Sandhyavandanam -10

We are seeing the mantras chanted in the evening imam mae varuna shrudhee havam-adyaa cha mrudaya upto ahedamaano varuna iha bodhi we saw in the last class. Urushagam-sa, is the one who is glorified and the devotee asks maa-na-aayuh-pramosheehi. O lord may you not take away our lives. May we not have apa mrutyu. May we not have unnatural deaths. Hey Varuna, the yat varuna vratam dyavi-dyavi preemasi. Here the devotee is listing the mistakes he has committed. Not only in the past but he is continuing to commit. First mistake is we have violated or omitted our daily duties in the form of your prayers. Therefore nitya-karma akaranam. The non-performance of our daily duties I have regularly done. Dyavi-dyavi means dinay-dinay, daily. Pramineemasi, we have destroyed by non-performance. What, varuna vratam. When we take the sacred thread we are taking a vow that we will do our daily duties. Shrouthamatha vihita sadachara nitya karma anusttanam yogyatha sidhyartham. I am taking the sacred thread for nitya karma anusttanam. I taken this vow for daily performance and when I don’t do then it pramineemasi. This is one mistake I have done. Yata vishayah, like the ignorant people, lowly people, ajnanah. When ignorant people violate it is understandable but I am violating knowingly which is a mistake. Chiddi is an expletive without any specific meaning. Then the second mistake I am doing is yat kichedam abhidroham charaamasi. I am doing varieties of harm, himsa to others. I have done droham (Tamil meaning also) to many people. I am doing himsa to devyai jane, devyai refers to devatas and jane refers to manushyas. Himsa to devas in the form of not doing what is to be done to him and droham to others by all kinds of himsa. Hurting them physically, hurting them orally, hurting them mentally through thoughts; all of them we have done. The devotee wants an excuse by saying that we are after all human, ordinary mortals. Whenever a person commits a mistake he explains it away by saying that he is only an ordinary mortal. We are bound to commit some mistakes. Then the third mistake. Yat tava dharma yuyopima, we have violated the dharmic life which is prescribed by you. Yuyopima, we have destroyed by not following dharma and commiting adharma. Thus are the three mistakes: we have not done our duties, we have harmed other people, and we are not following the life prescribed by you through the Vedas. We don’t follow the Vaidika dharma at all. So whatever paapams will come to us, you please remove. It is strange; we commit all the mistakes but yet the God should remove. Achittee means we are avivekees, we are not that learned, we are not that intelligent, that discriminating and therefore we have committed all these mistakes. So varuna, here is not a devata but Parameshwara, tasmaad enaso ma reerishahah. May YOU not harm us due to those sins committed by us. Reerishaha means please don’t harm us, don’t give us obstacles. Then the devotee gives another list of paapams; please don’t harm me from those also. Kitavaaso yad-riripur-na deevi yadvaa ghaa satyam-uta-yanna-vidma sarvaataa vishya shithireva deva-athaa te syaama varuna priyaasaha. O Lord, they are many paapas and doshas in me. Shithireva eva vishya, you remove them by making them small. So you pound them and remove. There are boulders of paapam in me, just like they keep a dynamite to blast YOU also remove them. Grind all my paapams and destroy them. Even with big kidney stones, they are first made small and then evacuated. The first paapa is kitavaaso yad-riripur. One set of paapams are superimposed on me by wicked people. These sins are not in me but I am driven to it by gross and wicked people. Kitavaasa means wicked people, riripur means dosha aropanam kruthavanthah. They heap sins on me as it is done in the gambling place, deevi na. Wherever there is gambling each one will get angry, heated up then each one will throw charges on others. Similarly people have thrown charges on me as it is done in gambling places. Then the second dosha is yadvaa satyam, there are real doshas in me. They may be some defects that really belong to me. Then the third set is uta-yanna-vidma. There are defects that are not known to me. But I know these defects are in me. So known real defects, unknown real defects and unreal charges defects. These are the three defects in me. So all these sins in me YOU should make them into pieces, shithireva and flush them out. Once you have done your job properly then I will become pure. And once I have become pure by YOUR proper efforts then YOU can love me. Now YOU are not able to love me because I have defects. So YOU should purify me and then love me. So athaa te priyaasa syaama. Thereafter let us become dear to YOU. Now you cannot have any complaints for I am pure! If I have some more impurities then it means YOU have not done your job properly. Work overtime, take OT if you want. You work, you purify and then you love me. Hey Varuna, will you do all this? With this the adityo upasthanam in the evening time is also over. With this the seventh stage is over.

            Now we will go the eighth stage which is samashti abhivaadanam. Which is worshipping Sandhya Devi in all her aspects. Here the mantras are simple: sandhyaayai namaha, saavitrya namaha, gaayatryai namah, sarasvatyai namaha. In the first sandhyaayi namaha all the three aspects are included. Sandhya Devi is Parameshwari and who is maya sahitam Brahman. First we worship the trimurthis and then each trimurthi is independently worshipped. As we have seen earlier Sandhya Devi herself is Gayatri in the morning, Savitri in the noon and Saraswati in the evening. Not only are YOU in these three forms but sarvaabhyo devataabhya namaha. You alone are in all the presiding deities. That is janadya devata, karmedriya devata, a;; presiding deities. Then the devotee prays kaamo-akaarsheen-manyur-akaarsheet namo namaha. I have not done any mistake but it is the kama in me which has made me do so many akramams. All corruptions are because of greed, desire and all kinds of himsa, hurting others, is because of krodha. So 50% due to desire and 50% from anger is what makes one commit sins. O Lord! Because of kama and krodha all these things have happened. So may YOU remove my kama, krodha. These alone is chanted in Shravani Pournami Avaniavattam. That day they chant this 1008 times or 108 or 32 and this alone is repeated. Then abhivaadaya is chanted and prostration is done. This is samashti abhivaadanam.

            Now we will go to the nineth stage, dig-devataa-vandanam. Namaskarams to various deities. First it is namaskarams to all directions – Eastern, western and even akaasha itself is worshipped. Praachyai dishe namah (East), dakshinaayai dishe namaha (South), prateecgyai dishe namaha (West), udeechayai dishe namaha (North). Then oordhvaaya namaha (the Lord who is above space), adharaaya namaha (Lord who is below space), antariskshaaya namaha (who is the form of bhoor loka, bhur loka, suvar loka), bhoomyai namaha (who is the form of earth), brahmane namaha (who is in the form of Brahma), vishnave namaha (one who is in the form of Vishnu), mrityave namaha (who is in the form of death). After that Yamaya namaha. We have a special prayer for yama for he is special and cannot be mentioned casually.

The next item is yama vandanam. Yamaaya dharma-raajaya mrutyave cha-antakaaya cha, vaivasvataaya kaalaaya sarvabhoota-kshayaaya cha. Audumbaraaya dadhnaaya neelaaya parameshthine, vrukodaraaya chitraaya chitraguptaaya vai namaha. Here Chitragupta means yama only even though etyomological he is yama’s accountant. For Yama there is just no simple namaha but namo namaha. Prostrations upon prostrations. What kind of Yama? He is qualified here. He is dharmaraajaya, who does everything according to dharma. That means he does not kill people according to his whim and fancy, he does not abuse his position. Whatever he does is according to karma and prarabdam of people. He is karma phalla datta. Then he is mrutyave cha, he destroys. Then antakaaya che, who puts an end to everything. Then Vaivasvataaye, he is the son of Vaivasvan, surya putrayah. Then kaalaayah, who is the very time principle. Sarvabhoota-kshayaaya, one who makes every living being decay and die. Yamaraja is one who gives old age to everyone. We think Yama comes only at the end but he is right through. At the end of the class you are older by one hour which is the job of yama. Then audumbaraaya, HE is strong because yama conquers even the strongest one. Then dadhnaaya, this is another name for yama dharmaraja and neelaaya, who is dark in colour. Whatever frighten us we give them dark colour! Parameshthine, who is the most adorable one. Vrukodaraaya, one who is never satiated by any amount of eating. He is a glutton. He swallows so many people and yet he is busy eating. Chitraaya, who has manifold forms. Anything that destroys like earthquake, cyclone, disease or whether it is the local lorry; all are yama swarupam. Chitraguptaaya is one who keeps peoples’ karmas secrets by various methods. Even our deaths is kept as top secret. By many methods yama keeps the pararabdhas of jivas secret. We don’t know when we will get a disease and when we will die. To such a chitraguptaa yama my namaskarams. Repeated for emphasis, chitraguptaaya vai nama on namah iti.    

