SrimatE Raamaanujaaya Namaha //
SrimatE Nigamaanta Mahaa Desikaaya Namaha //
SrIman! SrI Ranga Sriyam anupadravam anudhinam Samvardhaya/
SrIman! SrI Ranga Sriyam anupadravam anudhinam Samvardhaya//
KAvEri VardhathAm kAlE, kAlE varshathu vAsava: /
SrI RanganAthO jayathu Sri Ranga Sri cha VardhathAm//
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SRI RANGA SRI VOL.07 / ISSUE # 38 dated 01st February 2006
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IN THIS ISSUE
AN INTRODUCTION ON THE SIGNIFICANCE OF ?SANDHYAAVANDANAM?
(ANBIL RAMASWAMY)
A WRITE UP ON THE SIGNIFICANCE OF ?UPA-NAYANAM? FUNCTION
(SRI N.KRISHNAMACHARIAR SWAMI OF CHICAGO)
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EDITORIAL
Dear Bhagavatas:
The last 3 or 4 weeks have been very hectic for me.
? Hope you would have enjoyed the postings on Tiruppavai on "One-a-day"
basis throughout the month of Margazhi.
? A series of lectures were arranged by Bhagavatas in Atlanta area on
consecutive Saturdays on ?Hanumat Prabhaavam? in connection with Hanumat
Jayanti, Aarthi Prabandham of Sri MaNavaaLa Maamunigal and Andal Prabhaavam
in connection with Andal TirukkalyaaNa MahOtsavam in the Hindu Temple of
Atlanta. ADiyEn was also commanded to give a short talk on the Significance
of ?Tirumanjanam? to PerumaaL.
Excerpts of these will be posted in subsequent issues.
? On 20th January 2006, aDiyEn visited Cleveland to perform the ?Gruha
pravEsam? of my daughter?s new home there.
By the grace of Divya Dhampatis and the blessings of Achaaryas, all the
above events got completed successfully.
SANDHYAVANDANAM CLASSES
Some Bhagavatas have been expressing their desire to learn performing
?Tiruvaradana kramam?. I suggested that they should first learn doing
?Sandhya Vandanam?, if they have had their Upanayanam and for some reason
had missed doing that ?Nitya karma?. I assured them that they need not feel
shy for the omission and that when one was heading in the wrong direction,
the Lord allowed a ?U? turn. But, the bottom line was that once they start
doing now, they should make a firm resolution not to skip doing under any
circumstances.
I was surprised to see at least a dozen people who evinced interest in
learning (in fact, re-learning). I must congratulate them for their honesty
in acknowledging their omissions, for their uninhibited earnestness to join
the classes and for their firm commitment to strictly observe the Nityakarma
in future.
Accordingly, we commenced classes on ?Yajus ? Sandhya Vanadanam? on 20th
January 2006..
A hand out was distributed to them by way of introduction and followed it up
with a presentation on the significance and necessity to do this important
rite.
We include in this Issue the text of the handout for the benefit of other
aspirants who may not be able to attend in person.
THE CLASSES ARE CONDUCTED ABSOLUTELY FREE PURELY AS BHAGAVAT KAINKARYAM.
THE CLASSES WILL BE HELD FROM 11.00 am TO 12.00 noon ON SUCCESSIVE SATURDAYS
FROM 4th FEBRUARY 2006.
Sri N. Krishnamachariar Swami of Chicago has kindly contributed an article
on the ?Upa-nayanam? ritual. We are glad to feature the same in this issue.
======================================================
184 Regular issues have been released, so far besides several Special
Issues)
- 27 Issues of Vol. 1
- 15 Issues of Vol. 2
- 42 Issues of Vol. 3
- 35 Issues of Vol. 4
- 28 Issues of Vol. 5 &
- 37 Issues of Vol. 6
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SIGNIFICANCE OF ?SANDHYAAVANDANAM?
(ANBIL RAMASWAMY)
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SANDYAA VANDANAM ? Part 1
WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF LIFE?
