Sandhyavandanam -9

After the topic of Gayatri japa now we have come to “aditya upasthanam”. Upasthanam means worship or vandanam. Aditya Upasthanam means Aditya vandanam. Even though the worship is directed at Aditya, sun-god, he is not seen as a particular devata but parameshwara himself. As we saw in tattva bhoda aditya devata is a devata of “chakshuh”. He is seen as one of the many devatas and one of the aspects of Parameshwara. Here we are not worshipping Aditya as Parameshwara Hamsah but as Parameshwara Himself. Here Parameshwara is called Sandhya Devi and so these mantras can also be called as Sandhyo upasthanam or worship of Sandhya Devi. We have three different mantras for morning, noon, and evening. We have already seen the morning mantras and we were seeing the madhyanmika mantras in the last class.

            In these mantras a beautiful imagery is given. The sun rays are compared to ropes and tied to surya deva when HE is within the ocean. The sun-god is lifted out of the ocean by way of these ropes for drushe vishvaaya, so that he can be seen by everyone. So everyone can have the darshan of pratyaksha devata. Up to now we have seen and now we will go further.

            All these are madhyanmika mantra. Chitram devaanam-udagaadaneekam, chakshur-mitrasya varunasya-agnehe. The sun entered the manifold armies of the devas. This refers to the story of Keno Upanishad where there was a fight between devas and asuras. The Lord supported the devas not in a visible manner but invisibly by giving them strength. The subsequent victory does not belong to the devas but to the Lord only. There it is Brahman or Yaksham but here Brahman is seen in the form of Suryah. Therefore Surya udagaath meaning Sun entered in an invisible manner. Aneekam means army, chitram means nanavidam (the army with many varieties like elephant army, horse army etc). What kind of Parameshwara? Here HIS glories are described. Mitrasya varunasya agnehe chakshur; all these are adjectives to Surya. HE is the eye, chakshur, of all devatas. He is prakashah which can be taken in the relative sense or in the absolute Vedantic sense. In the relative sense Sun is the chakshuh because we are able to see everything. The sun is considered as the eye of all the people. In Vedanta chakshuh is chaitanya rupah prakashah. Chakshusha Chakshuh. Of whom? Mitrasya, varunasya, and agne, in short all the devatas. All these are upalakshanam (indicative) we have to take all devatas, all manushyas, all pashus. The sun is the light of all of them.

            Then soorya dyaavaa-pruthivee antarikshagm aa-apraa, means the sun-god pervades all the three lokas. Relative meaning is sunlight pervades the entire creation as HE is the illuminator. Vedantically, surya devata being the brahma chaitanyam enlivens the creation as HE is all pervading. The three lokas are dyaavaa (the heavens, the upper loka), pruthivee (earth and lower lokas), and antarikshagm (the intermediary lokas). In other words pruthivee is bhoor loka, antarikshagam is bhuvah loka and dyaavaa is suvar loka. And aapraa, all the three lokas the sun pervades. What kind of surya HE is? Jagatas-tasthushascha aatma, Surya is the very athma, the inner self, the very essence of all the moving and non-moving ones. From here it is clear that Surya has not just seen as a devata as HE is mentioned here as the athma of the whole universe. So Surya is satyam, jnanam, anantham Brahman. Having praised Surya bhagawan the devotee is going to ask for boons. Tat-chakshur-devahitam sharadash-shatam; let us see the sun-god for hundred years. This looks like a praise of Sun but actually you are asking for a long life. One of the fundamental urges of a living being is to live an eternal life. Can sun-god fulfill this desire? Relatively he can give hundred years for the body but philosophically the Sun-god can give me immortality. Both the prayers are embedded here; HE can give me hundred years for the anathema during which time I gain the jnanam of Athma and be liberated. Therefore give me hundred years of life and give me immortality by gaining self-knowledge. Here chakshuh means sun-god and sharadash-shatam means hundred years. The sun-god is devahitam, one who does good things to all devas. Here we should remember the Keno Upanishad story and infer that sun-god is the one who gave victories to the devas. Here Devas also include noble people like the devas for whom Sun-God gives victories. And purastaat-uchcharat, that sun-god who daily rises in the Eastern direction. There is a uniqueness here, so far the mantra showed Surya devata as parameshwara and it reverses here to show Surya has just a devata. The saguna-nirguna switch over is done seamlessly in our scriptures. Even in Gita when Krishna tells Arjuna that you are my friend, HE is talking of himself as Devaki Putrah. At times he says; maya dhamitam sarvam jagat avyakta murthina then in those places HE is not Devika’s son but param Brahman. And shukram means shudham. Surya is always Shudham as fire is always shudham. There is no impurity in fire in fact fire purifies everything else. Sun as a ball of fire is nitya shudhah and Surya as chaitanya swarupa is nitya shudhah. To such a great surya let me be alive to see him for a hundred years is the prayer of the devotee. Is it enough? No we want more. Jeevama Sharadash-shatam, nandaama sharadash-shatam, modaama sharadash-shatam, bhavaama sharadash-shatam, shrunavaama sharadash-shatam, prabravaama sharadash-shatam, ajeetaassyaama sharadash-shatam. The seeker wants all this for hundred years. Let us all live for hundred years; Jeevaama includes him, his wife, and his family etc. There is no point in me alone living hundred years, I must also have my family to enjoy with me. But if those hundred years are miserable then what is the use? Therefore I don’t wish for a dragging miserable hundred years that tortures me and others around but I should have nandaama. So let us enjoy life for a hundred years, and modaama. Let us revel for hundred years. Both nandaama and modaama have the same meaning and we can only make a subtle difference. Nandaama may be taken as reveling with things around and modaama as reveling within oneself. I should be happy with others in the family and I should be happy with myself also. Then bhavaama Sharadash-shatam; let us become recipients of your blessings, your grace. May we be the patram, the vessel, for your grace. Shrunavaaama sharadash-shatam; may we hear for hundred years. May we have good ears for hundred years and when the ears are working may we hear badram. In Tamil badram means “be careful” while in Sanskrit it means “mangalam”. The idea is that anything mangalam must be carefully protected. Hearing mangalam alone is not sufficient and so prabravaama. Let us utter only badram (mangalam). Only noble words, proper words may I hear. Even by chance if abadram (inauspicious) words fall on our ears may you filter the bad news and give me only the good. For how long? Hundred years. What do we do? If a person has virtues and vices we only revel in talking about the vices. It should be the other way. A Vaidika should never talk about other person’s weaknesses. And finally ajeetaassyaama sharadash-shatam, let us be ever victorious in life. Let us never be defeated in life. Ajeeta means undefeated which means ever victorious. And what is the greatest victory in life? It is moksha. For a Vedantic student money, fame, and people is not the greatest victory but attainment of moksha. Therefore we can take this as a moksha prayer also. This Sandhyavandanam is not just for a Vedantic seeker it is also for a student who faces exams in April. For him victory is passing the exams. Then ya udagaan-mahatornavaad-vibhraajamaanas-sarirasya madhyaat, sa maa vrushabhaha lohitaakshaha sooryo vipashchin-manasaa punaatu. Here the seeker looks at the sun through the fingers and says this. Sahah sooryah manasaa punaatu, may the sun-god purify me through HIS mere will. Because if I have to attain moksha or dharma or anything noble I must be first deserving that. And I will deserve only when I am pure. Even though Bhagawan is ready to give moksha we should be ready and be fit for that. Therefore this is a prayer for purification. And when we have to purify ourselves we have to do a lot of karmas. But when Bhagawan wants to purify us then no time is taken. For the Lord who creates the world by a mere Sankalpah this is not a big deal. As Thyagaraja sings: Lord is supporting me so difficult when you are supporting the entire world. It is not difficult at all. And what kind of Bhagawan? His descriptions are given. Ya mahatornavaad, sarirasya madhyaat udagaan, which sun-god who rises from the middle of the waters of the vast ocean. Here the sun is not seen as Brahman but as a deva in the surya mandalam. And how does he rise? Vibhraajamaanah, HE rises from the waters with effulgence. Then vrushabhaha, shresttah. The greatest Lord. Then lohitaakshaha, the Lord with reddish eyes. When the sun rises he has got that reddish colour. And vipashchin means sarvag jnahah, omniscient. To such a great Lord – the lord who is rising in the ocean, who is effulgent, who has red eyes, who knows everything etc – may HE purify me by HIS mere sankalpah. With this mandhyanmika mantras are over. It is interesting to note how these mantras help both the spiritual seeker and also the material seeker. So bhukti and mukti, both are involved. And that is the glory of Sandhyavandanam (SV). Here is Chitta shuddi is asked for and there is no better purifying mantras than SV.