The next one is Ishwara vandanam. To be precise uma maheshwara vandanam, ardha nareeshwara vandanam. Rutam satyam param brahma purusham krushna-pingalam oordhvaretam viroopaaksham vishvaroopaaya vai namo namaha vishvaroopaaya vai nama on nama iti. Prostrations to the Lord Parameshwara who is the form of virat. Vsihwaroopam like Krishna, Shiva too has vishwaroopam that we saw in Rudram. And who is HE? Rutam satyam, this is a vedic mantra occurring in purusha suktam and maha narayana Upanishad. This meaning I am giving according to Vidyaranya bhashyam. Rutam satyam means paramarthikam satyam, absolute reality. And Param Brahman, who is the supreme Brahman. These two are nirguna swarupam. Then comes saguna part; purusham krushna-pingalam. Who is all-pervading Lord who is krushna (here it means dark coloured) pingalam (fair coloured). The right side is Shiva who is dark in colour and left side is Parvathi who is fair in colour. So krushna-pingalam means uma maheshwaram, ardha nareeshwaram. Then oordhavaretam, one who is nitya brahmacharinam. Viroopaksham, one who has three eyes. To such a lord my vandanam.

Next is sooryanaaraayana vandanam. Namaha savitre jagad-eka chakshushe jagatprasooti-sthiti-naashahetave. Salutations to Savitre, the sun-god. Saluatations to Suryanarayana not as ordinary devata but Parameshwara Himself. Who is jagat eka chakushehe, who is the eye of the world. That is all-illuminator of the world. jagatprasooti-sthiti-naashahetave, one who is sooti, sthiti, laya karanam of the world. He is cause of creation, preservation and dissolution of the world. Trayeemayaaya, one who is in the form of three Vedas. The Vedas belong to the Lord and they are non-different from the lord. Trigunaatmadhaarine, one who has got three gunas through maya. When HE has three gunas HE appears in three forms; through rajo guna HE becomes Brahma, through sattva guna HE becomes Vishnu and through tamo guna HE becomes Shiva. So he is virinchi (Brahma) naaraayana shankaraatamane. So to that Suryanarayana who is the three gunas I prostrate.  

Now it is Vishnu vandanam. Dhyeyah sadaa savitru mandala madhyavartee naaraayanaha sarasijaasana sannivishtaha keyooravaan makarakundalavaan kireetee-haaree hiranmaya-vapuhu dhruta shakha charaha. Narayana sada dhyeya, Lord Narayana must always be meditated upon. And what kind of Lord is HE? Savitru mandala madhyavartee, One who remains in the orb or disc of the sun. Sarasijaasana sannivishtaha, one who is seated on a lotus. Keyooravaan, one who has got bracelets and makarakundavaan, one who wears ear-rings in the form of a crocodile. Then kireetee, who wears a crown, haaree who wears a haaram, necklace. Hiranmaya vapuhu, who has got a golden complexion. Dhruta shakha chakraha, who wields a shakha and chakra.

The next item is prarthana. Shanka chakria gadaa-paane dvaarakaa-nilayaachyuta govinda punadareekaaska raksha maam sharanaagatam. O Lord Vishnu, may you protect me who has surrendered unto you. Then adjectives to Vishnu; shanka chakra gadaa-paane. One who has got shankam, chakram and gada in HIS hands. And who resides in Dvaaraka, dvaaraka-nilayam. And Achyuta, who never falls. Meaning who is ever purnah. Falling means to be born a jiva. So Vishnu is never born as a jiva. Pundareekaaksha, one who has got eyes like lotus petals. Raksha maam sharanaagatam, to such a lord I surrender.

Next is Ishwara Mahima. What is HIS glory? Aakaashaat patitam toyam yathaa gachchati saagaram sarvadeva namaskaaraha keshavam pratigachchati shree keshavam pratigachchatyom nama iti. So, Lord you are the total, samashti. So sarvadeva namaskara keshavam pratigachati. Prostrations to any deity will reach Keshava, Vishnu. Here Keshava is samashti ishwarah. Maya Sahitam Brahma. All the devatas are individual while Kesava is total. So any individual namaskara will only go to the total. Like what? A beautiful imagery is given. Aakaashaat patitam toyam yathaa gachchati saagara. Waters that fall anywhere in the form of rain will reach the ocean. So all the namaskaras go to you, O lord. Thereafter abhivaadeya is said and namaskara is done. With this the dig-devatahi- vandanams are over.

The last and tenth item is samarpanam. Samarpanam means whatever karma we do, we must offer it to the lord. Kaayena vaacha manas-endriyairvaa buddhyaa-aatmanaa vaa prakruteh svabhaavaat karomi yadyat sakalam parasmai naaraayanaayeti samarpayaami. So yad karomi sakalam narayanaye, whatever I am doing is for Lord Narayana. Thus thinking I offer this, Sandhyavandanam karma, also unto the HIM. What kind of karma? Any karma done through any means; kaayena (through the body), vaacha (through the organ of speech) manasa (through the mind), indriyaivaa (through the ten sense-organs), budhyaatmana (with the intellect). The karma done through natural instincts, prakruteh svabhavaat. Yadyat karomi, whatever I do I offer all of them unto you. Normally some water is taken and it is offered. So this also becomes a means for chitta-shudhi. Afterwards achemanam is done and with that sandhyavandanam gets over.

            Then adyaa no deva savitaha prajaa vatsaaveehi saubhagam paraa dushvapniyagm-suva vishvaani deva savitaha duritaani paraasuva yad bhadram tanma aasuva. This is optional.  Then achenaman and Sandhyavandanam gets over. Therefore we find it is one of the most comprehensive daily prayers that includes all kinds of sadhana and is useful for all kinds of people. Be it materialistic people or spiritual seekers. It is one of the best prayers. With this I conclude. 

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.  

Sandhyavandanam -8

In the last class we had seen Gayatri Japa which is the most important part of Uttarangam. You can chant Gayatri as many times as possible before it is concluded with “Gayatri Upasthanam”. After worship the gayatri devi is sent back to her place. Now we go the seventh stage, “Aditya Upasthanam” which means aditya vandanam.

            The word aditya literally means sun-god but in this context “Ishwara”. We are not worshipping a devata but Ishwara or Sandhya Devi. Remember throughout Sandhyavandanam God is referred as Sandhya Devi. God defined as maya sahitam Brahman, jagat karanam brahma, jagat sthiti-shruti-laya karanam brahma, parameshwarah. So aditya vandanam means Sandhya vandanam or worship of Sandhya devi. Here the Sandhya devi is invoked in aditya mandalam (solar disc).  For this vandanam we take important Vedic mantras. Three different mantras are taken from three different Sandhyavandanams in the day – prathas sandhya one mantra, mandhyanam one mantra and sayam sandhya another. These also vary from veda to veda; rig will be different from yajur and yajur different from sama veda. As I had earlier said I am taking only yajur veda mantras in these talks.

            Let me take the prathas sandhya mantra:

Om mitrasya charshaneedhritaha shrava devasya-sannasim, satyam chitrashravastamam. Mirto janaan yaatayati prajaanan, mitro daadhaara pruthiveem-uta dyaam, mitrah krushteer-animishaa-abhichashte satyaaya havyam dhritava-dvidhema. Pra sa mitra marto astu prayasvaan, yasta aditya shikshati vratena, na hanyate na jeeyate tvoto nainam-gm ho ashnoti-anti-to na dooraat.

Generally in tradition all these mantras are learnt during upanayanam itself. The young boys cannot pronounce these words at that age. He is not capable to learn in swaras also. Later when veda adhyanam is done the first thing they learn to chant is Sandhyavandanam mantras so that he chant without mistakes and in swaras also.

