Sandyavandanam - Questions

[indianassault]

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Hi All,
I recently started or trying to start Sandyavandanam after 20 years or so. Just wondering about it contents.​

It heavily praises the nature, the supreme God , navagrahas, yama, Gayatri and Vishnu.​

There is no mention of Shiva. At one point it says "Brahmavai namaha, Vishnave Namaha and Mrutyuve Namaha" .​

Whats the story? Did it get altered in the course of time?
Not trying to start an Iyer-Iyengar debate, but curious since either scriptures were dedicated to one GOd.​

This one has multiple but misses mentioning Siva completely.
​

 

[vikrama]

God is one and He is called by different wise men differently. This is the essence of Rig veda. एकं सत् विप्रा बहुधा वदन्ति.
Though nameless, He has been given thousands of names.
ஒரு நாமம் ஓருருவம் இல்லார்க்கு ஆயிரம் திருநாமங்கள் பாடி நாம் தெள்ளேணம் கொட்டாமோ.
What we call the names of God are only His attributes. Siva is one of His attributes, meaning the auspicious. Vishnu is another, meaning spread everywhere. Siva and Vishnu are not two separate entities, but the attributes of the one absolute supreme. Hence don't bother that there is no Siva in Sandhyavandanam.
So far the philosophical explanation. Now viewed from historicaal angle, Siva is a relatively new god
compared to Vishnu. The Siva cult came into vogue only after Lakulisa of the second century C.E.
In Tamilnadu, it merged into the worship of the death-god, Sudalai Madan. Hence mrtyave namaH is synonymous with Sivaya namaH.

 

[Iyyarooraan]

Sandhyavandanam is a cultic invention. But god is one and sarvam vishnumayam jagat! There goes the gong - the meals are ready.

 

[tks]

Hi All,
I recently started or trying to start Sandyavandanam after 20 years or so. Just wondering about it contents.​

It heavily praises the nature, the supreme God , navagrahas, yama, Gayatri and Vishnu.​

There is no mention of Shiva. At one point it says "Brahmavai namaha, Vishnave Namaha and Mrutyuve Namaha" .​

Whats the story? Did it get altered in the course of time?
Not trying to start an Iyer-Iyengar debate, but curious since either scriptures were dedicated to one GOd.​

This one has multiple but misses mentioning Siva completely.
​

One of the real question you may want to answer to *only* yourself is the motivation for you to undertake this practice at this time after a gap of 20 years.


Sandhyavandanam is not about any praise of anyone per se to get transactional benefits from some "devata" though such interpretation do exist among many 'uninformed'.

There are many other ignorant and possibly offensive interpretations exist as well about this practice. We need viveka to stay away from such people.

There are many other threads about Sandhyavandanam in this forum that may be beneficial.

The practice is considered part of our 'Nitya Karma' conducted primarily to quieten our often agitated mind. A mind so 'purified' will allow for the possibility for one to see the reality the way it is.

The sankalpa or the commitment to begin Sandhyavandanam is for " DURITAKSHAYA DWARA SRI PARAMESWARA PREETHYARTHAM" etc which is about wanting to remove impurity (of the mind on a daily basis).

The invocation of Isvara is not about pleasing Isvara (though such interpretations exists) but it is about a person being aligned with the 'whole' (Isvara representing the 'whole' and Dharma).

Water (represented as a Devata in Vedic style) is then used to symbolically wash the 'mind'. We use the water to wash our body and organs. In the same spirit the 'inner organ' of the mind is also washed symbolically with water. Invocations of all pervading form of the Lord (Vishnu) is also done again in the spirit of purification of the mind.

The preliminary steps continue with prayer and salutations to many forms of Isvara (including devatas for various planets) so that one's ego/mind is under check through this purification process.

Next is a sankalpa or commitment step to do Mantra Japa meditation using Gayatri Mantram.

The practice includes Pranayama to break the cycle of thoughts at key junctures.

Meditation and Pranayama are known to have excellent benefits to our body, mind (emotion) and intellect even in terms of recent neuroscience studies.

