Thursday, November 29, 2007

Sandhyavandanam- time

Om Sri Paramatmane Nama:

Sandhya Vandanam

The time:

What is the apt time for doing Sandhya Vandanam ? The name suggests Sandhya , the meeting time of Day with night, which is just before and during sunrise and sunset.

Ajyotisho darsanat sandhi, jyotisho bhanutare

The above statement of the shastra means

Sandhi is the time when the sun and the stars are together visible. The practical thing therefore will be to start

  1. In the morning before sunrise, give Arghyam( explanation later) during sunrise and finish just after sunrise.
  2. In the evening, begin before sunset, give Arghyam during sunset and finish later.

For those who always are inconsistent with their timings, Shastra says

For prAtha: (morning) Sandhyavandhan

Uttama tarakopeta madhyama lupta taraka

Adhama urya sahita prata: sandhya tridha mana

To do PrAtha: ( morning) sandhyA vandanam when the stars are visible is Uttama (first grade.); Maddhyama (middle grade) when doing without the stars; and Adhama ( least grade when Sun is visible)

Similarly,

Uttama suryasahita maddhyama anudita taraka

Adhma tarakopeta sayam sandhya tridha mata

To do Sayam( evening) Sandhya Vandanam , It is Uttama doing while the sun is still shining; Maddhyama when doing before stars are visible; Adhama after the stars are fuly visible.

Sri Abhinava Theertha swamigal says whatever be the grade, it is always best to do it regularly. Otherwise, he warns, one’s Brahmanathva itself is wasted.

The morning and evening sandhis are also ideal since, traditionally and habitually, a person’s stomach will be empty doing both sunrise and sunset. An empty stomach is achieved after four hours of a solid meal. An empty stomach is a prerequisite for Sandhyavandanam since there are at least three sets of pranayama totaling 15 in one full routine. A loaded stomach will interfere with pranayama greatly resulting in indigestion, sleepiness etc. Even the madhyahnikam ( noon) routine is done with an empty stomach before the meal.

There are three types of Karmas- Nithya, Naimithika, and Kamya karmas. Kamya karma is one which is done with a desire to achieve, like a yagya for long life etc .Even if kamya karmas are not done , there is no sin. Naimithika karma is one which is not shastra bound and not niyamic, i.e., a necessary duty , such as taking bath after an eclipse. Nithya karma is one which is ‘niyata nimitta’ meaning ‘ that which is done which is shastra bound’ . Sunrise and sunset are the reason for doing Sandhya vandanam. Hence this is classified in the Nithya karma, which has to be done daily , lifelong.

In the next part we will discuss a fascinating karma called Achamanam which is spiritual and profoundly scientific.

14 comments:

Unknown said...

Hello,
An interesting analysis indeed. May be I missed something. There should be a "Sankalpam" between "Achamanam" and "gayathri", isn't it so?

Venkatasubramanian said...

Namaste Sri Narayanan
Thanks for the comments
Sandhya is a sequence covering many Kriyas like Achamanam,
Suklam....,
Pranayamam,
sankalpam,
marjanam,
prasanam,
again achamanam,
punar marjanam,
Arghyam,
navagraha and kesavadi tarpanam, again achamanam,
suklam..,
pranayamam,
sankalpam,
rishi devata chandas for Pranayama mantra,
Ten pranayamam,
Gayatri Avahanam,
Gayatri Dhyanam,
GAYATRI JAPAM,
Pranayamam,
Gayatri Upastanam,
aditya upastanam,
dig devata vandanam,
abhivadaye
tri murthi vandanam,
yamaya..,
apasarpa,
ritam satyam,
suryanarana vandanam,
abhivadaye
kayena vacha..,
achamanam, arpanam ,
om tat sat..., etc

I have touched upon the most important ones which have hidden benefits.
I would be doubly happy if you spread the word so that every brahmin boy rediscovers his ancient glory and the era of truth once again will get established.
Hare Krishna
Venkat

Unknown said...

sandyavandanam is also to be done by kshatriya and vaiyas i think excption only to sudras please clarify and propagte unite many religious peoples togather
thanks and regards
mjs

Anand said...

