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Reg: Sandhyavandahanam
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Raji Ram
Active member
Wiki gives this info:
''Sandhyavandana (Sanskrit: संध्यावन्दन, sandhyāvandana) is a mandatory religious ritual performed, traditionally,
by Dvija communities of Hindus.
Dvija (Sanskrit: द्विज) means "twice-born". The concept is premised on the belief that a person is first born physically
and at a later date is born for a second time spiritually, usually when he undergoes the rite of passage that initiates
him into a school for Vedic studies. The term also refers to members of the three varnas in the traditional Hindu social
system, or social classes — the Brahmins (priests and teachers), Kshatriyas (warriors), and Vaishyas (merchants) —
whose Sanskara of Upanayana initiation was regarded as a second or spiritual birth.
The word Dvija is neither found in any Vedas and Upanishads, nor is it found in any Vedanga literature such as the
Shrauta-sutras or Grihya-sutras. The word is almost entirely missing, in any context, from ancient Sanskrit literature
composed before the last centuries of the 1st millennium BCE, and it scarcely appears in Dharmasutras literature.
Increasing mentions of it appear in Dharmasastras text of mid to late 1st-millennium CE texts. The presence of the
word Dvija is a marker that the text is likely a medieval era Indian text.''
''Sandhyavandana (Sanskrit: संध्यावन्दन, sandhyāvandana) is a mandatory religious ritual performed, traditionally,
by Dvija communities of Hindus.
Dvija (Sanskrit: द्विज) means "twice-born". The concept is premised on the belief that a person is first born physically
and at a later date is born for a second time spiritually, usually when he undergoes the rite of passage that initiates
him into a school for Vedic studies. The term also refers to members of the three varnas in the traditional Hindu social
system, or social classes — the Brahmins (priests and teachers), Kshatriyas (warriors), and Vaishyas (merchants) —
whose Sanskara of Upanayana initiation was regarded as a second or spiritual birth.
The word Dvija is neither found in any Vedas and Upanishads, nor is it found in any Vedanga literature such as the
Shrauta-sutras or Grihya-sutras. The word is almost entirely missing, in any context, from ancient Sanskrit literature
composed before the last centuries of the 1st millennium BCE, and it scarcely appears in Dharmasutras literature.
Increasing mentions of it appear in Dharmasastras text of mid to late 1st-millennium CE texts. The presence of the
word Dvija is a marker that the text is likely a medieval era Indian text.''
tbs
0
Very true!
Brahmins have a special way of doing it, three times a day (with slight variation in prayers).ray2:
But many are not interested to do so and some do it only once a day.
hi
But many are not interested to do so and some do it only once a day.
many are not doing at alll.....
GANESH65
Active member
During ancient times, the access to Mantras and Vedas was only available to select set of persons called Brahmins. So he was duty to bound to offer prayers for the entire humanity so most of his prayers ended with " Lokasamastha sukhino Bhavanthu." Ancient Scripture did not have any amendment since no one dared to do so and still people are following things as per same. However since many things are now easily available and accessible to common people in form of books, periodicals and soft materials, any one interested could learn and practice. This is my personal opinion only. Brahmins of those times had to undergo severe physical exercises put his body under strict diet pattern like fasting, control his emotions and perform penance etc . Possibly this was possible only with the help of Vedas and Mantras only and as such not easy for others who don't have access to them. Any way our main subject is Sandhya vandanam by people other than Brahmins to which my submission is a big no and I have my own reasons for the same. Sandhya vandanam is Vedangam or part of Veda and as such was not accessible to other than Brahmins at ancient times. So the rules and regulations and the methodology to perform the same is not known to them. Puranas very clearly states that for people who cannot chant mantras or perform rituals as per vidhi simple "smarana" of God is sufficient to appease the God. "Yasya smarana maatrena janma samsaara Bandhanat" So it you can simply attain the desired results with smarana only why one should try to perform all other rituals which are alien to him? Remember Lord Narada and Prahalada have achieved their status only by chanting Narayana namam only. Moreover if something is suggested as cast specific let us keep it that way. Hari om..
tbs
0
hi
yes..they have POONAL TOO....except SOODRAS.....JANAMANA JAYATE SOODRAHA......KARMANA DWIJAHA.....they have
also poonal ceremony.....i know one vysya family in USA.....they had THREAD CEREMONY BEFORE WEDDING...