               Now we will go to the meaning of this mantra. Devasya mitrasya shrava smaramah. We meditate on the glory of Ishwara. In short it is the vibhuti yoga of Gita tenth chapter. How the sun is the glory of the lord, the moon, the waters, the trees…. In fact the whole creation is Ishwara’s mahima and glory including our own body and mind, our intellects etc. Our capacity to glorify the Lord itself is the glory of the Lord. Mitrasya means sun god but in this context it refers to Ishwarah, the Sandhya Devi. The word shravah means kritihi, glory, mahima. And we have to supply the verb “smaramah”. What kind of God is HE? Charshaneedhritaha. The sustainer of all beings (charshanee literally means manusha, human beings but it includes all living beings). Therefore I meditate on that Parameshwara who is the sustainer of all beings. What kind of glory does HE enjoy? Sannasim means adorable. The other people have got small little glories, they are not worth thinking about at all. Their glories are small and that small glory also belongs to Parameshwara only. The other glories are not worth singing about! But Satyam shravaha sannasim, the glory of the Lord is Satyam. It is a real glory, original glory, natural glory, un-borrowed glory. While manushya shravaha is mitya glory, it is mitya abhimanam alone. Here one should remember the Keno Upanishad tales. Agni thought that burning glory belongs to him, later he discovered it was mitya abhimanam. Vayu thought that lifting glory belongs to him, later he discovered it was mitya. Therefore our glories are mitya glories whereas Ishwara shravaha is satyam. There is another angle we can look at “Satyam” as “abadyam” (the glory that does not go away). All our glories are transient; whether it is walking glory or singing glory. Hearing glory goes away with age, if you are a singer who should stop after 60 or 70 otherwise you will lose all your former glories. Because once upon a time wonderful throat and after that we should only sing in whispers for the Lord alone is patient and tolerant! What I am saying is Ishwara’s glories are permanent while any other jiva’s glory in creation is only temporary. HIS glory is greatest and manifold. And chitram, meaning varieties. Any Science you study they are only talking about the glories of the Lord only. That is why I say, read National Geographic Book and you find God’s glory everywhere; under the ocean, in the forest, into the brain. Therefore varieties and greatest glories belong to the Lord only. So that Lord with all these glories I meditate. Prajaanan janaan mitro yaatayati, as a witness the Lord activates all beings. This can be seen in the light of Vedanta where witness means “without involvement”. Without raga, dvesha. It is applicable to the sun also, applicable to the Lord also. Sun supports both the good and bad actions in a day just being a witness, it does not get involved in the transactions of the day. Supports means it illuminates the good actions and also the bad actions. Once the sun subsides our activities come to a halt and we go to sleep. So here prajaanan means sakshi rupena. Yaatayati means activate, enlivens. Janaan represents all beings not only manushya including pashu, pakshi etc. mitra daadhaara pruthiveem-uta dyaam. From here one must remember that the word mitra here means sun-god but in the context Ishwara. The Lord sustains the earth and the heaven. Because HE is upadana karanam, HE is the nimitha karanam, HE is the karma Adyakshah, HE is the karmaphalla datta. HE is the darma rakshakah, …in this way Bhagawan sustains the whole world. Here Prithivi means bhu loka, dhyam means swarga loka. And Daadharaa means sustains. Here the words earth and heaven indicate all the lokas. Bhagawan sustains the world and Bhagawan sustains the people of the world (janaan). Then mitrah krushteer-animishaa-abhichashte, the Lord witnesses all the beings without a break. Means the Lord is watching our good and bad actions all the time. We can cover up our actions from people. You can deceive your parents, office people, police or even Guru but you cannot deceive God. The Lord witnesses all our actions and accordingly gives us phallams. Here Krushteer means praja, active people. And animishaa means without winking, watching without a break. So when a traffic policeman takes a tea-break people use even that occasion to break all the rules. But the God watches us all the time without taking tea-breaks! And Abhichaste, as sakshi. The significance is HE observes everyone without reaction (without raga-dvesha, impartially). Then satyaaya havyam dhritava-dvidhema, let us offer oblations to that Lord with ghee. Which means after Sandhyavandana karma he wants to do nitya-nimitta karma like owpasanam, agnihotram, etc.  Let us do those rituals and offer worship to the Lord. Here the word satyaya refers to Ishwarayah. Gritavat havyam means oblations using ghee. Then yasta aditya vratena shikshati, O lord Sun or O lord Parameshwara! The devotees offer oblations from their nitya-nimitta karmas, through their daily duties. Here vrattam means those nitya-nimitta karmas. Any vrattam is called vrattam for it should not be broken. Shikshati means fire ritual as it was common in those days. In our times the only fire ritual is cooking, some others have some other fire ritual I don’t want to talk about. So we must interpret to mean by doing puja or our regular duties. And what will happen to those devotees? mitra marto astu prayasvaan, these are all vedic words and we cannot go by dictionary meanings. We have to go only by commentaries. O lord sun, that devotee attains all prosperities. That devotee who offers oblations to all nitya-nimitta karmas, he attains all prosperities. Prayasvaan means annadi samppati means plenty of food, plenty of clothing, plenty of houses like summer-houses, winter houses etc. Then tvoto na hanyate na jeeyate, Protect by YOU the devotee is never harmed, he is never defeated in life. So these mantras serve like kavachams. Tvoto is protected by you, na hanyate, protections from even killing (it includes harassment from people, harassment from government, harassment by diseases; all these protections this devotee will enjoy). Na jeeyata, he is not won over by any other person. He is never defeated in life.   enam-gm ho ashnoti-anti-to na dooraat. Paapam does not affect him from near-by or far-away. Enam means devotee, gam aho means paapamm, anti-to means near-by, dooraat means faraway. Na Ashnoti, does not affect him. Because of his Ishwara arpanam which we saw in Karma Yoga. If any activity is done with Ishwara-smarana then even if you commit a mistake, you will be saved by surrendering to the Lord; by surrendering your ahankara is less. Then those paapams will not affect us. All these are indicated in these mantras. Here the Lord is praised and protection is sought. So this is the pratha upasthana mantra.

            Now we will see madhyanmika upasthana mantra. Aa satyena rajas vartamaano niveshayann-amrutham martyan-cha, hiranyayena savitaa rathenaa devo yaati bhuvanaa vipashyan. Udvayam tamasaspari pashyanto jyotir-uttaram, devam devatraa sooryam-aganma jyotir-uttamam. Udutyam jaatavedasam devam vahanti ketavaha, drushe vishvaaya sooryam. Chitram devaanam-udagaadaneekamchakshur-mitrasya varunasya-agnehe, aa-apraa dyaavaa-pruthivee antarikshagm soorya aatma jagatas-tasthushashcha, tat-chakshur-devahitam purastaat-shukram-uchcharat pashyema sharadash-shatam jeevema sharadash-shatam nandaama sharadash-shatam modaama sharadash-shatam bhavaama sharadash-shatam shrunavaama sharadash-shatam prabravaama sharadash-shatam ajeetaassyaama sharadash-shatam jyok cha sooryam drushe ya udagaan-mahatornavaad-vibhraajamaanas-sarirasya madhyaat, sa maa vrushabhaha lohitaakshaha sooryo vipashchin-manasaa punaatu.

I chanted the whole thing so at least we will hear it. Now let us see the meaning. Devata Savita ayaati, the devotee is declaring to the world “Lord Sun is coming up above”. O people, don’t take the sun-god for granted. Appreciate and adore HIM. How does HE come? Satyena rajasa, with everlasting effulgence. Satyena means nityam, eternal. The other lamps are fluctuating, they also get extinguished. But the sun-God never gets extinguished. For millions of years the sun has been there; even if it goes dim for a day there will no life on earth. Of course astronomers that one day even the sun will go, that is why sun is upalakshanam. From Vedantic angle, nitya chaitanyanah. Not like vruttik jnanam that comes and goes but it is swarupa jnanam, that chaitanyam. All these mantras can be seen in two lights: one as surya bhagawan and another as parameshwara. And avartamaanah, the sun going round the earth or going round the meru parvatam according to purana. Daily HE comes and goes, so vartamaanah. Then what does HE do? Amrutam-martyan-niveshayann. HE activates all he devas and manushyas. When HE is there we get up and do all our work, when HE goes down we retire to bed. Similarly Parameshwara too activates all beings. Here amrutam means devas and martyan means manushya and niveshayan means activating. But here we must be careful in understanding the word “activating”. Then you will say that good actions are activated by the Lord and so also bad actions of the people. So the Lord is responsible for the actions of good or bad people. Then punyam and paapam will go the Lord therefore we have to add a clause “karma anusarane”. The Lord activates them according to their karma and not as per HIS whim and fancy. And how does HE come? Hiranyayena rathena, HE travels in a golden chariot. When he is travelling what does he do? Bhuvanaa vipashyan. Witnessing all the worlds, witnessing all the people. Look, everywhere there is this emphasis: THAT BHAGAWAN IS WATCHING YOU. Only when someone watches we do the right things. We warn small children saying that if you behave in a certain way the Lord will break your nose and make pickles! This is not a healthy way to teach children for fear can stunt a young mind. You use fear initially but later when the boy or girl grows up you say that the Lord will not cut your nose. You should follow the right path not because the Lord will punish but that is the righteous path and right thing to do. First give fear and later give understanding. Then udvayam pashyanto sooryam-aganma, Looking at the sun-god let us go to the sun-god. Our purpose is constantly remembering and seeing the Lord and our aim is finally merging into the Lord. Vedantic significance is “let us learn about Brahman and then become one with Brahman.” What kind of sun-go is HE? Tamasaspari. That lord who is beyond Tamas. There are many meanings to this word, here we will it to mean ajnanam or maya. The Lord who is beyond maya. Then uttaram-jyotih. And who is the form of noblest consciousness. And what is the greatness of jyoti? It is shudam, nityam, nirgumam, akrutham, abhogtvam etc. This is only a comparative degree so the next time the devotee says: uttamam jyotih. The greatest and best. It is greater than all, uttaram. It is the greatest, uttamam. And devatraa, one who protects all the gods. The lord alone helps the devatas to defeat the asuras; the Lord alone protects. And ketavaha tyam devam sooryam udvahanti, the rays of the sun lifts the sun-god. This is an imaginative thought of early morning rising sun. Here the devotee is imagining each sunray as a rope pulling the sun from the waters. What kind of sun-god is HE? Jaatavedasam. The sun god who is omniscient. Why should the sun be pulled by its rays? Vishvayaa drushe; for the observation by all people. Then chitram devaanam-udagaa etc which we shall see in the next class. Hari Om.

