been used, for probably several centuries, almost by every South Indian Hindu Brahmin household for worship of the Sun in an elaborate ritual. The Sun being a visible symbol of the infinite Power, Glory and Majesty of the Unseen Almighty, the worship of the Sun-God is considered very important by Hinduism. The 132 paragraphs (which are grouped into ‘anuvakas’ or sections) of this chapter is a compendium on the Sun as was ‘seen’ by the Seers. It has been the tradition to recite this chapter and make a complete prostration to the Sun in the eastern direction at the end of the recitation of each paragraph. The benefits of the physical exercise that one derives from this ritual are only incidental; the real benefit is considered to be esoteric in terms of a spiritual evolution. (It must also be said here that the practice of this kind of worship using the recitation of this chapter is questioned by a section of ritualists under the contention that the chapter is not all mantras, but also contains a number of injunctions). It is not the physical Sun that is worshipped here but what is revered is the Absolute Supreme that is behind and beyond.The text of this chapter contains too much material of value to the researcher as well as to the devout. We shall only see some flashes from the different sections.

Concept of Time

First there is a whole section (‘anuvāka’) which is a treatise on the concept of Time. “The visible universe of the solar system, including the Sun and its functioning, is known to us by four means of knowledge: memory, direct perception, historical records and inference. The Sun sends its rays. These rays spread over all the universe. By the speciality of the falling of these rays, Time flows like a river – endlessly, as it were. And it goes on and on. It never turns back. We measure the passage of Time by calling them days, months and years. It keeps trickling by minute units as well as large chunks of such measure. But all this is only in the phenomenal world. The passage of Time is only for the empirical world of the visible universe. There is something absolute beyond all this. That is not visible to us. There is no world there, no Sun, no animals. This is the real nature of the Absolute behind the Sun. The implication of Time is only for us to finish our duties on time. We are not supposed to worry about what is behind Time. We should simply do our duties.”

Death on the Wings

In the fourteenth section, the units of time are systematically used to emphasize the ephemeral nature of man’s life. Every time the Sun rises, its rise symbolises the passing away of one day in the life of human beings and in this sense the Sun’s rise is like taking away a slice of one’s life-span. When the days pass by, when the months and years pass by this is what happens to every one. Every movement of the Sun across the sky implies the passing away of man’s life. This paragraph has a number of perorations on this, starting with the rise of the sun, the setting of the sun, then the fortnights, the months and the years.

The Seven Suns (Colours of the Spectrum?)

The seventh section reveals some unusual insights about the Sun. It names seven Suns: "Āroga", "brāja", "patara", "patanga", "svarnara", jyotishīmān, "vibhāsa". ‘These heat the entire space’ goes the text ‘in such a way that no damage is done but they enrich everything with the downpour of strength-giving rain, etc.’ Then it says and here comes the surprise: ‘There is an eighth Sun, Kaśyapa, by name. He never leaves the Mahameru’. The mantra goes on: ‘Oh Kaśyapa, by the skill that you have in enriching the power of our senses, in the life-giving dalliant rays of Yours which bestow nutrition on us, by that skill – in which the seven Suns are linked to You – may we be blessed to be in the highest peak of our efficiency’.

peculations about the Seven Suns

Then the text talks about the various speculations about what it has itself just declared. ‘Some say’, the text goes on, ‘these seven suns are the vital airs that dwell in the face; others say that they are the five senses of perception, plus the mind and the intellect.’ At this point, Sayanacharya, the Vedic commentator, points out:The seven points of entry into the body which are in the face – namely, the two eyes, the two ears, the two nostrils and the mouth – are the holes which allow the seven “adhyaatma-praanas”, that is, the vital airs classified as pertaining to the soul within. The five elemental fundamentals – earth, water, fire, air and space – together with the two principles called mahat and ahamkaara, are the seven “adhi-bhautika-praanas”, that is, the vital airs belonging to the physical plane. The seven Suns, named above, are “adhi-daivata-praanas”, that is, the vital airs pertaining to the celestial plane.