            Now comes sayam sandhya upasthanam. Imam mae varuna shrudhee havam-adyaa cha mrudaya tvaam-avasyur-aachake. Tatvaa yaami brahmanaa vandamaanaha ahedamaano varuna iha bodhi urushagm-sa-maa-na-aayuh-pramosheehi. Yat-chiddhi te visho yathaa pradeva varuna vratam mineemasi dyavi-dyavi. Yat kinchedam varuna devyai jane-abhidroham manushyaash-charaamasi, achittee yattava dharma yuyopima maa nas-tasmaad-enaso deva reerishaha. Kitavaaso yad-riripur-na deevi yadvaa ghaa satyam-uta-yanna-vidma sarvaataa vishya shithireva deva-athaa te syaama varuna priyaasaha. Here also Parameshwara alone or Narayana alone is worshipped. There is no difference and in Vedantic language maya sahitam brahma. In the morning time the lord was invoked through the sun because the sun is available. In the evening time when the sun is setting the very same Lord is invoked in Varuna devata. Not only that the evening sandhya is done facing the western direction and for this direction the devata is Varuna. Here also Varuna has two aspects, one is the deity presiding over the tongue. The sun is the presiding deity of the eyes and Varuna for the tongue. But here we are invoking Varuna not just as a devata but samastti parameshwara himself. Now let us look at the meaning.

            Hey Varuna imam havam shrudhee, may you listen to this glorification uttered by me. Adyaa cha mrudaya, make me happy now itself. I have come from the office with a lot of stress and so give me instant peace of mind. Then avasyur-tvaam aachake, with a desire to protect me I am praying to you. Then Tatvaa brahmanaa vandamaanaha yaami, for that sake I approach you by praising through this mantra. For self-protection I am greeting and worshipping you through prayers. Then yajamaano havirbhihi tad aashaaste, evan a ritualist seeks that alone through oblations. Just as a ritualist does yagna using ahuti and fire I am doing this worship also. They are also seeking protection as I am now seeking without doing yagna. Urushagam-sa ahedamaano varuna iha bodhi, O Lord who is glorified by all and without getting angry with me may you consider my request. Why such an attitude? Because we do many akramams. For the mistakes I commit YOU may be angry and so even before I approach YOU may say: Get lost, get out of my sight. But out of compassion and without getting angry please listen to me, and help me out. Urshagam means one who is praised by all, ahedamaano is without getting angry and iha bodhi is may you consider. Consider my request here and now; such is the liberty taken by the devotee! That’s no problem for the Lord for if there are 25 applications HE has 25 heads to read and sanction. More we shall see in the next class. Hari Om.