Hello,
An excellent listing of all important sandhya kriyas. Nowhere in the web it is very clearly ecplained with all significance,meaning etc.

Anonymous said...

I bow to the divinity in all of you. Please find the following links On Sandhyavandanam : Amazing explanations.

Links :

Talk 1/10
http://www.mediafire.com/?fnv7l0f1tnt

Talk 2/10
http://www.mediafire.com/?d5wdeznyyte

Talk 3/10
http://www.mediafire.com/?6mldmkxnopa

Talk 4/10
http://www.mediafire.com/?emtyev2mx79

Talk 5/10
http://www.mediafire.com/?4j3zndmbwuh

Part 6/10
http://www.mediafire.com/?c12wwcz2pgv

Part 7/10
http://www.mediafire.com/?1exdjwxzbzd

Part 8/10
http://www.mediafire.com/?fdzzgn3lszy

Part 9/10
http://www.mediafire.com/?8mhmw9vockv

Part 10/10
http://www.mediafire.com/?0ljvmkymndn

Hope you enjoy them.

Surya said...

Hi Anand , must listen and excellent links provided by you , thanks for providing the above links , btw can you tell me the name of the person who is discoursing in the audio files provided by you and what is the source of the links ? can i get more discourses of the same person ?

Thanks.

Unknown said...

Thanks Venkat for this wonderful blog on Sandhyavandanam.
In response to Surya's question,
the discourses are by HH Swami Paramarthananda, a disciple of Swami Dayananda Saraswati. You can get the CD's from Sastra Prakasika Trust - you can email them at sastraprakasika@gmail.com or call them at Chennai - 044-2847-0311. Swamiji's website is http://www.vedantavidyarthisangha.org/ where you can find other talks as well.
Thanks, Ram.

Unknown said...

Hello Venkat -
Could you please put the link to this book as well in your blog? The book is called "The Sandhyavandanam of Rig, Yajus and Sama Vedins" by BV Kameswara Aiyar. The book was written in 1898 and was digitized by Google. This books gives the meaning of the mantras chanted during Sandhyavandanam. The link to the book is
http://books.google.com/ebooks/reader?id=xhWsqfYpvsYC&dq=the+sandyavandanam+of+rig+yajus+and+sama&printsec=frontcover&output=reader

If anyone wants to download the book to their local drive, they can go to http://books.google.com and then search for this book and download it (and print it on their local printer if they wish)

Thanks, Ram.

RaviShankarKota said...

I am grateful to you sir.Thanks a lot.
I got upanayana last month in rig veda.
I am trying to get a guru who will teach me sandhyavandanam.
Please bless me to have sincerity in doing the sandhyavandanam with diligence.
seeking your blessings humbly...

RaviShankarKota said...

Thanks a lot sir.Your articles are excellent.

shyam said...

Hey I am practising this snadhya bandanam in new concept for the benifit of the "new generation". combining all the aspects of mantras and actions without physical presense of water and iam finding it as benificial as it was with water.

what I realised that we must come with a system which can be followed with ease by every one ,everyday,everywhere and at the every stage of their life without missing it for any reason.
what Iam doing now a day's :
1.fix your time
2.wash your hands and mouth if not wearing shocks wash your feet also.
3.choose a place to sit
4.stand ...to be continued for future article may be contacted on mishrarsm09@gmail.com

Unknown said...

Hari ohm Anand. I have just read this site and also your links posted via ur mail. None of them is opening ? It says
invalid. Can u explain. Shivakumar

Unknown said...

hello Mjs

Sandyavandanam is to be performed by Brahimns, Kshatriyas, vysyas as per hindu scriptures. If 3 generations of these people do not do then they would be called a Barhamana Bandu,Kshatriya bandu, Vysya Bandu respectively. Hope it clarifies some of your clarifications

Keshavaprasad B S said...

To mention in other words what this article says, the right time to do the morning sandyavandanam is between dawn and sunrise and the right time to do the evening sandyavandanam is between sunset and dusk. That is the duration during which one can see sunlight in the sky, but not the sun. These timings vary based on the season as well as the place. Here is an app that helps you find these timings precisely for any date and at any location on earth:Sunrise Sunset Calculator

It also provides alarms for these timings.