Are there any goals to be achieved? Does life consist only of the routine of
eating, mating, dating and muting that lies between birth and death? Is
there anything that lies beyond what meets the eye? What are the objectives
of life here? Where do we go from here? Quo Vadis?
These are some of the questions that have engaged the earnest consideration
of thinkers all over the world from time immemorial. But, long before others
could even comprehend the purpose of life, Hinduism had not only identified
the answers but had also classified them as Dharma (Virtue), Artha (Material
prosperity), Kaama (Hedonic pleasures) and Moksha (Salvation). It will be
seen that the secondary objectives of Artha and Kama have been adroitly
sandwiched between the primary objectives of Dharma and Moksha. This is to
emphasize that they should be regulated on Dharmic principles, if one wants
salvation, the ultimate objective of life.
HOW DO WE GET THIS KNOWLEDGE?
We get this knowledge from the Vedas, the basic and the most sacred of
scriptures of Hinduism. The word ?Veda? means ?knowledge? ? knowledge of
Brahman and how to attain Brahman, which in other words, means ?Moksha?. The
Vedas have laid down various rites for this purpose called ?Samskaras? or
rites.
WHAT IS UPANAYANAM?
The first rite or Samskara for a male child is ?Upa-nayanam?. ?Upa? means
?near? and ?nayanam? means, ?lead up to?- (i.e.) ?lead up near to Brahman?.
Investing the sacred thread called ?YagnOpavitam? does this.
WHAT IS YAGJNOPAVITAM?
This is a thread worn around the body from left shoulder to navel and back
to left shoulder via the back. The ?YagjnOpavitam? or the ?sacred thread? is
regarded as born with the creator God - the four faced Brahma Himself and
therefore, considered pure (pavitram) and should not be used as a kind of
key holder or a scrubber to relieve itching! ?YagjnOpavitam paramam
pavitram, prajaapate: yath saha-jam? (saha-jam = born together)
WHO IS A ?BRAHMACHARi??
On this investiture, the boy becomes a Brahmachari (celibate) ?Brahmacharya?
entitles him to commence his studies of Vedas. For the Brahmachari, celibacy
is his forte, discipline is his norm, devotion to his Guru is his duty and
concentration in studies (Vedic studies) is his vocation. In fact, the rite
is considered to confer on him ?a second birth? and he is thereafter called
a ?Dvi-ja?- meaning ?twice-born?, (the first birth being of course the
biological birth). There is a famous slOka that says that one may be known
as a Brahmin by birth, a twice-born (Dvija) by Samskara, a learned person
(Vipra) by education and a Vedic exponent (SrOtriya) by acquiring all the
three.
?janmanaa BraahmaNo jnEya: samskaarai: Dvija uchyate /
vipratvam vidyayaa chaapi thribi: srOtriya uchyate //?
WHAT IS ?GAYATRI MANTRAM??
This is accompanied by his initiation into the ?Mantra? called ?Gaayatri
Mantra?.
The word ?Gaayatri? means, ?That which protects the one who chants the
mantra ? ?Gaayantham thraayate iti Gaayatri?.
WHAT IS ?SANDHYA VANDANAM??
After going thorough this rite, one is required to perform what is known as
?Sandhyaa Vandanam?- celebrating the ?Communion with Brahman?. This is
required to be done thrice daily in the morning at dawn, at midday when the
Sun is at its zenith and in the evening at dusk. This means not only the
conjunction of day and night but also communion of the individual soul
(Jivaatma) with the Universal soul (Paramaatma). This thrice performed
?Sandhyaa Vandanam? daily is called a ?Nitya karma? (i.e) ?to be done daily?
as distinct from ?Naimittika karma? which is ?to be done occasionally?.
WHY SHOULD WE DO ALL THESE?
The Scriptures declare that the Vedas including Samhitas, Braahmanas,
Aranyakas and Upanishads (collectively known as Sruthi or heard) and the
epics and lore contained in Itihaasas, Puranas and Agamas etc (collectively
known as Smritis or remembered) are verily the command of the Supreme Lord.
