Sandhyavandanam -2

Now let’s look at the meanings of the word “Sandhyah”. The first meaning is from the derivation “Sandhihi” which means junction. There are three junctions in a day: dawn between night and forenoon, noon between forenoon and afternoon, and dusk between evening and night. Accordingly the worship done during this Sandhya kalam, at the time of the three junctions. From this it is clear that “sandhyavandanam” (SV) is done three times a day – prathas sandhya, madhyam sandhya and sayam sandhya. Second meaning of “Sandhya” is the time which is the union of Jivatma and Paramatma. Which means during these junctions we are not supposed to do any other job, this is a time of worship. We don’t wish for any worldly relations during this except maintain or being conscious of our relation with the Lord. Ideally do no office work, no social work or family work must be done during those times except keep my appointment with the Lord. Therefore even if I don’t know SV ritual or if I have given up SV ritual, at that time I am supposed to do something religious. Like you can chant any sloka or visit a temple or at least read a Vedantic textbook like Gita or Upanishad. “Sandhya” is the junction between Ishwara and the individual.

            Another meaning is from the root “Dai Jnaney” meaning this is a time a person has to do dhyanam. So sandhya kalam means dhyana kalam. Which there are three times in a day an individual is supposed to do Ishwara dhyanam. Finally the fourth meaning, which is most important, that we are going to take is “sandhya” means “ishwara” himself. The one who is worshipped is called “Sandhya”. In this definition sandhya does not represent junction but represents the Lord himself who is worshipped in feminine form. Not as Ishwara but Ishwari. According to scriptures the Lord is defined as Maya Sahitam Brahman. So Sandhya Devi is none other Brahman with maya. This Sandhya Devi is the creator of the universe (jagat suthihi), maya thithatu nishkala (She is the controller of the universe and who is unconditioned by maya), and nishakala the pure and undivided Brahman, and Ishwarai kavala Shaktihi who is the Lord in the form of Shakti. She is both in the Shiva rupa and Shakti rupa. So Sandhya Devi is Maya Sahitam Brahman. And She is the source of thatra treyam or guna treyam. The worship of Sandhya Devi is called Sandhyavandanam.

            What are the pramanas or source of this puja? This SV is advocated in both Shuthi and Smrithi. It is“shroutha karma” and the shuthi mantra is Udyantham Asthanm Yanham, Adityam, Abhidhyayan. One should worship on rising sun and setting sun. And what does the person get? He gets sakalam bhatdram ashnuthey. That person gets all the auspiciousness like artha,  kama, dharma and above all moksha. Another famous shuthi pramana is “aha aha Sandhya Upasitha” that one should do SV daily. The Smrithi pramanam is “Sandhya triyam tu karthavyam thvamava Atma vidha sada.” Every dwija must do SV thrice a day. These are Atri Maharishi’s words. Until sacred thread ceremony one does not have these karmas but after upanayam one has to do them thrice a day.

            Now the next question is how do we worship this Sandhya Devi? And where do we worship this Sandhya Devi? Sadhya Devi is located in Savithra mandalam, Surya mandalam. The disc or orb is called mandalam. On the surya mandalam the sandhya devi is to be invoked. This is Sandhya worship on the sun. Since Sandhya Vandanam is done three times a day, the Sandhya Devi is seen in three different aspects. She is worshipped in three different forms and all of them in the surya mandalam. For each of this devata there is different name, different form, different colour, etc and three different dhyana slokas. The three names of Sandhya Devi is Gayatri in the morning, Savitri in the noon and Saraswathi in the evening. Remember all are Sandhya, Sandhya as Gayatri or Savitri or Saraswati depending on the time of worship.

Gayatri	Savitri	Saraswati
Kumari (young girl)	Yuvati (youth)	Vrudha (old)
Lohita (reddish complexion)	Sweta (white)	Shyamala (dark)
Ananda Swarupa	Sat Swarupa	Chit Swarupa
Rajasi	Tamasi	Satviki
Hamsa Vahini (Swan)	Vrusha Vahanam (bull)	Karkshya Vahana (Garuda)
Srishti Karthri	Laya Karthri	Sithi Karthri
Brahma rupa	Rudra Rupa	Vishnu rupa

All these three devathas are invoked in the surya mandalam and meditated upon.

