AN ESOTERIC MEANING OF THE ARUNA SURYA NAMASKAR By Selvi D Lakshmi As I was praying one morning, an esoteric meaning for Aruna Surya Namaskar struck me. I just felt like sharing that with you. From a sense of balance (Samastithi asana), one pays the homage (Anjali Mudra) to the Cosmic Consciousness Whose blessings make you to come down and be planted in a womb (Hasthpadasana)... As the hands and feet are the main organs of action they touch the earth to signify the fact that one has come down to earth to execute his karmic debt… to pay the debt in action.. Just as how a soul in the fetus remembers its previous births and makes its promises to the Almighty, I look up (in Prasarithautanasana) at the Celestial Beings reinforcing my principles for the new life. I stretch my neck signifying that this journey is going stretch me for my evolution. The fact that neck is stretched also adds to the idea of evolution. With all these promises I jump into Chaturdhandasana supported by the 4 aims of Dharma, Artha, Kama And Moksha. The four sticks can also symbolize the four dimensions of my life span- Ashramas (Brahamarcharya, Grahastha, Vanaprastha And Sanyasa). I go through the opposite bends that life throws at me with the lightness of a bird (Kokilasana) and the strength and stability of a mountain (Meruasana). In the backward and forward stretches, I have made myself stronger. Just as how a Muka Bhastrika cleanses the lungs from dirt, the warehouse of karmas in my causal body is cleansed as well. Finally I come with a sense of gratitude and look at all pervading space (Shiva) reinforcing my evolution again. In Prasarithautanasana I am stretched from life to death (You tighten a person’s neck to kill him). Just as how the pose symbolizes (body half erect) I am midway between life and death. In Hasthpadasana, I pay my reverence to mother earth and my physical body becomes a part of her. In a new world I pay my homage (Anjali Mudra) again to the Supreme Consciousness and come to a different State Of Balance (Samastithi asana). One cycle over… many more cycles to live through.. it is not the no of cycles but how I live through each cycle that matters. The Sun represents the Guru whose is the presiding deity of ‘sight’ of all. Thank you ! .