Sandhya Vandana

Sandhyavandana (Sanskrit: संध्यावन्दन, sandhyāvandana) is a mandatory religious ritual performed, traditionally, by Dvija communities of Hindus, particularly those initiated through the sacred thread ceremony referred to as the Upanayanam and instructed in its execution by a Guru, in this case one qualified to teach Vedic ritual. The Sandhyavandanam consists of recitation from the Vedas, accompanied by ritual. These rituals are performed three times a day - at morning (prātaḥsaṃdhyā), noon (mādhyāhnika) and evening (sāyaṃsaṃdhyā).

The Sandhyavandanam is the oldest extant liturgy in world religion. As a practice, it may be descended from the much older daily Agnihotra ritual.

Sandhyavandanam literally means "salutation to Sandhya". Sandhya, in turn, has traditionally been interpreted either as "the transition moments of the day" (namely the two twilights dawn and dusk), or as "the solar noon". Thus, Sandhyavandanam may be defined as the ritual "salutation to twilight or the solar noon".

The term sandhyā, when used by itself in the sense of "daily practice", may also refer to the performance of these rituals at the opening and closing of the day.

The steps in the Sandhyavandan always include the following essential components:

In addition to the above Vedic components of the Sandhyavandanam, many include the following Tantric component:

The steps in the Rigveda Sandhyavandan are twenty-eight in number. The emerging need to perform the Sandhyaavandanam daily is supposedly increasing .

Poorvaangam

Meaning of Mantra - Pranava - Om means eeswarah (implying that God is everything). Vyahrithihi) - Bhu, bhuvaha etc. refer to 7 upper lokas (other 7 lower lokas are implied) are all God. Gayatri - Simple meaning - I meditate upon the light of the sun which activates our intelligent) Gayatri shiras (again says that God is everything - All waters (aapo), lights (jyothi), essences/nourishment(raso), God's nourishment (amrutham) is God).

Chanting of the Gayatri mantra, traditionally, is done 32, 64 or 108 times (it depends on the person doing sandhyavandana; he can chant any number of times. "YathaSakti Gayatri mantra japam karishye" was the sankalpam in Sandhya vandana), depending upon the prescriptions of the practitioner's Veda and Sutra, an integral part of Sandhyavandanam. In addition to the mantra, the ritual of saṃdhyā includes other rites that are purifying and preparatory (Sanskrit: śuddhi mantras), serving to prevent distracting thoughts and bring focus to the mind. Some of these are propitiatory libations of water to the Gods of the planets and of the months of the Hindu calendar, atoning for Sandhyavandanams not performed and atoning for sins committed since the last hour of Sandhya. In addition, one of the most important rituals of Sandhyavandanam involves worshiping the Sun as Mitra in the morning and worshiping Varuna, in the evening.

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Wikipedia