            As I had said earlier the SV varies according varna and Veda. It is impossible to cover all the different SVs and so I will be taking Yajur veda for this discussion. The SV ritual is broadly classified into two portions. The first part is called “purvagam” or sandhyavandanam and the second is “uttaragam” which is gayatri japa.

            The purvagam consists of ten stages:

a)      Aachamanam

b)      Ganapathy Dhyanam

c)      Pranaayamah

d)     Sankalpah

e)      Maarjanam

f)       Jala Praarshanam

g)      Punar Maarjanam

h)      Arghya Pradanam

i)        Sandhyo Pasanam

j)        Adityadi Tharpanam.

Of these ten stages the first seven are only preparatory stages in the form of purification. The main parts of the purvagam are the last three: Arghya Pradanam, Sandhyo Pasanam, and Adityadi Tharpanam.

            We will take each stage one by one. Literally achamanam means “sipping water three times”. The purpose of achamanam is inner purification so that I become fit for worship. Before any puja we purify all materials doing “prokshanam” etc Likewise I must also be purified and fit to worship. The ordinary water is capable of removing impurities (physical malam) from the body but when the jalam is associated with mantra, it can remove inner impurities also. We sanctify the water by chanting the lord’s names. That is why in punyavachanam and other rituals they chant mantras to a bowl of water and that water is capable of purifying home. That is why during snanam (bath) agamarsha suktam is chanted so that,” O Lord let this not be just a physical snamam but remove the internal impurity also.” Any name of the Lord is okay but traditionally we chant the three names of Vishnu. Achyutaaya namaha, ananataaya namaha, and govindaaya namaha.  When we sip with these three mantras it is supposed to cleanse the inner heart. Therefore various names of the Lord is invoked on the body Kesava, Narayana, Madhava etc and the purpose is purification of the person. Some people also do a puja to prithivi devi to bless the asanam,” O Prithiva Devi may you bless this asanam so that I can sit in prayer without any distraction”.

            The second stage is Ganesha Dhyanam. The purpose is to satisfy Ganesha the Lord of Obstacles. We offer prayers to HIM so that the worship can performed without any obstacles. Vigneshwara can do two things: HE can give obstacles also and HE can remove obstacles too. Imagine you sit for SV and then there is a telephone call, or some guests would have come. This is a prayer before any worship and so is featured in the Sandhyavandanam.

Shukalaabaradharam Vishnum Shashivarnam Chaturbhujam, prasannavadanam dhyaayet, sarvavighna upashaantaya.

The purpose is clearly mentioned as Sarvighna Upashaantaye, for the temporary cessation of all obstacles. Here the word “Vishnu” means “Ganesha”. The word Vishnu means all pervading God, so too is Vinayaka. He is worshipped by all and everywhere. Philosophically also being Brahman and looking at the world also since Ganesha is worshipped everywhere. Ganapathy is one God where there is no Shaivite or Vishnuvite, nowadays worshipping vinayaka is becoming popular everywhere. What kind of Vishnu? Shukalaa Ambaram dharam, wearing white clothes and shashivarnam, HIMSELF fair complexion, endowed with four hands (Chaturbhujam), and most important is prasannavadanam (a smiling face), we have forgotten to be pleasant faced because our burdens have become so much. So at least when we see “Vinayaka” we can smile a little, and to that Lord Ganesha I meditate upon for the removal of all obstacles. This is Ganesha Dhyanam.