Sandhyavandanam -7

In the second part uttarangam we are now seeing Gayatri japa. We dwelt with Avahanam and Nyasah and now seeing the japa vidhihi. We saw Gayatri is a mantra that is chanted with five stops. Since in the beginning we said nichrut gayatri chandah it should have 23 letters only and not 24. So tat savitur varenyam is chanted not vareni-yam. This nichrut gayatri is used for pranayam, argyam, japa and danam. Up to this we saw in the last class, now we shall proceed.

            Japa is of three types. One is ‘oocha” japa, “manda japa” and thirdly “manasa japa”. Oocha japa is a loud chanting audible to people around. Often it is audible but mostly disturbing to others who are engaged in some other vyavahara. Manda or Upangkshu is chanting by just moving the lips and it is audible only to the meditator only. It is not audible to the people around, say murmur chanting where lip and tongue movements are there. Lastly there is manasa japa where there is no lip, tongue or throat movement. The chanting is only in the mind. Of these which is the best to be adopted? All three can be adopted but there is a gradation. Not only in Gayatri any mantra that is chanted the best is manasa (uttamam), then upangkshu (madhyamam) and finally oochamam. In terms of punyam if loud chanting gives one unit of punya, then murmuring upangkshu has ten, while manasa gives 100 times benefit of the other. Manasa japa is difficult as you cannot be mechanical. Whereas in vachika japa the mouth can keep on chanting while the mind may be busy planning the activities of the day. For some it is only while doing gayatri japa they will ask: who called? What is the message? (all this when they are supposed to be chanting!). While chanting we should not hold on to “yagno pavitam” This is an incidental point but what I saying is it is mechanical when it is loud chanting but if it is mental then you have to involve yourself. Since it is difficult therefore the punyam is more. What is more difficult will give more punya. But if a person cannot do manasa japa then start with oocha japa, gradually come to mandha japa before coming to manasa japa.

During the japa don’t think of the deity – not only with respect to gayatri japa but any japa – the imagination of the deity is before the mantra in the invocation sections. Because if you use imagination the concentration on the chanting would be less. Therefore Devi visualization is before the japa, in the japa the concentration is only on the mantra. Even on the concentration on the mantra can be two folds: it can be “shubda pradana” or it can be “artha pradana”. In the former I don’t think of the meaning but I only visualize the sounds: Om bhoor-bhuva-suvah tat savitur varenyam…”. I only visualize the shubda and that shubda alone is sacred and capable of giving the phalam. In the japa the chanting is shubda pradana only. The meaning can be visualized before the japa or after the end of japa but not during. While in artha pradana I give importance to the meanings and not much to the individual words or shubdas. In Sandhyavanadam the gayatri japa is only shubda pradana only.  

            Now I will take up the artha part.  As we have already seen in the Gayatri japa we are adding pranava and vyakriti. Om which is pranava mantra as well as Bhur-bhuvah-Suvah which is vyakriti are added to the Gayatri mantra. They are appendages. We will see the meaning part by part.

            Omkara is very much glorified in the scriptures. It is said that irrespective of the meaning of OM , it’s very sound is a purifying mantra. Brahmaji created the world saying two words: Om and atha. Therefore they are mangalam whatever be the meaning; the very sound is auspicious. Omkara is supposed to be the best name of the Lord. Of all the names the Lord has OM is the best as mentioned in the Gita. Om, tat, and sat are the three names of the Lord. Because of this Omkara is known by the name pranava. Pranava means a name that is ideal for the Lord. I will give two reasons why Omkara is the best name for the Lord. One is Omkara is “ekaka aksharam”. It is a one syllable word. And the Lord is also one. Omkara ekakah, Brahman ekam. Omkara is aksharaha (it means syllable) and Brahman is aksharam (meaning the imperishable one). Besides are the philosophical similarities that we find in Mandokya Upanishad. Omkara is the ideal name of the Lord and by chanting Om we remember the lord. Om is derived from the root “rakshati”; the word means one that protects. It is applicable to the mantra also, applicable to the Lord also.

            Now we will go to Vyakriti mantra. It is also auspicious irrespective of its meaning. It’s very sound is sacred. Bhor-bhuvah-suvah are three words uttered by Brahmaji Himself. Brahma Vyakritha iti vyakriti. It has been uttered in the beginning like Omkara. The second meaning of vyakriti is “that removes all the sins when uttered by a person.” That is why for any puja we use “Om bhur-bhuvah-suvah” for it is a great purifier. The words bhur-bhuvah-suvah refers to three lokas which are the manifestations of the Lord. The simple meaning is: I remember the Lord Om who manifests in the three lokas. The same thing can also be seen from Vedantic angle too. In Vedanta Omkara represents nirgunam turiyam. Bhur-bhuvah-suvah represent sagune, vishwa and thaijasa prajna. I remember the nirgunam Brahman who alone is manifesting at saguna vishwa, saguna virat and saguna hiranyagarba and saguna prajan Ishwarah. That Lord I remember.

            Now we will go the Gayatri mantra. First I will take the samanya arthah (general meaning for the general public) and then I will take the vedantic artha. The samanya artha is just the invocation of surya devata. Yaha Nahah dheyayah prachodayat Savitur devasya tat varenyam bhargah deemahi. Deemahi means we meditate upon. Meditate on varenyam bhargah. Varenyam means sacred, auspicious, adorable, shresttam. Bhargah means brilliance, effulgence. So we meditate on the most scared and effulgent light of whom? Devasya Savituh. We meditate on the effulgence of the sun. In what way it is sacred? Yaha Nahah dheyayah prachodayat. Whose effulgence alone, which energy alone, which light alone ENLIVENS, energizes, activates our dheeyah, our intellect, our budhi.  So the simple running meaning of the gayatri is: we meditate upon that sacred effulgent sun god which activates all our intellects. And if you want an explanation for this we have to go to the Gita. Yada Nityagadam thejah jagat bhasayathe kilam. Yahchadramathi Ychchaggnu, thetejo vidhi mamakam. The light and energy in the sun belongs to me. Therefore you can look upon the sunlight as pratyasha symbol of the Lord. Because I am in the sun as the light and therefore you can worship me. What is the glory of sunlight? That energy pervades the whole earth, nourishes all beings, activates all beings, nourishes even plants and animals. Even thought the sunlight nourishes all beings here the student is interested in budhi (intellect) very much. Grishasta is interested in health and money. He has to run a family and he does not have much time to read at all. If at all he reads, he will read Cineblitz or Filmfare. For reading those magazine you don't need any mind; whatever little is there it will go..(laughs). Grihasta does not seem to use much of the budhi, this is mostly used by brahmacharies and Sanyasis. As in medha suktam, mayi’ medhāṃ mayi’ prajāṃ mayyagnistejo’ dadhātu mayi’ medhāṃ mayi’ prajāṃ mayīndra’ indriyaṃ da’dhātu mayi’ medhāṃ mayi’ prajāṃ mayi sūryo bhrājo’ dadhātu. Most of the brahmachari’s prayers seek medha and prajna. Since Gayatri is a prayer for brahmachari; here I am using it to mean any spiritual seeker. Not just an unmarried person. By brahmachari I meant a vedic student. For them memory and intellect is important and so may the sun god bless me. This not directly asked but it is implied in the gayatri. This is the samanya artha of gayatri.

            Now I will come to the vishasha arthah, Vedanta arthah. To understand this one must have a background of Upanishadic teaching. Those who don’t have this prior study can ignore this portion. Here dheemayi means we meditate upon. Nidhidyasanam kurmaye. We meditate on tat bhargah varenyam. This refers to Sat-chit-ananda svarupam. We mediate on Sat-chit-ananda swarupa of what? Of the Lord Ishwarah.

