12 Names of Surya

[Elizabeth De Michelis]

Dear David,

I do not know about the actual textual provenance of this list  
(someone else may know this), but it is found in the following book,  
where it is unattributed:

Sadguru Sant Keshavadas, GAyatrI: The Highest Meditation, 2002  
Motilal Banarsidass

the book first came out in 1978 and has gone through many reprints  
since, we can therefore assume it has been quite successful and  
widely distributed.

The list (with the full Sanskrit invocation for each name, such as OM  
MitrAya Nama.h etc) is found on pages 84-85, and is part of  
preparatory prayers to perform "SandhyA-vandana", a discipline of 16  
kriyAs, explained in the book in fair amount of detail, "in which the  
universal light of GAyatrI is invoked" (:81). This particular list is  
indeed prescribed to accompany sun salutation performance.

Do let me know if you get any further offline information, I'd be  
interested to know.

Best regards

EDM


Dr Elizabeth De Michelis
Oriel College, Oriel Square,
Oxford, UK         OX1 4EW
Tel: 01865-276550
email: elizabeth.demichelis at oriel.ox.ac.uk
http://www.divinity.cam.ac.uk/modernyoga/


On 24 Jan 2007, at 15:24, David Fiordalis wrote:

> Dear List members,
>
> A friend of mine who is an Iyengar Yoga instructor is interested in  
> knowing
> where the list of 12 names of Surya included in the Iyengar  
> practice manual may come from.
>
> They are: mitra, ravi, sUrya, bhAna, khaga, pUSan, hiraNyagarbha,  
> marIci,
> Aditya, savitR, arka, and bhAskara.
>
> Does anyone know a text that lists these particular 12 as the names  
> of Surya? I know there are other lists in the Mahabharata and  
> elsewhere, but so far as I'm aware these include some different  
> members.
>
> My apologies for cross-posting.
>
>
> David Fiordalis
>
> PhD Candidate
> Dept of Asian Languages and Cultures
> University of Michigan
>