Hindu Religious Rite,Sandhya Vandanam Explained.

Sandhya Vandana -Sandhya,Vandana means”praying when day meets night’.

This happens twice a Day.

-When Day Meets Night,Sun Rise

-Night Meets Day,Sunset

In addition, two equal divisions of Day meet,Noon.

The Smritis, Texts to be followed by the Hindus for their Religious Rites, enjoins one to perform this Rite thrice a Day.

Sandhya Vandana Part I

Timings:

Early Morning, just before Sunrise.

Noon

At Sunset.

The Smritis declare ‘No Mantra/prayer will yield results if one does not perform the Sandya Vandana as no Good will come to one who neglects his parents, even if he worships God and performs all the Duties enjoined by The Vedas‘

The Sandya Vandana addresses The Sun.

Sun is the visible God , who showers His Blessings to all irrespective of who or what they are .

The mantras seek atone for sins committed by one knowingly or unknowingly to the other Living beings in the process of Living,seeks guidance,  Blessings for Clarity of Vision, Knowledge and the well-being of all.

The mantras differ slightly for each of the Time we perform the Sandya Vandana, depending on the senses which go active during this period.

To quote one.

In the Morning  Prachanam it seeks atonement for the’ sins committed during the Night by the Genital Organs’ .

This is not present in the other Mantras used in the Sandya Vandana Prachanam-because it is only at night Human beings ae expected to have sexual Relationship.

The Sandya Vandana has the following parts.

• Aachamana
• Pranayama
• Sankalpam
• Jalaprashanam or Marjanam
• Arghya pradanam
• Navagraha Kesavathi Tarpana
• Gayatri japam
• Upasthanam
• Abhivadanam
• Samarpanam

Acahamana To be performed by sitting on the heels ,keeping the forehands  in between the knees;water is to be taken from a receptacle kept only for Puja with a spoon with deep cavity,’water is to be taken and dropped in the Palm of the right palm(for the position look up to YouTube;this has to be done thrice;each time the water is to be sipped without touching the lips)

Pranayama is the control of breath;there are definite rules on the number of seconds one has to inhale,retain and exhale the breath with a special arrangement of the fingers of the Hands.

Salkalpam, Clear Determination.

Jalaprasthanam or Maarjanam, the sprinkling of water over one’s head after the water has been purified with the mantras.

Argya Pradhanam, the offering of the Life giving water as a token .

Navagraha,Kesavaathi Tharpana,the offering of gratitude to the Planets and the Lord of Beings and protector,Narayana.

Gayatri Japam ,Prayer,Self dedication and  Dedication, The results of every thing we do,including this action to Lord Narayana .

Audio Link in a separate posts(in two parts-read these posts ,play the Link and perform  Sandya Vandana).

Mantras in Text form with details of actions to be performed are posted separately.

Sandya Vandana Mantra First Part Recital Audio

I have posted some blogs on Sandya Vandana dealing with the importance, Rationale ,the procedure and posture to be followed.

This Audio  post contains the First part,Poorvanga of The Sandya Vandana.

This is to enable the user to play the Audio to perform Sandya Vandana and contains only the mantras.

To be conversant with the details please read the other posts.

One important point.

Sandhya Vandana Part I

**The Sandya Vandana is to be performed by Brahmins, Kshatriyas and Vaisyas.

There is a misconception that only the Brahmins are permitted to perform the Sandya Vandana.

This is wrong.

For Sudras less strenuous practice is prescribed by the Smritis.

Related:

http://ramanan50.wordpress.com/2012/10/04/sandya-vandanam-text-procedure-part-2-hindu-rites/

http://ramanan50.wordpress.com/2012/10/03/sandya-vandan-sandya-vandanam-textposturesprocedure-i/

http://ramanan50.wordpress.com/2012/10/03/sandhya-vandanam-explanation-part-i-hindu-religious-rite/

 

Samskaras ,Hinduism-Rites of Passage,Basic Religious Rites.

A portrayal of Vyasa, who classified the Vedas in to four parts, and author of the Mahabharata, which includes the widely read Bhagavad Gita. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Hinduism , as Dr.Radhakrishanan put it, is a ‘ not a view of Life but a way of Life’.

The duties of the individuals are so naturally practised that many do not seem to know what they are all about.

Hinduism demarcated the Life of an Individual into Four parts.

They are Brahmacharya,The Celibate,

The Grihastha,The Married,

The Vanaprastha,The Retired and

Sanyasa, the Renounced.

During the Brahmacharya the individual is made to learn all the aspects of the Vedas, not merely the Ascetic aspects but also the mans of livelihood which come under the Vedas.Thetse include Archery,Politics,Grammar,Linguistics,Agriculture, Trade Craft,Astronomy,Astrology.