           How do you arrive at the meaning? We will analyze one by one. Here Savituh literally means that which procreates the universe. The root “su” means to procreate or give birth to. Here Savita means that which is the creator of the universe. Savita is primarily used as the material cause of the universe. The mother is the material cause of the baby, similarly Ishwarah is the material cause of the creation. Savita is equal to upadana karanam. Devasya means that which is effulgence, chettana swarupam or the intelligent principle. By using the word devasya the lord is supposed to be the intelligent cause of the creation also, the nimitha karanam. Therefore the lord is both the material cause of creation as well as the intelligent cause as well. Savitu devasya means abina, nimitha, upadana karanam, bhutasya brahmanah. Sanskrit commentators go crazy on these words giving truckfulls of vyakyanams. Even Sankara wrote voluminously on this. And that Ishwara has got what nature? Tat bhargah varenyam. Tat refers to sat swarupam. The nature of existence. Bhargah means that which is light, effulgent. It is from the root “brij” to roost, to burn down. Bhargah means brightness that which is capable of removing darkness. This indicates chaitanyam for it is only thing that destroys ignorance. Ajnanam bharjathe, samsaram bharjathe. So we have both the meanings: that which is effulgent and that which destroys ignorance. By removing darkness, ignorance it removes samsara also. So bhargah stands for effulgent chit swarupam. The third word is varenyam. Literally it means that which is worth choosing by all. Varana Yugyam. What is that which is chosen by all? Money? Position? On vedantic analysis we say in and through everything, everyone chooses only one thing and that is “anandah”, “purnatvam”, and fulfillment. There is only one purushartha and that is ananda. Therefore varenyam is ananda swarupam. Tat means sat swarupam, bhargah is chit swarupam and varenyam is ananda swarupam. All these three swarupams belong to Savituh devasya. To Ishwarah eka swarupam. What kind of swarupam it is? Yah, which chaitanyam. So that all pervading sat-chit-ananda swarupam which is the cause of the universe is behind our intellects also as sakshi rupah yah. Shkethrugnya rupah yah. There is a grammatical beauty also here: starting with neuter gender Brahman the stanza comes to masculine gender athma. Tat refers to Brahman while yah refers to athma. So that Brahman which in the form of sat-chit-ananda and is the cause of creation is athma. Dheeyayah, all our thoughts, vrittis, prachodayat. So according to this interpretation tat savitur varenyam bhargo devasya deemayi indicates Brahman chaitanyam, Dheeyoyonah prachachodayat indicates athma chaitanyam. So we meditate on the athma chaitanyam which is nothing but brahma chaitanyam. This is Gayatri looked from Vedantic angle. If a person chants Gayatri before the study of Vedanta it becomes upasanam. But the very same Gayatri after the study of Vedanta is nidhidhyasanam.  Aham Brahmasmi Dhyanam. That is why Gayatri is recommended even for sanyasi who has dropped all other upasanas, Gayatri is okay for him as it contains Upanishadic sara. With Gayatri Vishasha part is over.

            Then the next part of Japa is a conclusion with a pranayama. How many times Gayatri chanting? It depends on a person’s facility. If possible 1008 (uttamam) if not 108 if not 64 if not 32 or 27 and minimum10. In Kaliyuga we reduce it to at least 3. After sometime it will become one as in family planning: we both and our one! After that pranayama is done to conclude the japa.

            After pranayama there is a formal sending back of Gayatri devi. Since we invoked Gayatri we have to send it her back and it is called “Gayatri Upasthanam” mantra. Literally upasathanam means worship, namaskara, adoration. This mantra: uttame shikhare devi bhoomyaam parvata moordhani, braahmanebhyo hyaujnaanam gachcha devi yathaa-sukham. So hey, Gayatri devi. Anujnanam means permission or taking leave of. From whom? These brahmanas who are chanting the gayatri mantra. So after taking permission from brahmanas what you should do? Gachcha, please go away. Yathaa-sukham, please go away comfortably. I can entertain you only this long! Where should you go? Bhoomyam parvata moordani. May you go to the top of the Himalayas. Back to the tip of meru parvata which is on the earth. That to uttame shikhare, the highest top. Please go back to the highest peak which is your abode. I am nicely sending you back so that I will invite you during madhyanam or Sayam Sandhya again. So go back safely with the intention to come back when I call you again. With the entire Gayatri japa part is over. With this the sixth stage of uttarangam is over. We will go to the seventh stage which we will do in the next class. Hari Om.

Sandhyavandanam -6

After seeing the purvagam of Sandhyavandanam now we are in the uttarangam, which is sometimes called Gayatri Japa. As in purvagam there are ten stages in uttrarangam also. The first four stages are similar for both – achemanam, ganapathy dhyanam, pranayamah, and sankalpa. The fifth is paranayam again, sixth stage is Gayatri Japa, seventh is surya upasthanam, eight is samasti abhivadanam, nineth is dig devatathi vandanam, and finally stage is samarpanam. We have so far covered up to the fifth stage of the uttarangam and we were dealing with Gayatri japah.

            Gayatri is a main component and this japa has some preparations. We were in the Gayatri avahanam in the last class. Before starting the japa we have to invoke the Gayatri devi by chanting aayatu varda devi asksharam … jushasva naha. Although we were invoking Gayatri devi we should not forget that Gayatri, Savitri and Saraswati are different aspects of Sandhya Devi. The first part of this mantra is to invite Gayatri devi and then we glorified her in ojo’si saho’si balamasi bhraajo’si devanaam dhaama naamasi. You are indriya shakti, you are manas shakti, and you are sharirah shakti, and the brightness or effulgence you are. You are the also the abode of gods as well as the effulgence of gods. Naamasi, all names are your names only.

            Vishvamasi visjvaayuhu sarvamasi sarvaayuhu. You are the whole universe. You are the very life and sustaining principle of the whole universe. You are everything in the universe. And you are the sustaining principle of all beings in the universe. And abhi bhoo has two meanings. One is sarva vyapakah and another is one who conquers everyone. That is the one who is ever victorious. By glorifying Gayatri we are implying and asking indirectly that SHE must confer us with all these qualities. That you must give me manas shakti, indriya shakti, sharirah shakti, you must give me ayuhu and you must also give me victory. You are OM also. All these are praises (glories) of Sandhya Devi. Then I say: Gayatri avahayaami, Savitri avahayaami. Saraswati avahayaami. Avahayaami means “I invoke”. “I install”. I install Gayatri not on an idol, not on a picture, not on a purnakumba, but we install HER in our own hrudayam. Since Sandhya Devi has three different aspects we invoke all the three of them and install them in our heart.

            The word “Gayatri” has three different meanings. First is, it is name of a Vedic metre (chandah). The arrangement in which the words are placed in a poem is a metre. Like how many words should be there in a verse, how many letters in a line, how many lines etc? There are so many metres which are mentioned in the Gayatri itself like gayatri, ushnik, anushtup, brihati, pankti, thristup and jagati. The second meaning of the word “Gayatri” is the particular mantra in the gayatri metre. The third meaning is “Gayatri devata” , to be more precise Sandhya Devi, who is invoked through the Gayatri mantra. So the three meanings of Gayatri are chandah, mantra and Devi. When you are saying Gayatri avahayaami you refer to devatah. The root of the word Gayatri translates to that which protects the devotee.

            “Savitri” has two meanings. There is no Savitri metre. This Gayatri mantra is also called as Savitri mantra. Then the second meaning is Savitri devatah who is Sandhya Devi. The root of the word Savitri means that which is connected with the Sun. When we invoke Savitri we invoke HER in the surya mandalam.

            Saraswati has only one meaning; one who is the embodiment of wisdom born out of Vedas. The word “saras” literally means a lake. The Vedas are compared to a lake and Saraswati is a lotus born out of that lake. So she is nothing but wisdom born out of Vedas. Wisdom is embodied as a woman, as Vidya devi, vak devi, vani etc. In simple language Saraswati means “Vidya devatah”. This is also an aspect of Sandhya Devi which we should not lose sight of. Sandhya devi seen as wisdom is Saraswati devi. With this the avahanaam part is over.

            We go to the next part of Gayatri japa which is “nyasaha”. Nayasaha means remembering the rishi, the devata, and chandas. Which means “which rishi discovered the gayatri mantra?” we remember. And also the metre in which it is chanted, and the devata of that mantra too. Savitryaa rushih viswamitraha, nichrut-gayatri chandaha, savita devataa. The Gayatri mantra was discovered by Vishwamitra rishi, we touch the head. We touch the mouth when we chant “nichrut gayatri chandah” – it is chanted in nichrut gayatri metre which we shall later see. And we touch the heart when we say “Savita devata” who is Sandhya Devi in surya mandala. Why are we touching the head, the mouth and the heart? Since the rishi is the adhi guru of the mantra, he must be shirasa darya. We place him on our head as he is the athi-guru of the mantra. The metre is connected with the “rasah” (the tongue and so the mouth is touched) as the metre is connected with the chanting. Since we have to remember the god through the heart or the mind; (mind is in the hrudayam in the heart) we touch the heart. Any mantra will be effective if we chant after remembering these three: rishi, metre, and devata. The mantra starts as “Savitraya rushaya” and here Savitri is used as a mantra and not as a devata. In fact in Vedas the Gayatri mantra is more popularly known as Savitri’ in fact during upanayanam too Savitri is used more than Gayatri.

