Talk:Surya namaskara chapter

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

	This article is within the scope of WikiProject India, which aims to improve Wikipedia's coverage of India-related topics. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page.
???	This article has not yet received a rating on the quality scale.
More information about this article... ??? This article has not yet received a rating on the importance scale.

I have removed the following section because, though I do not know anything about the subject, it currently appears to violate WP:NOR. If someone has a source, feel free to put it back with the source included. Moulder 00:34, 21 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Objections to the practice

Some Vedic scholars have objected to this practice on account of it violating the well-established rules of Mimamsa, as well as common sense. The reasons for the objections are:

1. The main deity of the chapter is Apah (water) and not Surya (Sun). The few mantras that appear for the sun are incidental, since the Sun aids the formation of rain coulds that give water to the earth. To recite a chapter that is meant for Apah to Surya is not incorrect, but it is quite the misnomer to call this the Surya namaskara chapter.

2. The traditional practice does not taken into account the fact that only Mantras (prayers) are recited during any Vedic practice and not Brahmanas (explanations). Since the aruna prashna contains several Brahmanas, it is using forbidden rules of Vedic interpretation.

3. Most people who perform the Surya namaskara using the aruna prashna chapter perform a namaskāra after every Hanas. This is another error, because the division of the chapter into Hanas is for the sake of memorization and not according to meaning. Sometimes a Hanas begins at half a mantra, sometimes it ends at three-quarters of a mantra!

The conclusion therefore is: the real name of the chapter is aruna prashna, not Surya namaskara chapter. This chapter is speaking of the sacrifice called the aaruna-ketuka-chayana in which the main deity is Apah and not Surya. It has been inappropriately used for Surya Namaskara by those with insufficient knowledge of the Veda Mantras.