The greatness of daily sandhyavandanam

  

OM  SHREE   GURUBHYO  NAMAHA

Sandhyavandanam is an upasana (prayer) to be performed at Dawn and Dusk. In tamil this is called morning and evening debt, though people have made deregatory remarks like brushing teeth, going to restroom and taking bath are the meaning of morning and evening debts. In reality only sandhyavandanam signifys morning and evening debt, which is karma to be performed without any expectation, the sole objective of which should be repayment of debt. This is an universal duty and is applicable to all castes and languages. In sanskrit it is called “SANDHYA VANDANAM” and it goes under different names in different languages. No one need to think that this is only for Brahmins and we have nothing to do with it. Brahmins use vedic Mantras for this. For a muslim this is NAMAZ, for a christian this is PRAYER and for hindus this is PRARTHANA. 

There is a way for some people who are perplexed that they are not aware of any such prayers amongst their caste / language. How did  the sixty-three saivaite saints (Nayanmars) or non brahmin Vashnavaite Saints (Alwars)

achieve greatness? Though not to their extent the prayers done at dawn and dusk without anticipation of any desire fulfillment is sandhyavandanam. After having discussed and argued about various religious cults Aadhi Shankara, the teacher par excellence had established six cults alone are indestructible, all of them equally efficacious, and people can reach GOD through any of them.

Of these SIX cults which ever appears to one , they can hold on to it rigidly with dedication, without selfish and fickleness of mind, carry on devotion with deep faith after receiving initiation from a competent guru.  But if their elders had been following a traditional method of devotion, one does not have the moral authority to change it. They can approach heads of mutt ( religious institutions)  in person, get familiarized with methods and by carrying on the prayers , they can also get released from debts towards Devtas.

Intellectual Atheists.

Sandhyavandanam Well done gives Brahmins the fruits of Veda Adhdhyayanam, of performance of Sacrifices (Yagyms) etc and is essential to be rid of debts towards Devtas and Rishis as also of various sins commited by them  thus purifying them,  and promoting their Welfare. The incantation (japa) of Gayathri in sandhyavandanam is extremely powerful and by doing Gayathri Japa (essence of three Vedas) in large numbers rids a person of Sins for not having done Veda adhyayna. Even though a person might have done large sacrifices (yagyam) he cannot give up doing sandhyavandanam as long as he lives. It is such an important daily duty. Gayathri Japa rids us of all our debts and can give us all the benefits. Some may argue: Agreed Gayathri japa is great. Will it not suffice to do japa of Gayathri Mantra in isolation? Why the hassle of Sandhyavandanam and the attended rituals prior and post Gaythri Japa? In today’s world when time is at a premium and when all are running around from 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM where is the time for performing Sandhyavandnam??Therefore I am doing incantation of Gayathri Manthra

whilst travelling,standing in que, walking etc. Will this not suffice?

Gayathri is Definitely A Powerful Manthra

Gayathri is definitely a powerful manthra but for it to be effective some preconditions have to be met.

Can Raw Uranium perform the functions of Uranium in an Atomic Reactor? only after due process can the powerful Uranium

be utilized which gives us power through Atomic power plants constructively, as well as Atom bomb destructively, and these things are not possible in raw state of uranium. A Diamond will glitter only when polished due proper processing. Similarly one should get

initiated into gayathri manthra properly in a prescribed manner from a Guru and after self purification through manthras and water in sandhyavandanam the gayathri japa should be performed with due faith, dedication and discipline and associated restrictions. Then alone, will it pave the way for cutting through the bindings of karma, and promote progressive welfare. We have to perform it, and we have no authority to ask for its benifits, but if undone punishment will follow, in a similar manner to our inability to ask for interest on our repayment of monthly instalments toward our debts. However we get absolved of troubles arising due non payment of our debts from competent authorities. For our other comforts and material benifits money earned through other means only can help and there are lots of ways for this described in the vedas. But without epayment of our debts

if we aspire to enjoy comforts it will only invite troubles. Hence along with sandhaya vandanam if other devta upasana (to propitiate devtas ) are done it will bring in lots of  benifits. But other karmas done to propitiate Devtas will be of no use without sandhya vandanam.

Let us now consider another example to establish that sandhya vandanm is a duty. A soldier stiffly salutes an army officer, whether the officer oberves his salute or not as it is his duty to salute. Just because of soldier’s salute the officer is neither particularly pleased, nor recommends his oromotion and consequent rise in wages. On the other hand if the said soldier  

does not salute he is in for trouble as per army protocol.