            Then the third part is Pranaayama. It is very useful for quietning the mind. We have a physical personality in the form of annamaya kosa, we have a prana personality called pranamaya kosa and a mental personality in manomaya kosa. The pranamaya kosa is sandwiched between annamaya and manomaya and therefore the regulation of prana will influence both body and the mind. During SV pranayama is done for emotional tranquility. Shantihi. Just as a jalam (a net) curbs the movement of a bird, prana curbs the movements of the extroverted mind. There are some people who use pranayama only for health benefits, this is called ‘agarba pranayama”. This is pranayama without any mantra. Then there is the second type of pranayama called “sagarba pranayama” in which mantras are chanted. When pranayama is done without mantra the mind becomes body conscious, health conscious and it will increase “theyhatha” budhi. One will always be thinking of body health (say weight problem). But when it is done with chanting our mind will be with the thoughts of the Lord. Literally the word “aayamaha” means regulation and pranayaamah means prana regulation. Breathing regulation. Here prana refers to pancha prana: prana, apana, samana, udana, and vyana. We are directly regulating prana but it will influence internally too like apana (the execratory system), vyana is circulatory system, samana is digestive system and udana is reversing system. We are regulating only breathing but the whole physiological system is regulated. So if any people have indigestion or over digestion or constipation the practice of pranayama will benefit. Pranayama by itself is a big Science. It is used to acquire extraordinary powers also. Kundalini Shakti and all that come under pranamaya only. Raising the mooladara and going through the chakras etc but in Sandhyavandanam our aim is not that. We are not here for extraordinary and miraculous powers for in Sandhyavandanam pranayam we are only doing deep breathing – a deep inhalation, a short retention and then a deep exhalation is prescribed here. In SV this pranayama can be done three times or ten times according to one’s convenience. This pranayama is done with this mantra: on bhoohu om bhuvaha ogm suvaha om mahaha om janaha om tapaha ogm satyam is one part: pranava and vyakriti. Pranava is OM and these seven bhoohu, bhuvaha, suvaha, mahaha, janaha, tapaha are called vyakritis. And the second part Om tat savitur varenyam bhargo devasya dheemahi dhiyo nan prachodayat is Gayatri mantra. And Om aapo jyoteeraso amrutham brahma bhoor bhuvas suvarom is called Gayatri Shiras. Therefore pranayama consists of four parts: pranava, vyakrithi, gayatri and gayatri shiras.

            The word Om means Ishwarah. When I chant Om I am supposed to think of Sandhya Devi. And bhoo, bhuvaha and etc refer to the sapta lokas. The seven upper lokas are mentioned the seven lower worlds are implied. We use the prefix Om to each to show that the Lord alone is in each loka. Sarvam Vishnumayam jagat or Sarvam Shiva mayam jagat or here Sarvam Sandhya mayam jagat. We can see how this sandhyavandanam ritual is divinizing the world. To look at the world as Ishwara’s manifestations. This is almost like Vishwarupam or Vibhuti yoga etc. I will analyze Gayatri mantra later but I will give the meaning here: I meditate upon the light of the sun which activates our intellects. And the last portion the gayatri shiraz says the same thing: Ishwarah is in everything. Om appha means all waters like rivers, all lights, jyotihi, like Surya, Chandra, Nakshatra, or Agnihi are Ishwarah. Rasaha means nourishment or essence contained in all the food. See we get bhumi tatvam, Agni tatvam and Jala tattvam. That is also what? Ishwarah. Amrutham Brahma is food of the devas. Even the god’s food is Ishwarah. Rasa and Amrutha represent prithvi tattvam, while brahman in this context is means vayu tattvam and akasha tattvam as both are all pervading. Then bhur bhuva and suva represent the three lokas or three avasthas jagrat, swapna, and shuspti. All of them are nothing but Brahman or Ishwara alone. The purpose of pranayama is I meditate on Ishwara who is everything. When a person does pranayama one part is used for inhalation, another part for retention and another part for exhalation according to one’s capacity.

            Then the fourth stage which is Sankalpah, taking the resolve. This has the benefit of auto-suggestion. I am telling my mind that for the next 15 or 20 minutes don’t bother me with anything even if the skies were to fall on my head. We have to give strong auto-suggestion otherwise the mind will not be in the job. Sankalpa serves as a report to the Lord; please make a note in your book that I am doing my karma. It is in this sankalpa we are going to mention whether the fruits of this ritual should be used for material purposes or spiritual growth. It is here we show our motive. For material purposes we ask for pasu, dhanam, putra, labham chatta samvasaram, dirge ayuwho etc but here we say: my motive is different. Mamopaatta samasta durita-kshaya dvaaraa, the whole purpose is chitta shudi. This makes the Sandhyavandanam ritual nishkama karma. The exact meaning of the sankalpaha we will see in the next class. Hari Om.