Suryanamaskar

Surya namaskar should not be made compulsory - MP Court
August 29, 2009

Bhopal: The Madhya Pradesh High Court in an interim order on Friday directed the state government not to force educational institutions to conduct the yoga exercise suraya namaskar, or salutation to the sun.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state government had two years ago made 'surya namaskar' compulsory in schools and colleges - which the minorities, Christians and Muslims, protested as an attempt to impose Hindu rituals on students of minority communities.

The Catholic Church went to the Madhya Pradesh High Court bringing to its notice that the order of the state government violates Section 25 to 30 of the Fundamental Rights of the Constitution under which the minority institutions are governed.

Advocate Rajesh Chand who appeared for the Catholic Church on behalf of Fr. Anand Muttungal (church spokesman) also pointed out that the order was against the interim order of the high court in the same matter in 2007.

He requested the court to give an interim order to stop the state government from making surya namaskar compulsory and initiate action against officials who violate the court order.

"In the light of the above arguments, the Jabalpur bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court comprising of Chief Justice A.K. Patnayik and Ajit Singh, Friday issued an interim order to the government to abstain from exerting any preasure on students and schools that do not take part in the surya namaskar," Rajesh Chand told sources.

The court, he said, has also issued notices to the chief secretary, principal secretary education, education commissioner, district education officer Jhabua and Rajgarh in this regard.

Archbishop Dr. Leo Cornelio, chairman of the Catholic Bishops' Council, has welcomed the order of the court. IANS



The different poises in the Suryanamaskar

I'll tell you an old joke.
A caravan of members of one community were moving on the road.
They stopped for lunch at a place near a well where there were many trees giving shade.
While sitting under a tree, a crow passed out some shit which fell on the palm of one of the community leaders.
They were at a loss what to do.
They held a conference with their elders.
Finally one of the elders asked "What do the Hindus do with it?"
Another replied, they throw it away and wash their hands.
"Then", he said,"Gulp it down with a glass of water"

This has become the view of all religions in the world.
If one religion does something, we should do the opposite.

What is the Surya Namaskar?
It is a continuous flow of 9 or 10 exercises as shown above for the human limbs and lungs.
What is Surya?
It is the Sun, the source of all energy for our Earth.
We would not have existed if there had been no sun.
It can be said that the Sun is the manifestation of God's will.
We cannot see God, we can only assume His existence through his manifestation.
The Sun is the greatest manifestation of God.
It carries out His will and gives heat, light, water and air to everybody, to the rich and the poor, to the Hindus, Muslims and Christians.
It is not that it shines only on Hindus.
We express our gratitude to the Sun for all it has given us and also perform the above exercises so that our body remain healthy.
If somebody gives you something or your boss gives you and increment, don't you express your gratitude?
The Sun has given us everything, all free of cost and we express our gratitude to it directly but to God indirectly.
Where does religion come in this?
We do the exercises and also thank God for all He has given us.
In the Surya namashkar, with each poise one name of the sun is pronounced in Sanskrit All others can say it in Urdu, English , French whatever language their God understands.
As far as making it compulsory is concerned I believe we have gone too much on book knowledge and rote that our children are not having all round development.
There should be some exercise for the body also. The maximum exercise the children of today get are for their thumbs when they switch channels with their TV remote.
Those exercises could be free hand aerobic, gym, yoga and pranayam, games or Suryanamaskar.
Suryanamakar is a complete exercise for all the limbs of the human body and lungs.
But no, this cannot be accepted, if the Hindus throw away crow shit, we must gulp it down.