Depending on where one is at in terms of their Sadhana there are few interpretations of the Gayatri Mantra.

The common meaning is something like "We meditate upon the effulgent glory of the Divine Light; may Isvara inspire our understanding and activate our intellect"

Sandhya Devi, the female principle of Isvara is invoked in the Solar Orb during the meditation. It is a role play which concludes by asking Sandhya Devi to symbolically stay at the top of a mountain watching over us.

The concluding rituals include more prayers include prayers to Akasha (space) by bowing to all directions.

Mrithyu - Lord of Time/Change is symbolically thought of as Siva also (as Sri Vikrama has pointed out)

Also this passage narrated by a few include invocations to Lord Siva in some interpretations

"Ritagum Satyam Param Brahma Purusham Krishna-pingalam //
Oorddhwaretam Viroopaksham Viswaroopaya Vai Namo Namah //
Viswaroopaaya Vai Namo Nama Om Nama Iti "

The conclusion of prayerful meditation is with recitation of 'Kayen vacha' which means

- Whatever have done with the Body, mind and intellect ,I surrender them to Isvara without personal ownership.

While I have not done justice to the whole practice with this brief write up, I wanted to share very basic information about this ritual.

If our attitude is right, the benefits of purified mind can lead one towards Isvara.

 

[indianassault]

One of the real question you may want to answer to *only* yourself is the motivation for you to undertake this practice at this time after a gap of 20 years.


.

Motivation is to start praying for the larger good. When Mount Everest itself it shaky, there has to be something terribly wrong somewhere. So thought I can start praying for the people affected.
I do donate for their relief but this one s equally good too.

Thnks al for the other points.

 

[Krishna Hare]

The generic answer to your question is in the word itself. Sandi- the transition time from light to dark and dark to light. Vandanam - meaning Namaskaram. Hence this is basically a prayer to the Almighty called BRAHMAN in real vedic sense and not to any specific form of god. The Abhivadhaye is basically your visiting card showing / telling about yourself and family antecedence.

 

[CHANDRU1849]

Shiva worship probably is the oldest. Its influence can be found in Islam and Protestant Christianity (Only God worship and no idol worship).

As per information, people belong to the first three varnas wear Poonal. It is likely that, in order to differentiate from other two varnas, Bs might have invented Sandhyavandhanam concept. It might have been a later day phenomenon.

 

[tks]

Motivation is to start praying for the larger good. When Mount Everest itself it shaky, there has to be something terribly wrong somewhere. So thought I can start praying for the people affected.
I do donate for their relief but this one s equally good too.

Thnks al for the other points.

Wish you all the best in your effort!

Let me share a few thoughts since recent calamities have affected many people.


1. All prayers in Hindu tradition is to the welfare of all including the atheists and criminals.
2. The visible benefit of prayer of any kind, when it is sincere, is that the person praying feels a sense of peace. It is not possible to correlate any other effects of prayer in terms of results.
3. Mount Everest is shaky, and there will be ongoing calamities for any number of reasons. It is all part of the grand scheme of Nature that is not decipherable. All we can do is to be unaffected and offer our help in any form when & where possible. I am reminded of a verse in B.Gita in chapter 2

दुःखेष्वनुद्विग्नमनाः सुखेषु विगतस्पृहः ।
वीतरागभयक्रोधः स्थितधीर्मुनिरुच्यते ॥ २-५६॥

Sri Sankara in his commentary talks about three kinds of disturbances that can affect us.

1. adhyatmika cause - Being affected by state of our body and mind like aches and pains
2. adhibhautika cause - Being affected by others including people, animals, bugs and other environmental variables
3. adhidaivika - Being affected by causes of "Daivam" for want of a better word. This includes cyclones, earth quakes , fire etc

A wise person is said to be unaffected by all such disturbances.

Such a wise person will have enormous positive effect in the world.

An important prerequisite for any quest to be wise as stated by Sri Krishna is calmness of mind. Daily practices such as Sandhyavandanam (and this can be done by anyone) can certainly help one to quieten the mind which is an important preparation to help ourselves and others.