Vishnu Dharmottaram 6.31 cautions -
?Sruti Smriti mamaiva aagjnaa ya: tham ullanghya vartate /
Aagjnaachedee mama DrOhi math bhaktOpi na vaishNava:?
Meaning
?Sruti and Smriti are my commandments. Anyone who fails to carry out these
commands will be considered traitors.
We know what happens when we transgress the ?rule of law? even in our
mundane world. It is equally so, when we transgress the ?laws of the Lord?.
And, doing Sandhyaa Vandanam is the foremost ?Nitya karma? that cannot be
skipped under any circumstances.
WHAT HAPPENS IF WE FAIL TO DO THIS?
Daksha Smriti 2.27 further avers:
?Sandhyaa heena: asuchir nityam anarha: sarva karmasu /
yad anyath kuruthe karma na tasya phalbhaag bhavEth?//
Meaning:
?The one who does not perform Sandhyaa Vandanam is deemed impure forever and
is unfit to do any other karma. Without doing Sandhyaa Vandanam, any karma
done by him like studying scriptures (PaaraayaNam), chanting prayers
(StOtras), offering gifts (Daanam), performing ceremonies and even going to
temples to worship - will all be futile and fruitless?.
WHAT IF WE HAVE NO TIME FOR THIS?
The whole exercise will take no more than 8 minutes for each and totally 24
minutes in all. We have 24 hors in a day out of which we need to set apart a
bare 24 minutes for all this. - The least price one has to pay for the
privilege of access to ?Gaayatri", the most sacred and priceless of all
mantras of Hinduism.
WHAT ARE THE COMPONENTS OF SANDYA VANDANAM?
Sandhyaa Vandanam consists of two parts, ?Jala bhaaga? (Water part) and
?Japa bhaaga? (Meditation part).
JALA BHAAGA consists of -
?Achamanam? - sipping of water,
?PrOkshaNam? ? sprinkling of water
?Praasanam? - sipping of water again and
?Arghyam? - offering of water - all done with appropriate mantras.
More about these later.
WHY WATER IS SO IMPORTANT?
Water is one of the most natural elements and symbolizes the power of
sanctity inherent in nature capable of ensuring a spiritual upsurge. The
human being is a bodily natural one. Naturally, religion hooks the physical
aspects of nature like water with those of the human embodiment,
synchronizing dramatically the interaction between the two sanctifying each
other within the environment of the sacred world. Here, a meaningful meeting
takes place between the Macrocosm and the Microcosm.
JAPA BHAAGA consists of -
?Aasanam? - Invoking the earth on which the person is seated calling upon it
to keep the place pure.
?PraNaayaamam? (breath control)
?Mantra Japam?- The most important part of meditation is the recitation of
the Gaayatri Mantra.
?Upasthaanam? standing up and bidding farewell to Gaayatri Devi,
?Abhivaadanam? ceremonial offering of obeisance to the ?Dik devatas?
(deities presiding over the different directions) and the whole spiritual
exercise concludes with ?Saatvika Tyaagam?- dedicating it to the Supreme
Lord.
IMPORTANT NOTE:
ALL THE MANTRAS OF SANDHYAA VANDANAM ARE FROM THE VEDAS AND, THEREFORE,
SHOULD BE LEARNED ONLY PERSONALLY AT THE FEET OF AN ACHAARYA AND NOT FROM
BOOKS ETC. WHICH MAY, HOWEVER, BE USED AS AIDE-DE-MEMOIR. USUALLY, THE
FATHER, WHO IS THE PRACTITIONER OF THE RITUAL, ACTS AS THE ACHAARYA FOR THIS
PURPOSE.
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2. A WRITE UP ON THE SIGNIFICANCE OF ?UPA-NAYANAM?
(SRI N.KRISHNAMACHARIAR SWAMI OF CHICAGO)
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1. Introduction:
The purpose of this write-up is to present the significance and importance
of the sacred ceremony called upanayanam in the life of a Brahmachari. Two
definitions are available in the amara koSam for the word ?brahmacAri?:
Brahma vedaH, tad adhyayana niyamam carati iti brahmacAri ? One who follows
the rules for the learning of the veda.
