sandhyavandanam

[Guest guest]

The Iyengars ( vaishanvite brahmins ) have a series of

rituals to be intiated to from birth: Namakaranam,

Annaprasanam, Aksharabhyasam, Upanayanm, Vivaham, etc.

At the time of Upanayanm ( 7 + ), he isintiated into

being a brahmin ( Dwija ), and is instructed to do his

daily rituals ( thrice a day ). Sandhayavandanam

includes confession in its mantras. He also promises

to renounce Kama(passion) and ego(manyu). He leads a

celebate life till marriage.

Since Vivaham requires Upanayanam, it is essential

that you have Upanayanm if you want vedic marriage.

It happened to my son, whose in-laws preferred a

Vedic wedding.

The positive aspect of Upanayanm is the rousing of a

young man's concience to a disciplined lif of

studies.

One can get translations of Snadhyavandanam in

Higginbothams, Madras. My fried Ranga feels it is not

accurate. Another interesting aspect is Abivadhaye which

may help us know our genealogy ( rather restricted

to the male ancestry, another chauvinistic aspect

of all religions ( man did it ).

Sorry I trussled some feathers on the Hindu, but I am

sure many of you are against school prayers etc.

I agree it does take too much time, keeping up

with prapatti. Krish