PS: The saying of Om Shanti, shanti, shantihi (three times).. corresponds to prayer for peace for the above three areas of disturbances in our life

 

[sangom]

Hi All,
I recently started or trying to start Sandyavandanam after 20 years or so. Just wondering about it contents.​

It heavily praises the nature, the supreme God , navagrahas, yama, Gayatri and Vishnu.​

There is no mention of Shiva. At one point it says "Brahmavai namaha, Vishnave Namaha and Mrutyuve Namaha" .​

Whats the story? Did it get altered in the course of time?
Not trying to start an Iyer-Iyengar debate, but curious since either scriptures were dedicated to one GOd.​

This one has multiple but misses mentioning Siva completely.
​

Sandhyaavandanam (SV) is a form for daily prayer prescribed for the three "higher" Varnas according to our smritis which are held to be ancient. This SV was not prescribed for the fourth Varna and, although different opinions are often expressed nowadays, women of the three higher Varnas also were excluded from performing SV in the laid down manner. The inclusion or exclusion of one deity or another is immaterial. We smarthas say in the SV samkalpam (Sree Parameswara preetyartham = with a view to getting the blessings of Sree Parameswara, i.e., Lord Siva) but possibly the vaishnavas have a different version of it.

SV has, as its central theme, the gaayatree japa, the recitation of one rik which prays for motivating "our" (नः) "intellects (धियः) in the proper direction. To the extent we perform this gaayatree recitation with sincerity, it may bestow good for the world. However, our long history (of brahmins, as also of the world itself) is ample testimony to the fact that humans go on increasing their bad karmas which, in turn, results in new births with further evil/destructive tendencies and perhaps this is an in-built, "self-destruct" mechanism in the creation itself.

As hapless individuals what we can do is to pray for universal welfare and for all humans to adopt the ways suitable to natural law or ऋतं.

श्रॆयॊ भूयात् सकलजनानाम्, a bit from a famous song composed by a sanskrit scholar, succinctly puts the prayer which each one of us may or should always do, in addition to our SV.

 

[Raji Ram]

........ श्रॆयॊ भूयात् सकलजनानाम्, a bit from a famous song composed by a sanskrit scholar, succinctly puts the prayer which each one of us may or should always do, in addition to our SV.

Shri Kanchi Maha Periyavar composed this song for MS Amma, to sing at the United nations.

Here is the song: Maithreem Bhajatha

 

[mkrishna100]

I read in one book that traditionally Sandhya Vandanam was done only twice i.e in morning and evening and the afternoon Sandhya Vandanam ( Madhyanmikam ) was a later addition . Can anyone confirm this ?

 

[P.J.]

I read in one book that traditionally Sandhya Vandanam was done only twice i.e in morning and evening and the afternoon Sandhya Vandanam ( Madhyanmikam ) was a later addition . Can anyone confirm this ?

Has the "madhyanikam" been followed since vedic times?

This is done as midday prayers at the sandhi kala of
purvanha and aparanha (ie. junction of before noon with after noon) this is
an ancient practice as old as our dharmashastras. In fact on the day of
poonal, the vatu or the brahmachari is first initiated into Sandhyavandana
teaching him madhyanhika on that day, since typically, poonals are performed
in the morning (not evening), the next prayer is madhyanhika. This is as
ancient as other two sandhyavandanas prathaha and sayam of the day. The
mantras "Asatyena rajasa.... and pasyem sharadasshatam, jeevema
sharadasshatam etc. are related to the madhyanhika quite closely even
considering their meaning ...
which ends in "jyokcha suryam drishe" - indicating "sight of surya".

But the question pops up, how can office going working people do
madhyanhika at the right time? so why not skip it!!


The answer is simple, just do it in the morning before coming to work. This
is not optimal but " sa dosham api na tyajet". (bhagawadgita) - nitya karma
should not be avoided even though they may have mistakes. How many of us
can do pratah sandhya at the right time before sunrise or at sunrise every
day? It is not practical. but we do it later at a convenient time.
Similarly madhyanhika should be done in these modern times during morning
after sandhyavandana.

Probably this answers your doubt

Please read from here
Re: significance of madhyaanikam