Sandhya Vandanam

Sandhya Series – When, why etc……

After Dhruv's initiation into the dwija clan, the subject of "sandhya" is too tempting. And going by reader's opinion, sharing thoughts from known texts, in true satsangham, would perhaps be "de regueur". So, here I am with a new start to proceedings, with this topic, after a hiatus of over 5 weeks. Hope I will receive some responses, as they are the best diet to a lively debate, and represent true satsangham spirit, besides being a fodder for further blog material..

There is a word “vidhi” in samskrit, and which is quite often used in Tamil, which has a whole lot of different meanings apart from the ordinary one namely “fate”. The Tamil usage is to the best of knowledge mostly confined to this meaning of the word.

One of the other meanings of this original Samskrit word is “the driving force of action, of every living being”. It would perhaps therefore imply that as long as one is alive, “action” is inescapable. There appears therefore no difference between this driving force and “fate”, and when one bemoans his/her fate, what is implied is perhaps the regret that his/her actions are part of a scripted operating manual as it were.

In this context, the famous oft used cliché that “whatever happens is for good” suggests a much more profound meaning. This is, that, the journey of the individual soul being solely and ultimately to merge with that universal soul, every scripted “action manual” is part of that evolving process, and cannot but be “good”.

Another meaning for the word vidhi is “religious commandment”, which comes forth as “vidhi vaakya”. One of the commandments is “aharahaha sandhyaam upaaseetha”. Translated it says one should do sandhya upaasana every day.

There is a sloka in Gita which says that “ ethadh budhwa buddhimaan syaath, kritha krithyascha Bharatha” . One who has done what has to be done is a krithakrithya. And what is to be done? Or what is the purpose of life? It is realization of non-duality with that universal soul, which resides in your heart, and the dawn of wisdom. And how is one to get to that stage? It has to be done by removing the cobwebs of dirt masking that knowledge, by sheer dint of “prescribed action” or karmas.

And it is also said that non-performance of karma is like uprooting the roots of a tree, after which there is neither the branches nor the leaves, and the door to self realization simply closes itself; ( “Chinne mooleh naiva shaakha na pathram” is the original samskrit text.)

It therefore follows that the Sandhyaa upaasana is part of the daily karma routine which has to be performed every day in our evolutionary journey of self realization. Having thus understood the significance of this karma, the next step is to ascertain when this should be done.

Sandhya has three parts; (a) Argyam (b) Gayathri Japam and (c) Upasthanam. "Sandhow sandhyaam upaaseetha” is the edict. Translated it says “sandhya upasana must be done during “sandhi”. What is sandhi? This is the time when the Sun and the stars are together visible in the sky. So at dawn and dusk when these conditions prevail, are the times when these karmas have to be done.

Now then there is this question of when these need to start, and have to end? In the morning it has to start when the stars are visible. At the crack of dawn, one should give “argyam” and should finish this when Sun, has arisen. The reverse order will apply for evening sandhya.

This leaves the mid day ritual “maadhyaanikam”. Here, I have only my interpretation. Ahnikam means “Daily ritual”, and as the name suggests, this ritual is to be done at mid day when the Sun is right above, and being a part of trilogy of “sun worship” it forms a part of trikaala Sandhya vandanam”.

In the next part, I will try and recap the meanings of some of the important mantras of these daily karmas.

Love

Vichu