Mu?nja mekhalAdiyuto vedAdhyAyI brahmacarya vrata sthitaH brahmacArI ?
One who, wearing the marks such as the girdle made of mu?nja grass, live
according to the vows that are required of one who learns the veda-s, is a
brahmacAri. The upanayanam sacrament is intended towards the initiation of
a child towards the life as a brahmacAri, during which the time the student
learns the veda-s and the vedic way of life.
While an effort is made to keep the write-up simple and understandable, it
is inevitable that the write-up will involve samskRt words and quotations.
It is hoped that the write-up will be found useful and beneficial at least
by some of the readers.
The purpose of the upanayanam ceremony is to initiate a student into the
study of veda-s and Vedic knowledge. In the olden days, the student was
sent to the house of a teacher to live with the teacher for several years
(between 8 and 12 years as a minimum), where he served the teacher in all
aspects of his life, and in return was rewarded with the training and the
knowledge in the veda-s. For a boy from a brAhmin family, this initiation
took place at the age of seven (eighth year after conception). This stage
of the student?s life was called brahmacarya, and a very high level of
discipline was expected of the student during this period, with regard to
the daily observances, the rites to be performed daily, the food that is to
be consumed, etc. The upanayanam ceremony is the first day of this
lifestyle, and all the events during the ceremony are meant to set the tone
for the life to be led by the student during the rest of the time of
brahmacarya with the teacher.
The vedic aspects of the upanayanam ceremony are easy to understand when the
purpose of the function as explained above is kept in mind. In this
write-up, we will briefly describe some of the individual events that take
place during the ceremony and the significance of these events in the future
life of the brahmacAri.
2. The term upa-nayanam explained.
The term upa-nayanam consists of two words, upa and nayanam. ?nayana? means
?to lead?, and ?upa, means ?near?. The significance of the term
?upa-nayanam? is that a teacher leads, or initiates, the student towards the
enquiry into the nature of Brahman, or the Supreme Deity. To denote the
importance of this aspect of the upanayanam sacrament, it is sometimes
called brahmopadeSam, even though brahmopadeSam is just one event in the
upanayanam ceremony. The sacred function of upanayanam is an important
milestone in the life of the student, namely, it initiates him towards the
study of the veda-s.
The upanayana samskAra means the crossing of the bar of childhood and
entering studentship under the care and guidance of an AcArya. In the
traditional system, it implied a life of perfect and stern discipline under
the care, close guidance and observation of an AcArya with whom the student
stayed for several years and learned. When initiated, the life of the
individual was one of dedication. Its aim was one of making a student a
successful scholar and a full-fledged man, fit to share the responsibility
of the world. Thus the upanayana samskAra had a distinctive role to play in
training an individual and preparing him for the life that lay ahead.
Sage yAj~navalkya says that the learning of the veda-s is the main object of
the upanayana. Sages Apastamba and bhAradvAja consider upanayanam as a
sacrament of a person desirous of learning. The upanayana is the most
important bodily samskAra that initiates a person in the learning of the
veda-s, with all the associated discipline and rules of conduct. The
phrase ?the discipline and the rules of conduct? is an important part of
this initiation as a student, and we will dwell on it throughout.
The term upa-nayana can also be understood as ?the student being taken near
the AcArya for advice and instruction?. In other words, the upanayana
ceremony is the initiation of the boy in the acquisition of true knowledge
about Brahman. During the upanayana ceremony, an AcArya (preceptor) accepts
a boy as his brahmacAri (disciple). The pupil pronounces the formula: ?I
have come for brahmacarya. Kindly take me near. May I be a brahmacArin
impelled by God?. He is conducted (nayana) to the nearness (upa) of the
Lord by the AcArya.
The upanayana opens a new chapter in the life of an initiate. The student
starts his life of learning with a ritual. The AcArya is all-in-all during
the studentship of a brahmacAri (the initiate), and is the pivot of the
whole educational system. This was strictly meaningful in the old
traditional system where a student was in gurukula vAsam. In the current
system, the father of the child performs this role as the AcArya subsequent
to the ceremony.