            Now we will go to the proper japa part. It is called either Gayatri mantra or Savitri mantra. Both mean the same. It occurs in all the three Vedas: rig veda, yajur veda and sama deva. The original mantra is from rig veda; other two Vedas have borrowed it from Rig. Om bhoor-bhuvah-suvaha, tat savitur-varenyam, bhargo devasya dheemahi, dhiyo yo nah prachodayaat. The Om-bhoor-bhuvah-suvaha is not part of Gayatri at all. It is just an attachment given; actually not a part of the Gayatri mantra. It is a mantra with 24 letters and 3 padas or lines. Om is pranava mantra and bhoor-bhuvah-suvah is vyakriti mantra and the rest is gayatri mantra. I will now explain the glory of this mantra as mentioned in the scriptures, mahima. Gayatri is glorified as the essence of the Vedas. The pranava has three part: Aa, Ooh, hum. It has akara is rig veda saram, okara is yajur veda sara, and makara is sama veda sara. So is Bhoor which is Rig veda sara, bhuvah Yajur and Suvaha is Sama. Similarly tad svitur varenyam is Rig, bhargo devasya deemahi is Yajur and dhiyo yo nah prachodayaat is Sama veda saram. So all three – pranava, vyakrit and gayatri – are veda triya sarahah. So what we chant contains the whole Veda. Brahma milked from the three Vedas and brought these three: OM, Vyakrit and Gayatri. Just as honey is taken from many flowers, the ghee is taken from milk, and milk is taken from food….in the same way pranava, vyakriti and gayatri are the essence of the Vedas. Brahmaji thought we may not have the time to chant the whole Vedas and so HE simplified them to Gayatri mantra with these three components. Some complained it was too long and so HE simplified to Vyakriti. Then again some people complained saying “bhoor-bhuvah-suvah” is too long. The lord simplified it to just OM. That’s why we have taken the essence in three parts: pranava, vyakriti and gayatri. So gayatri mantra is Veda matha or Veda sarah. Therefore chanting of this mantra is equivalent to the chanting the whole Veda. Even if a person cannot chant the whole of one Veda, he is supposed to know Gayatri mantra to claim he is a Hindu or Vedika. Minus Gayatri all other study is useless, with Gayatri no other study is required. So thing is the glory of Gayatri mantra. There is a story that Brahmaji brought a balancing scale to find out whether the Vedas are greater or Gayatri. All the mantras were kept in one pan and Gayatri in the other, Gayatri was found to be far, far superior. That is the reason that when the brahmachari is initiated in the upanayanam, Gayatri is taught. It is as good as studying the whole Vedas. That’s why Gayatri upadesa is called as Brahma Upadesa.

            Another greatness of Gayatri is in the Vedas the Gayatri mantra is meditated upon as Brahman itself. It is veda upadesa and it is also para brahma upadesa. Second glory is it is Brahman itself.

            Thirdly Gayatri mantra is the best mantra for “Shudha Prapthi” and “Ashudhi Nivrithi”.  It is excellent for purification, it is also excellent for removing all the impurities. Therefore it is often prescribed as a prayachita mantra. Those brahmanas who take shradda bakshanam or danam etc they are supposed to get the paapams of the people also. As we saw earlier, each time you receive anything from a person you are also receiving his/her character doshas also. That is why during marana (death) stage people give a lot of danams (charities). By giving danas the jivas will go a higher loka. So anyone who takes dana, he is taking the sins of the dying or dead person also. There is caution here: sins cannot to be transferred to another person except when specifically mentioned in the scriptures. It is also said that when a person is sick the proxy-sandhyavandanam can be done by another person. Like a father can do SV for his son, or vice versa. Therefore after shraddam brahmanas are supposed to chant 1008 gayatri as prayachitam. For big danamas he should do lacs of gayatri. The idea I am conveying is that Gayatri is a great purifier. There is no greater danam that annam and udagam (food and water), there is no greater vrittam than ekadasi vrittam, and what is relevant here is there is no greater mantra than Gayatri. And there is no greater god than mother.

            Finally Gayatri mantra is also prescribed as a kavacham. A person who chants Gayatri regualarly has an armour of protection with him. Protection against amcharika karma like even black magic. So there is no need for a Gayatri chanter to go looking for other kavachams like Skanda Shasti kavacham or Shiva kavacham or Vishnu kavacham etc. All the other kavachams are required only when Gayatri is not there, if Gayatri is there then no other kavacham is required.

            Now I come to the japa part. Gayatri japa as chanted in Sandhyavandanam is supposed to have five stops. Om full stop. Bhoor-bhuvah-suvaha full stop. Tat Savitur-varenyam full stop. Bhargo devasya dheemahi full stop. Dhiyo yo nah prachodayaat full stop. Gayatri can be chanted in two ways; varenyam can be chanted together as “nyam” or separately as “ni” and “yam”. If you chant as “ni” and “yam” it will have 24 letters. According to metre rules, you are only supposed to count the vowels and not the consonants. Then it is Gayatri Chandah. But when you chant “ni” and “yam” together as “nyam” then there is a loss of one vowel. Now the Gayatri will only have 23 vowels. So one chanting is 24 letters while the second chanting is 23 letters. Since one letter is less the latter is called “nichrut gayatri” chandah. If Gayatri has two options how do you know where to chant and what especially in Sandhyavandanam? From Smrithi we get the answer; we should use the 23 lettered Gayatri for pranayama, during japa, during argyam, and during danam. So in this context of Gayatri japa, one must chant the 23 lettered version of nichrut gayatri chandah. But when Gayatri comes in any homam then chant the 24 letter version. More we shall see in the next class. Hari Om. 

Sandhyavandanam -5

We saw that the first seven stages of Sandhyavandanam were only preparatory and the important aspects starts with “arghya pradaanam” where we throw water in the direction of the sun after chanting pranava, vyakrithi and gayatri. The Mandeha rakshanas did severe penance and wishing to attack the sun god especially during the sandhya times. Prajathi had no recourse but to accede to them. So to save Aditya when noble people chant gayatri and throw the waters those become vajram weapon. They throw away the rakshasas into a dweepa, an island, called Mandeharuni dweepa. They come again the next day and so the seeker also must do the arghya pradaanam to keep them away from harming the sun. There is the story part but there is a philosophical significance also. Here the mandeha asuras represent the asuras within the individual in the form of deha abhimana (body consciousness) in the form of kama, krodha, mada etc. There are thousands of negative thoughts in the mind. This alone is described in the 16^th chapter of the Gita as Asureem Sampath. And the surya devata represents the athma within. Swayam Prakashah Suryah and Swayam Prakashah Athma. Because of deha abhimana and its consequent asurum vruthi the athma is attacked as it were, destroyed as it were. Destroying the athma is covering the athma from our vision, because when something is covered it is as good as destroyed. Therefore arghyam is done to remove the deha abhimana (body consciousness) and deha abhimanam is supposed to be more at the time of sandhya. During dawn and dusk one feels this body conscious more. So philosophically would mean that doing argyam with gayatri will remove the deha abhimana so that athma is not covered. This is the arghya pradaanam part.

            Now we will go to the nineth part called “Sandhyopaasanam” or “Abheda Dhyanam”. As the name suggests it is meditating on Sandhya Devi. We have already seen Sandhya Devi as Ishwari. Any upaasanam is done in two different ways – in bheda upaasam we meditate on the Lord as though HE/SHE is different. In fact most of the worship is bheda only. When we worship Rama or Krishna or Ganapathy we see them as different from us. When you meditate outside you always take a God as though outside. But we know from Vedantic teaching that the Lord is not different from me, so to train the mind of the seeker the scriptures themselves prescribe “abheda upaasam” as a higher state. Here we don’t invoke the Lord anywhere but I invoke the lord in myself. And I see “I” and the “lord” to be one and the same. Only after this upasaadam one is introduce to Vedantic knowledge, Vedantic vichara. What is the difference between “abheda upaasam” and “abheda jnanam”. In the former I see the oneness with the Lord only as an imagination. At this stage there is no enquiry, no understanding, it is a mere imagination. Much like imagining a stone to be Vishnu and worshipped, so why can’t I be imagined as Vishnu who is slightly better than stone. While in Vedanta after a thorough enquiry we come to discover that “I am God is not an invocation, it is not an imagination” but it is a statement of a fact. When it is converted into a fact it becomes jnanam, when it is imagination it is upaasanam. Suppose a person dwells on this fact after gaining jnanam then it is “nidhidyasanam”. So dwelling after understanding is nidhidyasnam while imagining is upaasanam. For ignorant abeda is upaasanam, while for jnanis it is nidhidyasanam. Therefore Sandhya Upaasanam can function in two different ways. For those who do SV after exposure to Vedantic teaching it will abheda nidhidyasanam, while for those with no training on Vedanta the ritual becomes abheda upaasanam. The mantras here is Asaavaadityo brahma – brahmaiya-aham-asmi. The sun represents Ishwara or Brahman. And “I” represent the jiva, the individual. That sun is Brahman and this is not something far away tat-brahman-aham-asmi. You may ask that the reference is with respect to Brahman and why do you call it “Sandhyopaasanam”. Remember Sandhya and Brahman are one and the same. This is based on the famous Taitreya Upanishad mantra Sayascha ya purushe, yasya va aditye sayakah – the difference between them is just superficial only but essentially they are Brahman. So for an ignorant person not initiated into Vedanta he can imagine himself to be Sandhya Devi. While saying this mantra they touch the heart with both the hands indicating the chaitanyam (hrudaya kruta chaitanyam). This is the nineth stage “sandhyapaasanam” or “abheda upaasanam”. Why this is important? Because this is the ultimate goal of life for all human beings.