During the grihastha period, one performs the Duties enjoined on the House holder, which includes Social Service.

In Vanaprastha, one retires int he true sense of the term by non-interference and by meditation.

In Sanyasa, Man relinquishes all belongings and concentrates on Liberation.

Basic Rites to be performed by an individual are indicated for each stage.

These Samskaras are applicable to all Varnas, all people except the Sudras( Sudras meaning and duties will be dealt with in a separate blog).

Varnas are determined on the basis of Dispositions or Natural tendencies.

There are Forty Samskaras .

There is a controversy that there are only Fourteen Samskaras.

I will be dealing in detail with Forty Samskaras.

The resources are from the Smriti , ancient texts and regular practices followed by the Hindus.

One good source is the book Forty Samskaras by Sri. Srivatsa V.Somadeva Sarma,which has been approved by Kanchi Periyavar.

The Publishers are Sri Surabhi Sadhabdi Publications, Lakeview Road, West Mambalam,Chennai 600033( opposite TNSC Bank

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sa%E1%B9%83sk%C4%81ra

Wisdom Of Lord Krishna,Srimad Bhagavad Gita.Why? -1

Image via Wikipedia

I am sixty now.

I have been thinking of writing on The Gita for about five years now.

I have been reading,not studying The Bhagavad Gita for the past 30 years.

But recently I found out, due to certain instances in my Life, to my shock, that I have been deceiving myself that I have read The Gita and that I am prepared to face things in Life as mentioned by The Lord of Enlightenment.

It had not gone into my heart.

It had  appealed to my reason alone.

I have never felt it with my heart.

However much one reads,studies these Great Sayings, so long as one grasps it with Reason, the ‘Sayings’ remain just ‘Sayings’

When one is hit by Realities of Life where one can turn to none for solutions nor can solve, The Gita comes to the rescue.

It tells you that things are what they are and it is your ability and ”vairaggaya’-determination, that can help you sail through.

I am not a Scholar.

I, who was more an Atheist/Agnostic by Reasoning(so I thought) ,have been exposed to the Vedas by the Acharya of Sringeri, Sri Abhinava Vidya Theertha at the age of 29,.

Though knowing that I was not fit enough to learn the Vedas, because of my Drinking habits then and being irregular in my performing ‘sandhya vandana ‘The Noble Soul told me that I had the urge to know, despite fact that I quarreled with him on a minor point in Sastra, considering myself to be learned because I had a degree in Philosophy and that he will teach me whenever he visited Bangalore.( My father’s elder cousin, who was a scholar in Vedas  and me had an argument over an interpretation of a point in The Smriti and I suggested that we refer this to The Swamiji who was then camping at Bangalore.

When we went to meet him we were prevented from meeting him by those around him and were literally being pushed out.

The Swamiji was near by.

On hearing my raised voice he asked what the matter was.

I explained him the argument I  have with my father’s Cousin,who was standing nearby.

The Acharya replied that he has no time( namakku purusath illa)

I retorted’ Hardly any people read the Vedas,that too at my age.

You are the head of The mutt established by The Great Shankaracharya.

You are supposed to live by Vedas and it is your Duty to clarify doubts on the Vedas.

Yet you say ‘you have no time’

I can only surmise that you do not know any thing about the Vedas to clarify my doubts.

Or you do not want to.

In either case you are unfit to occupy the Peetha of Sri Sankaracharya.’

I walked out.

After about two or three hours a man from the mutt came to my room in the same area(i do not know how they found out my room) and asked me to accompany him to meet The Acharya.

I accompanied him with my Father’s Cousin with the apprehension that The Acharya was going to curse me.

The Acharya made me sit down in His presence and made me repeat what I said.

He  told me’ You are right. But at the same time you should also remember that I have to run this Mutt and by paying attention to people with money, though they are not pious, I  raise funds to enable me to perform Vedic karmas for World Welfare and help people who are needy and it helps me to perform Upanayana and marriage of the poor.

But still what you said is true.

I should not have allowed people around me to send you out.I am sorry.

Now you tel me what you want and he solved the problem ‘Incidentally my interpretation of The Smriti was right .

Then he told me that he wants to introduce me to The Vedas and that I should come to him whenever he is in Bangalore.

I told him that I was not Religious in the real sense of the term   and that I drink.

He told me not to Drink on the days I come to visit him and told me that I can leave and that I should come at 3 pm the next day.

I went to him , whenever I was in Bangalore( I was in a touring job, for about Six years.

Great men are just..what can one say…just Great!

-to be continued…..