Samdhya Meditation and Agnihotra

[Ravisankar Mayavaram]

On Wed, 31 Oct 2001 15:42:49 +0000, Sunny Bhardwaj
<sunny_bhardwaj at HOTMAIL.COM> wrote:


>In the end, while I've now gotten a lot of information on the negatives of
>the organization, I still don't know then how to perform the Sandyha or
>Havan. Maybe someone could help direct.


That is because only those who have gone through upanayana ceremony can do
sandhya vandana. If you have gone through one, certainly whoever performed
would have taught you how to do. You will not be asking about the whole
thing. If at all your doubts may pertain to certain subtle points and
nuances.

Traditionally all dvija-s should go through this ritual. This is what makes
them dvija or twice-born. Probably you can think that it is like baptism.
For brahmana boys this has to be done before they are 16. And 8-10 is the
ideal age. After 16, according to shaastra-s there is no point doing it. It
is then like a barren woman trying for a child.  The numbers change for
xatriya-s and vaishya-s, it is respectively before 20 and before 24.

This is a traditional view. you may chose to disagree with it.

I would suggest you a method. Try to worship God mentally during sandhya
periods. There are names in lalitA sahasranAma  - "chaitanyaarghya
samaaradhyaa" and also "chaitanyakusumapriyaa" which indicate God is fond
of mental oblation. For latter name there is a verse in shivAnandalaharI
starting with "gabhire kaasaare". DOing manasa pUja is better than
incorrectly and without authority doing actual puuja.