Another aspect of the upanayana samskAra (initiation ceremony) is that it
signifies a kind of purity and spirituality by giving the child a ?second
birth?. Those who undergo the upanayana samskAra are also called dvija-s
(twice-born), because the investiture with the sacred thread is considered
the second birth. A simple example is used to illustrate this point. A
bird that is in its nest before coming out into this world, knows only the
world within the nest. However, when it comes out of the nest, it is
exposed to an entirely new world. So also, the child is being introduced to
an entirely new world with the initiation through the upanayanam ceremony.
Going one level further, upanayana is a purification rite by which a boy is
able to realize the gAyatri mantra. The guru (preceptor) becomes an AcArya
and accepts the boy as his pupil. The gAyatri mantra is the source by which
the student is able to study all the veda-s. The power of mantra-s is
experienced only by meditation and practice, and not by theoretical
knowledge alone. Thus, the child who undergoes the upanayanam ceremony
should remember to meditate on the gAyatri mantra regularly, knowing the
meaning of the mantra, and meditating on the meaning while the gAyatri japa
is performed thrice everyday as part of the sandhyA vandana karma. It is
very important to know the meaning of the mantra from day one, and learn to
meditate on the meaning of the mantra as the japa is performed. This is
what brings the power of the mantra to bear fruit.
Looking at it from another perspective, the upanayana ceremony is the
initiation into a lifestyle involving a kind of upAsana (religious)
meditation by which one regularizes the disciplinary life with regular
practice of worship that could be cultivated in the hermitage of an AcArya.
There may be some amongst us who may think that the traditional system of
gurukula vAsam is not available to us anymore, even if we wanted to follow
it. This is not true. On the contrary, it is within our very easy reach.
Our great AcArya-s have set up veda pAThaSAlA-s (schools for learning
veda-s) in various places in India under their leadership and guidance, the
sole purpose of which is to give education in the traditional style to
students who live the in the campus during the several years during which
they study, and are guided and trained by capable teachers who are dedicated
for this purpose. While it is not the same as the guru kula vAsam (staying
with the AcAryan?s family in his house and being trained), it is very close.
In the olden days, the upa-nayanam ceremony was also the formal initiation
of education or studies for the child. Study in those days meant only the
study of the veda-s. The veda-s contain all the knowledge that there is to
be attained, and so there is no need for any other study. This is true even
today, even though most of us spend all our time and energy ?study?ing
things other than that which is truly needed for the welfare of our soul,
namely the acquisition of vedic knowledge, and putting this knowledge into
practice.
3. The Sruti-s and smRti-s on the importance and significance of upanayanam.
The Rg veda mentions the simple but important ceremony of upanayana as an
important precondition for a student. The upanayana rite helps shape the
mind of the young student. Rabindranath Tagore was initiated into the rite
at the age of 12, and gives a brief account of the positive impact it made
on him in his work called jIvan-smRti 39 years later.
Apastamba declares: upa-nayanam vidyArthasya SrutitaH samskAraH ? The
upanayana is a vedic sacrament that is administered for a student who seeks
knowledge.
The prayoga cintAmaNi defines the term upanayanam thus: yena karmaNA yasmin
vA karmaNi AcAryeNa vidyArtham su-muhUrte kamArasya sva-samIpe nayanam ? The
auspicious event wherein a teacher leads the student desirous of knowledge
to his nearness (for administering this knowledge that is sought).
The atharva veda and the Sata-patha brahmaNa give details of the spiritual
significance of this initiation ceremony. All the three upper castes
(brAhmaNa-s, kshatriya-s and vaiSya-s) were entitled to receive education.
After upanayana, the minimum age of entry to education was 8 for brAhmaNa-s,
11 for kshatriya-s, and 12 for vaiSya-s. upanayana (involving investiture
with the sacred thread) is considered to be one of 16 important samskAra-s
(sacraments), followed by vedArambha.
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