Just because the soldier has to show respect to the army officer he cannot do namaste (Indian form of greeting) with folded hands in a civilian form of greeting. A stiff army style salute will only be appropriate. When we give so much respect to man made rules how can we disobey the laws made by vedas and sages and how will it benefit us? Let us now see how a man spends his day and of which how much time is wasted. Suppose a man gets up at 6:30 am    

By the time he finish brushing his teeth, rest room and coffee to read news paper it will be 7:00 am. He will by 8:00 am go for walking, jogging etc and be back by 8:45 am. After shower and urgent breakfast it will be 9:30 am by the time he leaves for office. Let us say he spends from 10:30 am till 6:00 pm in office. He will be back home by 7:00 pm. After freshening up he will spend till 8:30 pm with children books etc. Dinner by 8:30pm after which TV till 10:30pm then sleep till next morning and same routine again. If given some suggestion he will immediately jump complaining lack of time what with all sorts of office pressures and family problems etc. In case he does some form of prayer for ten minutes it will be full of applications for fulfillment of various desires. In this also many feel  Lazy to do sandhyavandanam. Many will have photograph of some God or some Baba and thinking that praying to that particular Baba or God is enough to propitiate all devtas do some sort of pooja, but not without selfishness asking for fulfillment of so many desires. If the results are not forthcoming then he will dicard that photo and go running after some swamijee or some cult figure (Manthravaadi). If we go on like this, how will there be any progress in our lives? No one should desire for anything, as it is TRUE that desires alone are cause of all our miseries. To advise thus is not the aim of this book and there is no use of such advise at this juncture. The main aim of this book is to show a proper way for fulfillment of our just desires. 

Thinking only about us at all times cannot give us happiness and peace. We have to strive for it in a proper way. In twentyfour hours, for atleast Twenty four minutes we should pray to God unselfishly without any expectation, application for any desire fulfillment etc. This is why Sages and saints have found ways and means after performance of strenuous penance , discovering sandhya vandanam and gayathri japam which when performed diligently as per rules frees a man of debts thus promoting his welfare. we have to bear it in mind that had they not discovered a way of making us debt free how much of trouble we would have had to undergo to discover such ways and means by ourselves. Probably because we received this discovery painlessly many are careless. Instead of selfishly running around all the time, if we gratefully pray, desirelessly without any anticipation, as a way of repayment of debts lots of benifits will be accrued. We should only perform it after due initiation in a proper manner from a competent Guru. We can acquire ten minutes from walking / jogging time and another ten minutes from reducing our sleep time, another five minutes from time spent reading news papers and in this way can definitely perform morning sandhya vandanam and maadhyanikam. Don’t we say where there is a will there is a way ? If only we have faith and dedication this is possible. Sandhyavandanam and gayathri japam performed unselfishly can also give us prosperity. Though we have no right to ask for fruits yet sandhya vandanam thus performed will help towards our progress ie there will be definite all round improvement and mental clarity.

Progress does not mean only economic progress. All round progress that of improvement in our mental and intellectual capability in particular alone can be beneficial. Money is also required But money alone is not life.

People who do not perform the daily duties

Let us now see the condition of people who fail to perform their daily duties.

How can people who have fallen from their responsibilities live peacefully? One who tries to cheat the debt giver will not have courage to face him. People having debts towards devtas and ancestors will not have firm mind and clarity of thought and with confuse intellect they will be unable to take appropriate decisions ie Sun and Moon will not help him and consequently he will face dire situation. When faced with problems

a man without firm and tranquil mind will ge angry. Mars will frequently make him get angry, and as we all know when overcome with anger intellect cannot function properly. As it is he does not posses firm, tranquil mind and overcome with anger frequently, with his intellect being unable to function with clarity how can he be happy or have any thought of Love, Romance etc? When a man is unable to hold conversation and laugh due to all these tension, which girl will desire him? Even his wife will continue to co-exist having nowhere to go, cursing her fate and thus he will not have any domestic happiness and as such our man will lovingly be sheltered by Saturn. He will be an embodiment of sadness failing in all his ventures having lost faith in himself will constantly be afraid of everything. Unhappy, sorrowful and angry he will harbour hatred , disgust and will be jealous of other people’s happiness and success. This way he will go on committing more sins, for which he will suffer a lot in this birth, and with the balance of sins being carried over to future births, he will continue to suffer in future births as well. 