Flowing from the above discussion, are women permitted to perform 'Sandhyavandhanam'? As far as I know, they don't do it. I remember, when I was a boy, I used attend discourses in Ayodhya Mandapam in W.Mambalam. There was one Smt Sivananda Vijayalakshmi, who used to regularly render discourse at that venue. She was emphatic that Sandhyavandanam has to be performed by women also and asserted that she does it every day. The discussion on the subject of Sandhyavandanam reminded me of the issue. Can someone throw some light on this.
Raji Ram
Active member
Dear Partha Sir,
Ram's niece is married to Smt. Sivananda Vijayalakshmi's son. I had the opportunity to interact with her a few times.
She is a special lady who got 'dheekshai' from her Guru and used to sport a poonool too! I was really amazed! :thumb:
But usually ladies pray in the morning and evening with or without chanting slOkams.ray2:
Ram's niece is married to Smt. Sivananda Vijayalakshmi's son. I had the opportunity to interact with her a few times.
She is a special lady who got 'dheekshai' from her Guru and used to sport a poonool too! I was really amazed! :thumb:
But usually ladies pray in the morning and evening with or without chanting slOkams.
ray2:
Vaagmi
0
Dear Partha Sir,
Ram's niece is married to Smt. Sivananda Vijayalakshmi's son. I had the opportunity to interact with her a few times.
She is a special lady who got 'dheekshai' from her Guru and used to sport a poonool too! I was really amazed! :thumb:
But usually ladies pray in the morning and evening with or without chanting slOkams.
There is a community living in Karnataka by name Lingayats. The womenfolk belonging to this community wear a poonool kind of thread with a Shivlingam tied to it.
Raji Ram
Active member
Source: Sivananda Vijayalakshmi
''Sivananda Vijayalakshmi's talent was spotted by Swami Sivananda, founder of Divine Life Society, in Madurai
at the age of 13. She was in the entourage that accompanied Swami Sivananda from the railway junction to
Dhanappa Mudali Street, singing bhajans. Impressed by her voice, he asked her to visit Rishikesh, which she
did along with her father. It was Swami Sivananda who initiated her into the reading of scriptures and music.
Presenting her a set of Valmiki Ramayana, she blessed Vijayalakshmi saying that she would conduct discourses
on the scripture in about six months, recalls S. Natanagopal, her son. She visited Badrinath and Kedarnath at the
age of 15. It was Swami Sivananda who authorised Vijayalakshmi to use the prefix, ‘Sivananda,' to her name,
calling her ‘Sivananda Pratidwani.' '''
''Sivananda Vijayalakshmi's talent was spotted by Swami Sivananda, founder of Divine Life Society, in Madurai
at the age of 13. She was in the entourage that accompanied Swami Sivananda from the railway junction to
Dhanappa Mudali Street, singing bhajans. Impressed by her voice, he asked her to visit Rishikesh, which she
did along with her father. It was Swami Sivananda who initiated her into the reading of scriptures and music.
Presenting her a set of Valmiki Ramayana, she blessed Vijayalakshmi saying that she would conduct discourses
on the scripture in about six months, recalls S. Natanagopal, her son. She visited Badrinath and Kedarnath at the
age of 15. It was Swami Sivananda who authorised Vijayalakshmi to use the prefix, ‘Sivananda,' to her name,
calling her ‘Sivananda Pratidwani.' '''
The Echo of Sivananda.
