SandhyAvandanam and its significance

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Dear Members,

 

I had written in Visistadvaita_Shree_Vaishnava_Shree

an answer to a SrI VaishNava's question; The edited form of the

same reply is as follows:

 

>Out of Karma and Kainkaryam to the Lord SrimanNarayana,

>which is more important? And why?

 

Nithya-naimiththika karma is the most important thing. Its anushtAnam

is the first kainkaryam. The reasons are as follows:

The order of SAstra is " aharaha: sandhyAm upAsItha " . This means

that the tri-kAla-sandhyAvandanam (a nithya karma) has to be

done without fail. This anushtAnam removes the " prathyavAya

dOsham " and sins. Similarly the naimiththika karmas like "

grahaNa-kAla bath etc., must be done without fail. If a person

skips these nithya karmas then he is not fit to be called as

vaidika and therefore he is not a SrI VaishNava. He cannot

skip these karmas even for the sake of Bhagavath-kainkaryam

like going to temple etc. As these nithya-naimiththika karmas

are AagnyA karmas, they must be done as " Bhagavath AagnayA

SrIman NArAyaNa prIthyartham " . On the other hand, the anugnYa

karmas like going to temple, preparing flower garland for Lord

are only optional. It do not say that anugnyA karma is not

needed but I stress that AagnyA karma is mandatory.

 

BhagavAn himself has said,

 

" Sruthi: smruthi: mamaiva AagnyA

ya: thAm ullangya varthathE |

AagnyAchhEthi mama drohI

madbhakthO(a)pi na vaishNava: ||

 

As the sruthi smruthies are the AagnyA (order) of Lord SrIman

NArAyaNa, we should obey it properly without fail. BhagavAn has

ordered us to do nithya-naimiththika karmas without fail. So

if a person fails to execute his order, even if he is a

VishNu-Bhaktha, he is not treated as SrI VAishNava by Lord. He

will get nigraham (punishment) because he has violated the

Bhagavath-AagnyA. He who violates the order of the Lord becomes

the drohI.

 

" sandyAhI na: aSuchi: nithyam anarha: sarva-karmasu "

 

If a person failed to do the SandyAvandanam, he is impure and

he is not fit to do any karma - he is not fit to do Bhagavath

kainkaryam because he has violated the Bhagavath-AagnyA.

The person who does not do the nithya karma will be having daily

impurity and he is not fit to enter the VishNu-temple. Therefore

there is no scope for him to do any sort of kainkaryams further.

BhagavAn will not accept the kainkaryam of a person who failed

to do nithya karmas. Therefore, nithya-karma is the most important

one.

 

I have heard few telling " we love SrIman NArAyaNa. BhagavAn

wants only this love and not the anushtAnams like TirumAN

dhAraNam, nitya-karmAnsuhtAnams etc " . Such talk is meaningless.

This is because, they are not infact loving BhagavAn. A person

who loves SrIman NArAyaNa will first-of-all obey the Lord's

order sincerly and properly. Therefore, he who loves the Lord

will do his nitya-karma properly with SAtvika-tyAgam. Love for

Lord is following SAstra sincerly and properly.

 

Thus, the nithya-karmas like snAnam (bath), TirumAN (Urdhva-

puNdra-dharaNam), sandhyAvandanam are very very important

and these things must be done by SrI VaishNavas without fail

daily.

 

>I am working as a software engineer in Bangalore.

>Many days I am required to stay late to complete my work.

>I am pained because, I would like to do sandhyavandanam atleast

>by 7:00 PM.I also love to chant stotrams in His praise.

>In the above case, I reach home at around 10:00 in the night

>and do saayam-sandhyavandanam at that time. I feel very sad that

>I do it at such an odd time. Also I have no time to chant

>any slokas.Nevertheless I have been continuing to do it that way.

>I donot know if this is correct.

 

If you fail to chant the SlokAs (stavams-stuthi) on

SrIman NArAyNa then it is no harm and there is no mistake. But

if you fail to do SandyAvandanam, BhagavAn will not like

even if you chant thousands of SlokAs. Therefore even if it

is 10:00 pm in the night, do the sAyam-sandhyAvandanam. There

is no harm in it. Please do the prAaschiththa-arghyam if the

appropriate time is missed. But never skip the nitya-karma.

After doing the nitya-karma, if there is time, you can chant

the slokas. Even if you do not chant slokas then there is

no mistake. Because chanting slokas is a anugnyA karma only.

But nithya-karma is AagnyA karma and therefore the sandyAvandanam

cannot be skipped for any reason.

 

(prAthas-sandyAvandanam has to be done in morning when stars are

visible;

 

mAdyAhnika-sandyAvandanam has to be done when the sun is

in the middle of sky just above our head - noon time

 

syAyam-sandyAvandanam has to be done when the sun is going

to set in the west)

 

Even if these appropriate times are missed,

the sandyAvandanams cannot be skipped and must be done with

prAyaschithA.

 

>My AachArya has blessed me with Samasryanam and

>Bharanyasam to me about 4 years back..

>What is my duty? How should I act? Please enlighten.

 

I am very happy to know about your background details. Your

duty (dvija) is simple in 5 steps as given below:

1. Abhigamanam :

Getting up from the bed, chant " Hari: " seven times.

Think about Hari who came to grant moksha for gajEndra-Alwar.

Surrender to the lotus feet of Hari for daily kainkaryam

to take place properly. After Sudhdi, take bath with vastram

(snAna-SAtikA). One must NOT take bath without vastram.

Then mantra-snAnam. Wear dry

cloth and then TirumAn SrI chUrNam with mantra.

Chant the AachArya-thaniyans. Do PrAthas-sanyAvandanam.

As most of us go for office, you can do the mAdyAhnika-

sandyAvandanam also immediately after prAtha-sandyAvanadam.

 

2. upAdAnam: Collect the things like thulasi (this can

be collected only on specific days), flower etc and

prepare your mind to do Bhagavath AarAdhanam. Chant the

sahasranAma if you have time.

 

3. IgyA: For bhagavath-SAligrAma-mUrthy, do

AarAdhanam. As we go for office, you can do laghu-AarAdhanam

(simple AarAdhanam) and offer the food to BhagavAn.

After taking PerumAL-thIrtham, consume the food after

doing parishEshaNam. Then we can go to office. Believe me,

all these things can be done within one and half hours.

Of course I mean here the simplified method only. This

simplified method is appropriate for us and nothing wrong

in this.

 

4. swAdhyAyam: After comming from office, if there is time,

study the pUrva-AachArya-SrI-sUktis. Otherwise during

weekends, attend the kAlakshEpams offered by SrI VaishNava

VidwAns. Do the sAyam-sandyAvandanam. (if it is very late

night, even then do it without fail with prAyaschiththA)

 

5. yOgam: Goto sleep telling the name " mAdhava "

 

Thus is the SrI VaishNava dina-charyA in simple form.

This has been explained in detail in the vaidika-Aahnika grantams.

You can get to know it in detail from elders and vidwAns. But

whatever I have mentioned here is also a valid form but

in simple and pratical way for people like us going to office.

It is enough if we practise this simple form daily but without fail.

 

Only when a person has good vaidika-anushtAnam (Satvika (nivruthi) dharmam),

his jgnyAna gets its meaning. Otherwise, jgnyAna without anushtAnam becomes

useless.

 

Thanks & Regards

M.S.HARI RAmAnuaja DAsan (mshari)

 

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