sunthiyavandham

[Guest guest]

time. I need your opinion and also the info what is said in the nithya

anushtana kramam? adiyan padmanbhan.

14.4pt">washington d.c

padhma

 

 

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[Guest guest]

Dear Sri Padmanabhan:

 

PraNamas

 

Firstly, it is sandhyAvandhanam and not sunthiya.... No ritual is supposed to

be performed with out a bath and sandhyAvandhanam is no exception. In fact

parama vaideekAs take bath all the three kAlams (pratha:, madhyahnika and

sAyam). In this modern world people involved in laukika kAryam (going to work

etc,)it is not possible to take bath all the three times. This is what, I was

told by elders and many many vaideekas.

 

dAsan Srinivasan

 

ramanuja, padhma <padhma23 wrote:

>

> Dear Bhagawathas:

>

> Is it we can do morning sunthiyavandham without taking bath ? I heard that

in India the padasala students do sunthi and starting chanting the vedas or

prabhadhams in santhai murai. After the chanting they take bath in the river and

do the maathiyanikam during noon time.

>

> I need your opinion and also the info what is said in the nithya anushtana

kramam?

>

> adiyan

> padmanbhan.

> washington d.c

>

>

>

>

> padhma

> Mail

> Bring photos to life! New PhotoMail makes sharing a breeze.

>

[Guest guest]

Dear Sri Srinivasan Swamy,

 

>No ritual is supposed to be performed with out a bath and

>sandhyAvandhanam is no exception.

>From whatever I know, sandhyAvandhanam doesn't require one to have

taken bath. That is why during sandhyAvandhanam, we start with the

cleansing up using water "ApOhishta mayO...". Bathing is definitely

recommended, but is not mandated.

Moreover a Brahmana is not supposed to take bath more than once, in a

day, unless it is mandated by the Vedic Rituals (like during change of

poonal on Avaniavittam, shrArdham, grahanam etc).

 

sarva aparAdhAn kshamasva. Pardon me for my mistakes if any.

adiyen,

rAmAnuja dAsan.

[Guest guest]

poonal on Avaniavittam, shrArdham, grahanam etc).The shastras certainly do

recommend bathing more than once a day for a gRhastha.There is the

prAtaH-snAnam which is nitya and must be performed before

the morning sandhyA. If for some reason one is incapable to performa

vAruNa-snAna, i.e., with water, there are alternatives such as mantra-snAna or

at the least mAnasika-snAna, which is the purifying remembrance

of the lotus face of our Lord.During the ijyA-kAlam, mAdhyAhnika-snAnam should

be performed. Thisis mentioned by the dharma-sUtra-kAras such as Apastamba and

Bodhayana,not to mention the dharma-SAstra smRti texts. This snAnam is also

mentioned in Srimad Ramayana and Mahabharata, as well as in sampradAya granthas

such as Bhagavad Ramanuja's nitya and Swami Desika's pAncarAtra-rakshA. In fact,

Bhagavad Ramanuja begins the nitya with a description of this snAnam.

The lack of performance by nearly all gRhasthas today is only an indication of

our changing culture and circumstances and does not reflect the mandateof the

shastras.I should not forget to mention that the sannyAsin has the obligation

to perform

three snAnams, including one before the evening rituals.aDiyEn rAmAnuja dAsan

[Guest guest]

Dear members, praNAmams

 

SrI Mani has helpfully listed the shastraic references to

bathing and its importance in traditional Vaideeka lifestyle,

particularly with reference to sandhyAvandanam.

 

One thing that interests me during discussions regarding

shastraic prescriptions is how much such injunctions have fallen

into the realm of theoretical knowledge - and whether it is OK to

leave them there, or whether it is actually incumbent upon us all to

follow each letter of the shastra to the last degree.

 

I should make it clear from the outset that I am nowhere near

the second goal, and am not even sure I see the necessity. But I

have this dilemma when considering different aspects of my daily

religious practice. For example, in the discussion about bathing,

the is it possible that the frequent bathing recommended by the

shastras may be reflective of the warm climate in which vaideekas

traditionally lived? Bathing twice in colder countries doesn't

sound quite as sensible perhaps? It may also worsen dry skin

conditions - and despite the venerable sutra-kArAs being luminaries

of their time, did not forsee the geographical challenges that would

face us in the 21st century.

 

One may not find any difficulties with the general injunctions

to maintain cleanliness, perform prayers at the right time, etc.

But I am sure there are passages of 'shastra' that some would be

embarrassed to admit actually exist. For example, I am sure all

members are aware of some shastraic punishments prescribed for non-

traivarnikas hearing the Veda, and would agree that there is no

defense for such practices, then and certainly not now. But

fortunately (in my opinion at least), we see most Vaadhyaars these

days not limiting the attendance of any particular community at

Vedic recitations today (let alone trying to enforce those

punishments!). But at what point did it become OK to discard this

bit of shaastra?

 

Another issue with relation to following shaastras is what my

catholic friends sometimes refer to as "good old catholic guilt".

By setting ourselves up to an unrealistically high standard, could

it not be argued that we are setting ourselves up for an emotional

and psychologically worrying state that will do more harm than

good? Should a gRhasta of today, for example, feel guilty that his

job by which he supports his family makes him miss his midday

snAnam? Or, in fact, is such guilt merely the Lord's vehicle to urge

us to more fully conform to Bhagavaan's sankalpam and realise our

sheshatvam through steadily more and more complete observance of his

commands - and the only reason that we see such shastra demands as

unreasonable is only because of our clouded perception and

attachment to material things?

 

My last question is specifically related to our sampradaayam - I

remember reading on the Bhakti list archives (thanks again to SrI

Mani!) about Ramanuja's final commands to his devotees, one of which

went something along the lines of "Do not put your conviction on

trivial shaastras, put your faith in those that deal with God" (I

can't remember the reference) - which raises the question - where

should our focus be when worrying about which bits of shaastra we

are following and which bits we aren't? Is performance of snAnams

as outlined in the smRti texts one of these 'trivial' ones, or is it

in fact a God-related shaastra since it purifies us for His

upAsana? Although I may be biased towards the more liberal (or

lazy, depending on your viewpoint!) side of this argument, I would

be very interested to hear people's thoughts on both sides of this

issue, if they are interested. Sorry for the length.

 

namO nArAyaNAya

 

Ranjan

 

PS I was taught some Saama Vedam recitation in a traditional paaTha

shaala in Mysore where I saw some of the students performing morning

sandhyA before bath as the member originally indicated. It would

appear that even the traditional guardians of Vedic culture have a

flexible attitude to shaastram these days...

 

 

>

> The lack of performance by nearly all gRhasthas today is only an

indication

> of our changing culture and circumstances and does not reflect the

mandate

> of the shastras.