Last edited:
Sivananda Vijayalakshmi was an extraordinary lady. Her bhajans during the interval time (when the organisers take out plates for offering by the bhakts) was a big hit with all of us. I still remember some of the slokams she had sung at that time. She took Diksha and performed Sandyavandanam. Be that as it may, my question still remains. Can an ordinary, religious woman perform Sandyavandanam? Essentially, Sandyavandanam is a prayer to Sun God and can't women do that?
Raji Ram
Active member
No way, Partha Sir.
They can never do it in the way men do! :nono:
Why not just say Gayatri and pray? Why copy the males?
tbs
0
No way, Partha Sir.
They can never do it in the way men do! :nono:
Why not just say Gayatri and pray? Why copy the males?
hi
Gayatri
only for males....not for females.....in upanayanam.....it was mantropadesam from father.....some slokas are ok...
not mantras....MANTRAS ARE ONLY FOR GENTS....UPADESAM FROM GURU/FATHER...
Raji Ram
Active member
Dear Biswa Sir,
Please see one example of how sandhyavandhanam is done is in this video.
Then you will understand!
Sandhyavandanam
Please see one example of how sandhyavandhanam is done is in this video.
Then you will understand!
Sandhyavandanam
Raji Ram
Active member
Lets put some more thoughts of mine here..
I would say there must be a reason behind every rules that was put in place and being practiced.
The vocal cords of men and woman are different in nature. There were few sounds in Sanskrit which can’t be produced as exact as the pronunciation should be by the vocal cord of a women. For Vedas , the sound pronunciation is of great important as a little mispronounced word can easily get ill effects. The stories of kumbakarnan and vriuthurasuran were best examples for this. Though woman try to pronounce it as same as like men do, it will put more stress on the vocal cords which is not good for health.
There was a sub dialect of Sanskrit which is called as prakrith was used by woman of ancient times. The difference between Sanskrit and prakrith is like the literature tamil and the normal speaking tamil. Also prakrith does not have that controversial sound variants.
As per the language structure of our scriptures , Vedas are in pure Sanskrit. The puranas and the slokas there form are basically prakrith. If we want to see the difference in dialects , Ramayana , mahabharatha and raghuvamsam are the best texts. In the context of converstations you can see the men characters speak Sanskrit and the women characteristics speak prakrith.
Regarding sandhyavandhanam , Dharma sasthra says women should do the “argya” without the manthra on morning and evening facing the sun and that gives her complete fruits of a proper sandhyavandhanam. Even on aupasana , in case of women doing it , no mantra is necessary , just the act of doing will give the full fruits. Then why should be there a worry of the mantra.
Raji mam – sorry to put a point against. The commercial recordings always look for a sweet voice and there is no worries to the producers around the rules and regulations put behind. Moreover these type of recordings falls under “prathi dhwani” which will not have any impact on hearing and as per rules of mantra sastra , a japa without a guru initiation has no values except for the taraka nama(like rama, Krishna, govindha (without the prefix and suffix of “om” and “namah”))
Thanks,
Arun M
I would say there must be a reason behind every rules that was put in place and being practiced.
The vocal cords of men and woman are different in nature. There were few sounds in Sanskrit which can’t be produced as exact as the pronunciation should be by the vocal cord of a women. For Vedas , the sound pronunciation is of great important as a little mispronounced word can easily get ill effects. The stories of kumbakarnan and vriuthurasuran were best examples for this. Though woman try to pronounce it as same as like men do, it will put more stress on the vocal cords which is not good for health.
There was a sub dialect of Sanskrit which is called as prakrith was used by woman of ancient times. The difference between Sanskrit and prakrith is like the literature tamil and the normal speaking tamil. Also prakrith does not have that controversial sound variants.
As per the language structure of our scriptures , Vedas are in pure Sanskrit. The puranas and the slokas there form are basically prakrith. If we want to see the difference in dialects , Ramayana , mahabharatha and raghuvamsam are the best texts. In the context of converstations you can see the men characters speak Sanskrit and the women characteristics speak prakrith.