Vedic Performances for Repayment of Debts

Navagrahas (Nine Planets) get lot of importance in all vedic rituals beginning from sandhya vandanam, because these Nine Planets act in the role of postmen for delivering pleasure and pain to us directly commensurate with our merits and demerits. Amongst devtas (celestial beings)

there are two Postmen. One:- Navagrahas responsible for controlling / influencing our mental modes and delivering fruits of our karma performed in the past and present births. Two:- Agni (Fire God)for delivering to the respective Devtas, the Oblations (Aahuthis)We offer for them in vedic rituals like Yagyas (Sacrifices), homams etc. ie  AGNI -To take our offerings to Devtas  Navagrahas to bring fruits of our karmas.  Without Us sending something to Devtas neither can We expect nor demand that devtas should help us in time of our need. Thus vedic rituals help us in repayment of or debts. There are also ways to enhance our merits. In this manner Vedas help us to establish relationship between us and devtas. So long as we keep feeding devtas through oblations offered in vedic rituals they will through navagrahas keep  promoting our prosperity. Neglecting all these it is futile to keep holding on to navagrahas alone.

 Without repayment of our Loans if We keep saving money in fixed deposits alone what will be the result? When we ask for redemption of fixed deposits, the bank will deduct amount pending towards our debt, and will give the balance only, if any left. At the same time if we keep paying monthly instalments towards our loan amount and also keep saving money in fixed deposits Bank will give us pricipal plus interest accrued when we need the money. If We foreclose our fixed deposits prior maturity the rate of interest will get reduced and there may even be penality for early foreclosure. Similarly if we demand fruits of any virtuous actions performed in this life we will get, but the quantum will be less. If we perform pooja, homam (havan - fire worship) and allied prayers without repayment of debt in the form of prescribed daily duties they will NOT be fruitless, but as mentioned above they will be accounted against our debts and only balance if any will reach us. Many a time we may get nothing.

Along with performance of our prescribed daily duties (at least sandhya vandanam as a minimum loan repayment amount) if we keep performing other vedic rituals whenever possible for prosperity and progress our investments in this manner

will yield results either in this birth or future births. Also it is not very noble to peform rituals only in anticipation of fruits and when thus done for the sake of desire fulfillment alone the quantum of fruit will be attenuated. But if we are patient to let the fruits of our performance(s) mature then this quantum will be enhanced. This is the reason why Shree Krishna says in Bagwad Gita “Thou have right to perform action but not to the fruits there of” . In performance of daily prescribed duties one has no right to ask for fruits, as one is indebted. For performanes of other special poojas, homam, yagya etc if fruits are asked its strength will be reduced. Accepting when they come on their own will be beneficial.      

For people who feel doing Sandhyavandanam is difficult, the following  past incident, will be an eye opening lesson.

Once lots of people had gathered to hea Mahatma Gandhi’s speech. A twelve year old girl carrying a child on her hips was standing unable to find a seat. Noticing her Gandhi asked her as to how she can stand patiently carrying the weight (child on her hips)? The girl retorted

“Weight? this is my brother”. Gandhi was dumbfounded. Her query was how can it be weight when he is her brother.

It may not be scientifically correct but psychologically it is. If We commence doing sandhya vandanam

doubting whether it is necessary, it will appear to be waste of time, but when done with conviction that it has to be done then it will appear as our duty and we will not desire to let go of it.

It is not wrong to entertain just desires, problem arises inly in efforts made towards their fulfillment. We only trust in economic means of our desire fulfillment, which is tantamount to building construction without foundation, certain to fall down prior completion. Similarly Sandhyavandanam is the essential foundation of our efforts made towards progressive and prosperous life without which other efforts will be futile.

We go with our children  to Amusement Parks (like Golden Beach in Chennai, Appu Ghar in N.Delhi). Once inside there are lots of items for entertainment for all age groups to experience,  which we will have to pay for each item individually. But we canonly enter the park on payment of entrance fee. Similarly an Amusement Park called Prosperous life contains  lots of various attractions.

We can experience desired, needed entertainment through individual efforts (Merits acquired through various upasana, rituals etc). But the

entrance Fee, to this Amusement Park is daily duties performed at dawn and dusk caled Sandhya Vandanam. That is to return the debts incurred to Devtas , Rishis and ancestors. Once inside as long as we have money in the form of past and pesent merits we can enjoy different enertainment facilities. But even though we may have money in the form of merits, We still have to get the entry permit to enter through the

ONLY WAY in to the Amusement park called Prosperous Life.

Thus there is only one way  for propering in life

Om  Shanhi     Shanthi   Shanthi