The Eighth Sun

Then comes the passage narrating the claims of great sages about their experience of the seven Suns and the eighth Sun. Two sages by name Pancha-karna son of Vatsa and Sapta-karna son of Plaksha claim to have seen the seven Suns. But, say the two, they have not been able to go to the Mahameru and see the eighth Sun. Everybody strongly recommends, however, says the text that Man should strive to go to the Mahameru and see that one-ness of Divinity, called Kashyapa. It becomes clear that they are referring to the Supreme Reality here which is the su bstratum of all the seven Suns. The seven Suns themselves derive their strength and dalliance from the eighth Sun, namely, Kashyapa. The seven Suns originated from Kaśyapa -“"kaśyapād-uditās-sūryāh"” - says the text. The very name Kaśyapa is extolled and its meaning derived by going the etymology of the word: “"Kaśyapah paśyako bhavati"” is the statement later in the eighth paragraph. It means Kaśyapa is the One that sees (rightly).The next sentence explains this: “"yat sarvam pari-paśyatiiti saukshmyāt"’ : Because it sees everything in all its subtlety.

Concept of Death

The eighth paragraph contains among other things a discussion on the concept of Death (“"mrityu"”). Death is a consequence of Time-flow. Nobody can escape Death. But there are other minor causes of death. For instance there is the loss of life-giving air – which can be countered by breathing exercises like Praanaayaama and the like. There is the fire of consumption within the stomach, called Jaataraagni, for which there are medicinal cures. Thirdly, there is the Moon, which is the deity for food and herbs and such death is due to lack of right food and right medication – which again can be countered. Thus it turns out to be that the Sun, by which we mean the flow of Time (“"kaala"”) is the greatest and supreme cause of Death and this we can never escape.

"Tapas"

The eleventh section, which contains the famous Gayatri mantra, has some flashes about the value of “tapas”, penance. This great mantra of the Sun is the most powerful purifier of all but it is not possible to obtain it except by intense askesis. Tapas or askesis is the process by which irrespective of what happens to the physical and mental body one concentrates on some particular goal, usually spiritual, works for it and does not stop until that is obtained. The root word ‘tap’ means to torture or to heat. Tapas therefore indicates heat, particularly the heat energy generated by ritual activity and personal mortification of the body through fasting, sexual abstinence or any other severe self-discipline. Even voluntary poverty is a form of tapas. Every form of pursuit of self-control is tapas, says the Mahanarayanopanishad – “"Ritam tapas satyam tapas shrutam tapas shaantam tapo daanam tapo yajnas tapo" ….”. And here, the text has this flash: “"atapta-tanur na ta daamo ashnute"” -- meaning, By means of a body which has not gone through a torture of the necessary effort in the form of tapas, one is like a food which is not ripe and so would not obtain the cherished goal.

Names, only in name

That Ultimate status which one looks for and works for by tapas, about which there are eloquent descriptions in the Upanishads, is then talked about in this text in the language relevant to the physical Sun. The sun hides the stars in the daytime. It is as if, at night time, it is withdrawing all the rays that make the stars invisible. And then the stars become visible. So also we human beings give undue importance to the names given to us, which pertain only to this body of flesh and bones. This name is so much linked to this body that it becomes meaningless when Real Enlightenment dawns. The names which are caused by association with the body become meaningless in reality and ‘they are names only in name’ – “"nāma nāmaiva nāma me"”: this is a famous line in this paragraph. “nāma” means ‘name’.

Conclusion

After this the Sūrya namaskāra chapter gets into technical detail. Throughout the last one-third part of it it elaborates a ritual called aaruna-ketuka-yajna. This is a sacrifice in praise of Agni the Fire-God, which is named here as Aruna-ketuka. In sum, the Sūrya-namaskāra chapter, in addition to being a treatise on the Sun, has many philosophical and esoteric implications aboput the One-ness of the Ultimate and its omnipresence.