            Then comes the tenth and the final item “adityadi tharpanam”. In this tharpanam is done by offering waters because that is the easiest and cheapest. Tharpanam literally means “pleasing” and “to make someone happy”. That’s why we perform pitru tharpanam or aditya tharpanam or amavasya tharpanam to please them. In Sandhyavandanam (SV) we have nine offering to the nine grahas. Aadityam tharpayaami, somam tharpayaami, angaarakam tharpayaami, budham tharpayaami, bruhaspatim tarpayaami, shukram tarpayaami, shanaishcharam tarpayaami, raahum tharpayaami, and ketum tharpayaami. This is navagraha prarthana, the worship of navagrahas. There are some byproduct benefits; if there are any graha doshas it will go away for the regular practitioner of SV. This is also an appreciation of totality. We mostly live as a frog in the well with our mind on our work, family, children, our neighbourhood etc. This is an opportunity to remember the solar system and how these planets contribute to our survival thus serving as an expansion of our vision. After navagraha tharpanam we do the tharpanam of the Lord in this twelve forms. Keshavam tharpayaami, narayanam tharpayaami etc; the 12 names of Vishnu are uttered. Most of the prayers are directed to Vishnu as HE is the protector deity. Here also we seek the protection and blessings of the lord by uttering these names. With this navagraha and Ishwara tharpanam the first part of Sandhyavandam is concluded. This is the purva angam of the SV. This is generally done in the room nowadays, before this was performed in the river and performed immediately after one’s bath. Besides there you can offer plenty of water and from both hands! In the house you have use a panja patram and odarani and be careful not to spill water beyond the patram. In the olden days after bath they perform the purva angam and come to the house or temple only for the japa part. That is why in many books the mantras for the asanam is given at the end of purva angam; while in modern books they give it at the start. Now we don’t have rivers or tanks, if you go to Mylapore tank the kids are playing cricket there. …(laughs). Or who can do SV in Coovam, so you must do SV at the home itself.

            Now we are entering the second part of Sandhyavandanam called “Gayatri japa” or “uttarangam”. This must be done in a secluded and sacred place as in a temple or a quiet corner of the house which is used for puja etc. This second anga also has ten divisions. The first four are common as in the purva angam. …asanam & achamanam, vigneshwara dhyanam, pranayama and sankalpah. Therefore I am not explaining them. In Sankalpah there will be difference; praatah sandhya Gayatri Maha mantra-japam karishye; maadhyahnika-gayatri maha mantra-japam karishye, or saayam sandhyaa-gayatri mahaa mantra-japam karishye according to the time.

            The fifth stage is the pranayamaha. This we did at the start of the gayatri japa, doing it once is called “prayaschita pranayama”. But in the fifth stage of the gayatri japa the pranayama has to be done thrice or ten times. If you do breathing and japa then do it thrice but if you only chant the mantra then do it 10 times. For the young, old, and sick person only chanting is recommended (no breathing). But if the person wants to include the breathing part then he has to poorakam is filling up the lungs that is deep inhalation, kumbakam is retaining the air for some time and rachakam is exhalation. Breathe in through the left nostril and exhale through the right nostril by keeping your fingers in a particular shape (two fingers of the right hand at left and the thumb to the right side of the nose). Pranayama is a big Science by itself involving surya nadi, chandra nadi, nadi shudi, antakaran shudi etc. When breathing is combined with chanting it is “sagarba pranayama”. We chant so as to dilute our deha abhimanam (body consciousness); it like taking an antibiotic and B-complex side by side! You take care of your health but your body should not become an obsession for you. The first part of pranayam (upto Om Satyam) is purvakam, Gayatri part is kumbakam and Om aapo jyteeraso up to bhoor-bhuvas-suvarom om is rachakam. I discussed about Vyakriti, Gayatri, and Gayatri Shiras in the earlier talks, you can refer to your notes or memory….whichever is stronger! When we are doing pranayam the outgoing breath is coming in contact with the hand and it is considered to become impure. By touching the right ear the hand is purified for it is believed that Ganga resides in the right ear. That is one belief, another is Gayatri itself is chanted in the right ear when a person is first initiated into japa during upanayanam. In the ceremony the gayatri upadesha is done by the father it is given as a secret in the right ear. So in the right ear both Ganga and Gayatri are there. That’s why when some people yawn they touch their right ear as a sort of purification. If you are not in breathing just chant the pranayama mantra ten times but healthy people are supposed to include breathing also. But before this pranayama mantra we invoke rishis, meter, and devata  pranavasya rushih-brahma, devee gaayatri chandaha, paramaatma devatha. Bhooradi saptavayaahrteenam atri bhrugu kutsa vashishta gautama kaashyapa aangirasa rushayaha. Gayatri ushnig anushtup bruhatee pankti trishtup jagatyah chandaamsi. Agni vayu arka vaageesha varuna indra vishvedevaa devatahaa. There is nothing to explain as these are the names of 7 rishis and 7 devatas and 7 metres (chandas). With this pranayama part is over.

            Next is Gayatri japa. Before Gayatri there are some invocation mantras. The first part is called gayatri aavaahanam. Aayaatu varadaa devee aksharam brahma-sammitam, gayatreem chandasaam maatedam brhama jushasva naha. In this mantra the gayatri devi is invited and installed in the heart. When I say “Gayatri” it means “Sandhya Devi” for Gayatri is one of her many names (Savitri and Saraswati are the other names). This is done in any japa, first we invoke the deity and install it in our heart. Gayatri Aayaatu means may Gayatri come and take her seat in my heart. The rest of the words are her glorification. Varada is one who gives all the boons, if we ask for health or wealth or prosperity or by mistake ask for moksha Gayatri is capable of giving all those. The next is “devi” which is svayum prakasha svarupa, the effulgent goddess. And in scriptural language the “Chitanyam”svarupa. Asksharam brahma-sammitam; Gayatri who is equal to aksharam brahma which is the infinite and imperishable truth. Gayatri is equal to Brahman and who is none other than Brahman(sammitam). Satyam, jnanam, anantham brahma. Another glory is “chandasaam maate” – Gayatri who is the mother of all Vedic mantras. That is what makes Gayatri mantra the most sacred of all mantras. And for what purpose I am inviting you; idam brahma jushasva naha. Here Brahma means stotram, stuthi May you accept our glorification of you. The stotram comes in the next part. There are ojo’si saho’si balamasi bhraajo’si devaanam dhaama naamasi vishvamasi vishvaayuhu sarvamasi sarvaayuhu. The essence of this glorification is “Sandhya Devi, you are everything. You are sarvam.” Ojaha means indriya shakti. You are the power in all the ten sense organs (5 jnanadriyas and 5 karmadriyas) and so you give me “Indriya” shakti. By praising the Goddess in one aspect it means we asking HER to bestow or confer that quality in us. Sahosi means “mental strength” (so give me mental strength to face the ups and downs of life). Balamasi, physical health (I need to have a fit body to even do the spiritual sadhana so give me physical health), then bhrajosi, you are bright, shining one. Then devanam dhama si; you are the abode of gods. From here we get this wonderful idea; once you worship one Sandhya Devi it means you have worshipped all the gods. It is much like cow worship. As all the devatas are in the cow, just worshipping the cow means worshipping all the devatas. Namasi, you are all the names. Why? All names belong to you as all forms belong to you. All this you will appreciate if you know the Vedantic angle. Then Vishwamasi comes which we will see in the next class. Hari Om. 

Sandhyavandanam -4

Now we are seeing the praashana mantras. This varies according to the time of Sandhyavandanam. In the morning we worship Surya, in the form of Ishwara, Manyu, the anger deity and Manyupathaya, the causes of anger like Raga. Dvesha, kama etc.  May all the devatas bless me in such a way that I should not commit these sins in the future. The first part of the mantra is bhavishya paapa nirarthatvam., future sins. The sins done through all the instruments like hands, legs, stomach by way of manasa, vaacha and kayika. Next we pray for removing all the sins done in the recent past, last night. May the deity presiding over the night, raatri devata, destroy all those paapams. Then the remote past pappam is indicated by yat-kincha-duritam mayi, we can take it as sanchita paapam, …duritam means paapam. Whatever paapam I have done including maha paapam let Ishwara remove all of them also. Now all the paapams are removed I am a shudda jivata. Before offering anything to the Lord including naivedyam it is cleansed through proshanam. Similarly in this praasham we offer ourselves to the Lord. Therefore I say Soorye jyotishi juhomi svaaha. I offer myself to surya agnihi or Ishwara agnihi. This can be looked in the vyvaharthika angle as “I dedicate myself to the Lord by following him” or it can be taken in the Vedantic angle as “Abedha Prappthihi” which is Brahman Jnanam. By offering myself what benefit do I get? Amruta yonau….Sun devata is the source of immortality, source of ananda, source of moksha. The word “svaaha” is used to indicate it is yagna. 