Regarding sandhyavandhanam , Dharma sasthra says women should do the “argya” without the manthra on morning and evening facing the sun and that gives her complete fruits of a proper sandhyavandhanam. Even on aupasana , in case of women doing it , no mantra is necessary , just the act of doing will give the full fruits. Then why should be there a worry of the mantra.
Raji mam – sorry to put a point against. The commercial recordings always look for a sweet voice and there is no worries to the producers around the rules and regulations put behind. Moreover these type of recordings falls under “prathi dhwani” which will not have any impact on hearing and as per rules of mantra sastra , a japa without a guru initiation has no values except for the taraka nama(like rama, Krishna, govindha (without the prefix and suffix of “om” and “namah”))
Thanks,
Arun M
prasad1
Active member
Arunji,
You presented a biased, male chauvinistic, old fashioned view from the middle ages.
There has been considerable discussion amongst the scholars of Kashi on the controversy whether women have a right to chant Ved-Mantras. A girl student named Kumari Kalyani wanted to seek admission to a course in which Vedas were taught in Banaras Hindu University. The authorities refused to grant admission according to the prevalent belief on the ground that a woman, according to Shastras, had no right to chant Ved-mantras. This controversy continued for quite a long time. A paper "Sarvadeshik" published several articles in support of the right of women to study Vedas while the other paper "Sidhanta" took an opposite view. A deputation of Arya Samajists met University authorities and there was prolonged discussion on the subject. Ultimately, the University appointed a committee under the chairmanship of Mahamana Madan Mohan Malviya in which several Vedic scholars were included. The committee, after a thorough study of the shastras, gave a finding that women have the same right as men in respect of Vedas. Mahamana Malviyaji, who was considered as the standard bearer of Sanatan Dharma, announced this decision of the committee on 22nd August 1946. Kumari Kalyani was accordingly admitted to the course in which Vedas were taught and it was finally decided that henceforth women would have the right to study Vedas and there would be no discrimination on grounds of sex. Nobody can say that Mahamana Malviyaji and his learned colleagues could be hostile to the tenets of Sanatan Dharma. Their devotion to religion is well-known. What can be said about the wisdom of those persons who still persist in saying that women have no right to worship Gayatri when this controversy has been settled once for all by eminent persons like Malviyaji? The names of several learned women of the ancient times are still famous. References are found in Vedas about several women rishis being authors of several Ved-Mantras. It is, therefore, the duty of all social reformers to follow in this respect the decision given by Malviyaji who has been a rishi of the present age.
[FONT="]For countering the oft-repeated arguments against women ’s right to Gayatri worship, let us try to understand the basic principles of ancient Indian culture . It propounds a global religion, for the entire humanity. Nowhere does it support the illogical inequalities based on differentiation of caste, sex etc. The code of conduct in Hindu religion assigns equality of status to all human beings in all respects with unity and compassion as its basic tenets. Thus, the abridgement of natural human civil and religious rights of women is, therefore, not in conformity with authentic Indian spiritual tradition. On the contrary, Hindu culture regards the female of human species as superior to its male counterpart. How could then the wise sages of India deprive the women of practice of Gayatri Sadhana ? The spirit of Indian ethos is totally against any such discrimination. Gayatri is accessible to every individual of human species. Any thought or belief contrary to this concept is sheer nonsense and should not be given any importance.[/FONT]
You presented a biased, male chauvinistic, old fashioned view from the middle ages.
There has been considerable discussion amongst the scholars of Kashi on the controversy whether women have a right to chant Ved-Mantras. A girl student named Kumari Kalyani wanted to seek admission to a course in which Vedas were taught in Banaras Hindu University. The authorities refused to grant admission according to the prevalent belief on the ground that a woman, according to Shastras, had no right to chant Ved-mantras. This controversy continued for quite a long time. A paper "Sarvadeshik" published several articles in support of the right of women to study Vedas while the other paper "Sidhanta" took an opposite view. A deputation of Arya Samajists met University authorities and there was prolonged discussion on the subject. Ultimately, the University appointed a committee under the chairmanship of Mahamana Madan Mohan Malviya in which several Vedic scholars were included. The committee, after a thorough study of the shastras, gave a finding that women have the same right as men in respect of Vedas. Mahamana Malviyaji, who was considered as the standard bearer of Sanatan Dharma, announced this decision of the committee on 22nd August 1946. Kumari Kalyani was accordingly admitted to the course in which Vedas were taught and it was finally decided that henceforth women would have the right to study Vedas and there would be no discrimination on grounds of sex. Nobody can say that Mahamana Malviyaji and his learned colleagues could be hostile to the tenets of Sanatan Dharma. Their devotion to religion is well-known. What can be said about the wisdom of those persons who still persist in saying that women have no right to worship Gayatri when this controversy has been settled once for all by eminent persons like Malviyaji? The names of several learned women of the ancient times are still famous. References are found in Vedas about several women rishis being authors of several Ved-Mantras. It is, therefore, the duty of all social reformers to follow in this respect the decision given by Malviyaji who has been a rishi of the present age.
[FONT="]For countering the oft-repeated arguments against women ’s right to Gayatri worship, let us try to understand the basic principles of ancient Indian culture . It propounds a global religion, for the entire humanity. Nowhere does it support the illogical inequalities based on differentiation of caste, sex etc. The code of conduct in Hindu religion assigns equality of status to all human beings in all respects with unity and compassion as its basic tenets. Thus, the abridgement of natural human civil and religious rights of women is, therefore, not in conformity with authentic Indian spiritual tradition. On the contrary, Hindu culture regards the female of human species as superior to its male counterpart. How could then the wise sages of India deprive the women of practice of Gayatri Sadhana ? The spirit of Indian ethos is totally against any such discrimination. Gayatri is accessible to every individual of human species. Any thought or belief contrary to this concept is sheer nonsense and should not be given any importance.[/FONT]
tks
0
It is said (and I do not have direct references to specific verses to verify) that Sita in Valmiki Ramayana was initiated to do Sandhyavandanam.
It is also said that many of the wives of Rishis were themselves Rishis to whom Vedas were revealed as well.
There is this one blog that has some statements and I did not verify the authenticity of all the content.
https://ramanan50.wordpress.com/2015/03/22/sita-performed-sraddha-cursed-river/
In the blog there is some explanations as to why women and many others do not do Sandhyavandanam in our tradition.
Pranayama and recitation of Gayatri Mantra form the essence of doing Sandhyavandanam.
The entire ritual is not done for the welfare of the person doing the ritual but done for the welfare of everyone (it is about 'we' and 'us' and not 'I' and 'me')
http://www.tamilbrahmins.com/showthread.php?t=27035&p=347822#post347822
Women may want to do Gayatri japa daily and properly with the right intonations but not to any musical tunes (though many such CDs exist which is a distortion)
It is also said that many of the wives of Rishis were themselves Rishis to whom Vedas were revealed as well.
There is this one blog that has some statements and I did not verify the authenticity of all the content.
https://ramanan50.wordpress.com/2015/03/22/sita-performed-sraddha-cursed-river/
In the blog there is some explanations as to why women and many others do not do Sandhyavandanam in our tradition.
Pranayama and recitation of Gayatri Mantra form the essence of doing Sandhyavandanam.
The entire ritual is not done for the welfare of the person doing the ritual but done for the welfare of everyone (it is about 'we' and 'us' and not 'I' and 'me')
http://www.tamilbrahmins.com/showthread.php?t=27035&p=347822#post347822
Women may want to do Gayatri japa daily and properly with the right intonations but not to any musical tunes (though many such CDs exist which is a distortion)
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