            Now we will go to the praashana mantra of the Madhyanam.

Aapah punantu pruthiveem pruthivee poota punaatu maam, punantu brahmanspathihi brhama poota punaatu maam, yad-uchishtam-abhojyam yadvaa dushcharitam mama, sarvam punantu maam – appo (a) sataam cha pratigraha-gg-svaaha.

Like in the morning before chanting this we have to do maarjanam mantra starting from aapovaa idgam sarvam….as I invoke Lord in the water form. Again this is purifying mantra in which I offer myself to the Lord. Which means what? You have not offered yourself in the morning! If you had offered before there should not be a second offering. It is like going to the temple several times. The word for temple is “Aalayaha” – you should not come home but become merged there! It means we keep failing repeatedly by visiting them repeatedly. The purification mantras in the afternoon “Aapah pruthivee punantu” is may the waters in the form of Ishwara purify the earth. In this context pruthivee means sthula shariram. May the Lord purify my physical body and once that is done then it should purify the subtle body. .. pootaa punatu maam. In essence may the Lord purify both my gross and subtle body. Punantu brahmanaspathihi means may the Vedic teacher bless me. So we ask for Ishwara anugraha and now guru anugraha. Poota punaatu maam, may the Vedas also purify me. May the purified Vedas purify me. The scriptures are purified by the teacher. This is done by giving the right meaning and removing all the wrong interpretations. Both Indra and Virochana went to the same guru Vahaspathi, one became a confirmed asura while the other got the right meaning. Therefore purification of the scriptures mean removing the confusion. Now in addition to Ishwara krupa, guru krupa, I also ask for Sastra krupa. From here on I enumerate all the “akramams” I have been doing. I have eaten food “uchchishtam” the food that has been eaten by someone and leftover food. Uchchista anna is supposed to create tamo guna. This will cause dullness of budhi. Often I have taken fresh food but those have been prohibited by the scriptures, fresh garlic! Those will come in “Abhojyam” (Sastra Nishadam). This creates rajo gunam that makes the mind passionate. Either it will produce kama-kroda or it will produce moha. This is tamo-rajo annam despite what medical science says. They may have some benefit to the body like reducing pressure or improving blood but these are prohibited by the shastra (they come with dullness or passion). Even a food that is not offered to the Lord is called “abhojyam”. So one must at least think of the Lord before sitting down to eat. Now the seeker thinks of a list so he includes a general “yadvaa dushcharitam mama”…any paapa karma I have done. There is one more item in the end “asatat prartigraha”, taking anything from an evil person. Meaning taking anything like money, or provision or anything. According to shastra if we take any material from a person then that person character is also transferred to the material. One is a visible transaction and another is an invisible transaction. Imagine you are dining and earning from a materialistic person, then you will also end up becoming materialistic. Religion and spirituality will gradually come away in the company of such a person. This dosa is called “asat pratigraha”. There is problem here: when somebody offer us something we cannot ask them: whether you are good or bad? So if I go to somebody’s house and ask for drinking water, how will I know whether he is good or not. I just pray to the Lord “asat pratrigraha-gg-svaaha”. Therefore may the Lord remove or purify all these pappas. Svaaha means offering oneself to the paramatma.

            Now we will take up the Sayam Praashanam. It is almost similar to the morning mantras but for a few differences.  Agnischa maa manyushcha manyupatayashcha manyukrutebhayaha, paapebhyo raskhantaam yad-ahnaa paapam-akaarsham, In the morning we had had suryaha and now we have “agni”. Suryaha is Ishwara who activates everyone, same is Agni except in the morning God is invoked in surya and in the evening in “agni”. Because surya is the light of the day and agni is the light of the night. Both represent light that is jnana swarupa ishwarah. The rest of the prayers is the same. May the anger and the causes of the anger from future paapams, from the recent past, and the remote and distant past. There is a slight difference. In the morning the recent past meant “previous night” while recent past for the evening prayer is “the present day”. So yad-ahanna (instead of yad-raatri) paapam-akarshanam. So which devata must remove all the sins, not “raatri” devata but “ahur” devata for sins committed during the day. In the morning we offered ourselves to “surya jyotihi” but in the evening we offer ourselves to “satye jyotishi” juhomi svaaha. Satyam stands for Ishwarah.  With this the praashanam part is over.

            Then the seventh item is Punnar Marjaanam. It means sprinkling waters once again. Here the mantras are: dadhikraavinno akaarisham, jishnor-ashvasya vaajinaha, surabhino mukhaa karatu, prana aayoo-g-mshi taarisha. And then Aapo his shthaa mayo-bhuvah….to om bhoor-bhuvah-suvaha as before. These mantras are the glorification of the Lord by invoking the Lord in the waters, dadhikraavinno means the lord who creates and sustains the whole creation. He is the material cause, upadana karana, of creation. The clay creates all the pots and it sustains all the pots. Gold creates all ornaments and sustains. The material cause pervades and sustains the effect. Similarly Ishwara creates and sustains the universe. Another glory of the lord is “jishnor” which means “ever victorious” (this word occurs frequently in Vishnu Sahashranama) Ishwara is never defeated. In every avatara HE fights with the evil forces and HE always wins. This is not a fluke victory like India defeating Pakistan, the LORD wins all the time. That is why the suffix “nor” is added as the victory is consistent and always. HE is the habit of winning. The next glory of the Lord is “ashvasya”. He is the all pervading one (here you should not take the word as horse). And the fourth glory of the Lord is “vaajinaha”. It means is “one who travels very fast.” HE is faster than the mind, HE is faster than the sense-organs. We can take the Puranic angle as when bhaktas are suffering the Lord will at once come to their rescue as shown in Gajendra etc. So I meditate on such a great Lord who glories I have just mentioned. Now that you have sung the praise of the lord, what do you want? He asks for a beautiful boon, Surabhino mukhaa karatu, may my mouth become fragrant. It is not like the scent that is available in the market that you spray in your mouth after eating but it is the fragrance in the form of sweet words. Let me words be sweet, let my words be consoling words and not hurting words, let my words be soft and never harsh, let me have blessing words and not cursing words, let my words be truthful and not untruthful ones, let my words be honest words not hypocritical words, etc. The word “prataarisha” means lengthen, may the Lord give me a long healthy life. All our lives are determined by our prarabdha then what we pray for:  May I have not a “apa mrutyu”. I want a natural death and not an unnatural one. Then aapo hi shthaa we have already seen in the marjaanam earlier. With this the punar maarjaanam is also over.

            Now comes the eighth item called “Arghya Pradaanam”. As I had said earlier upto the seventh item it is preparatory. Only the following three items are mukyam. These are so important that even if a person skips the first seventh he is asked to do the 8^th, 9^th and 10^th. In “arghya pradaanam” handfuls of water is taken, mantras are chanted and it is then thrown in the direction of the sun. This is so important the even if water is not available you can use mud also as transpired during the Mahabharata war. The mantra chanted is the pranava, vyakrithi and gayatri. Pranava is Om, Vyakrithi is Bhoor-bhuvah-suvaha and then Gayatri tat savitur varenyam bhargo devasya dheemahi, dhiyo yo nah prachodayaat. This is done thrice in the morning and evening and twice in the afternoon. After this one is supposed to offer one more arghyam called “praayaschitta arghyam” which is meant for kala adhyayah. This is done if Sandhyavandanam is done at a later or before time, so more like a penitent prayer. There is a Vedic story that tells us the purpose of this arghyam. There were some rakshasa called “mandhaha” who were thirty crores in number. They did penance and asked Brahma the boon to attack surya bhagawan. Brahma had no option but to say “tattatsu”. The mandhahe rakshasas attacked the sun god during sandhya times and trying to swallow him. But we know sun is very important for the survival of earth, of human beings and survival of the devas. So the noble men in the form of devas, rishis and human beings wanted the surya to survive they wanted to resist these attacks. Since they do not have any weapons they converted water into vajra ayutham. By chanting pranava, vyakrithi and gayatri the water is equal to vajra ayutham. Once the mantra is chanted and water is thrown in the direction of the sun, it will not kill the mandhahe rakshasas but it will throw them into an island called mandheahruna dweepah. So this arghya pradaanam is equal to saving the sun. So when any Dwija throws the water after chanting Gayatri then these will throw the rakshasas into that island. After the argyam the prakosha is done “bhoor-bhuvah-suvaha” and all the paapams will go. Therefore arghyam protects surya and by extension protects dharma. More we will see in the next class. Hari Om.