[Advaita-l] Ritual Purity, Svadhyaya, and Commute

[Venkatraghavan S]

The Samkshepa Dharma ShaAstram book published by Kanchi Kamakoti maTham
quotes Atri and Shankha maharishis:

SandhyA trayam tu kartavyam dvijenaatma vidaa sadaa |
Pratah Sandhyaam
sa nakshatraam Madhyamaam snaanakarmani | Saadityaam paschimaam sandhyaam
upaaseeta yathaa vidhi ||

SandhyA is to be worshipped thrice as prescribed by Brahmins desirous of
Atma jnAna. The prAtah sandhya when the stars are seen (before sunrise),
the mAdhyAhnika in conjunction with the snAna karmas and the sAyam sandhyA
with the sun in the west.

The same idea is conveyed in the cryptic Tamil saying by IDaikADa siddhar
as he was grazing sheep - "kANAmal koNAmal kanDu kuDu, Adu kaN poguthu pAr."
The literal translation seems like gibberish, but there is a hidden meaning
to every word - "Give when you cannot see, when it is not crooked, and when
you see. See the sheep and kid go."

What it really means, give arghya when you cannot see the sun (before
sunrise), when your shadow is not crooked, or the sun is straight above
(mAdhyAhnika), and when you can see the sun, just before sunset. By ADu
(sheep), what is meant is nIrADu or bathe in the Ganges, and by kaN (kid)
it go see the lord in Setu (Rameshwaram), and see your sins vanish.

Regards,
Venkatraghavan

On 10 Sep 2016 6:27 p.m., "V Subrahmanian via Advaita-l" <
advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:

> On Sat, Sep 10, 2016 at 8:13 PM, Venkatesh Murthy <vmurthy36 at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> > Namaste
> >
> > I heard some people saying Madhyanha Sandhya is not according to
> > Sastric sources. It is not required but some people are doing it.
> > Morning and evening Sandhya is sufficient.
> >
>
> Actually the very first sandhyā vandanam a vaṭu performs soon after his
> brahmopadeśa is the mādhyāhnika.  That evening is the first sāyam sandhyā.
>
> In the Srimadbhāgavatam, the story of Ambarisha has Durvāsa going to the
> Yamuna to perform his noon-oblations:
>
> SB 9.4.37
>
>
>
> *pratinandya sa tāṁ yācñāṁ kartum āvaśyakaṁ gataḥnimamajja bṛhad dhyāyan
> kālindī-salile śubhe*
> Word for word:
> *pratinandya <http://vedabase.com/en/synonyms-index?original=pratinandya>*
> —
> gladly accepting; *saḥ <http://vedabase.com/en/synonyms-index?original=sah
> >*
>  — Durvāsā Muni; *tām <http://vedabase.com/en/synonyms-index?original=tam>*
> —
> that; *yācñām <http://vedabase.com/en/synonyms-index?original=yacnam>* —
> request; *kartum <http://vedabase.com/en/synonyms-index?original=kartum>*
> —
> to perform; *āvaśyakam
> <http://vedabase.com/en/synonyms-index?original=avasyakam>* — the
> necessary
> ritualistic ceremonies; *gataḥ
> <http://vedabase.com/en/synonyms-index?original=gatah>* — went; *nimamajja
> <http://vedabase.com/en/synonyms-index?original=nimamajja>* — dipped his
> body in the water;*bṛhat
> <http://vedabase.com/en/synonyms-index?original=brhat>* — the Supreme
> Brahman; *dhyāyan <http://vedabase.com/en/synonyms-index?original=dhyayan>*
> —
> meditating on; *kālindī
> <http://vedabase.com/en/synonyms-index?original=kalindi>* — of the
> Yamunā; *salile
> <http://vedabase.com/en/synonyms-index?original=salile>* — in the water;
> *śubhe
> <http://vedabase.com/en/synonyms-index?original=subhe>*— very auspicious.
>
> For that word 'āvaśyakam', Sridhara Swamin (Advaitin) and Virarāghavacharya
> (Viśiṣṭādvaitin) comment: mādhyāhnikam.
>
> vs
>
>
>
>
> > On Sat, Sep 10, 2016 at 12:39 PM, V Subrahmanian
> > <v.subrahmanian at gmail.com> wrote:
> > >
> > >
> > > On Sat, Sep 10, 2016 at 12:02 PM, Venkatesh Murthy via Advaita-l
> > > <advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:
> > >>
> > >> Namaste
> > >>
> > >> Yes the older generation people used to do Sandhya in travelling also.
> > >> I have seen my grandfather was doing Sandhya on platforms.
> > >>
> > >> But younger generation people can take a flight and be in Delhi or
> > >> Mumbai in a few hours. Once I did Pratah Sandhya and took a flight to
> > >> Delhi. In Delhi I did Sayam Sandhya in the evening and took the flight
> > >> back and came home the same day. Madhyanhika is a problem because you
> > >> can be in meeting and cannot leave.
> > >
> > >
> > > During such situations, the Sringeri Jagadguru Sri Abhinava Vidyatirtha
> > > Swaminaḥ, has said that one can do mādhyāhnika immediately after prātaḥ
> > > sandhya.  In fact there are many known to me who have to leave home
> early
> > > for school, college or office, who do both the sandhyas and even brahma
> > > yajnam before leaving home.
> > >
> > > vs
> > >>
> > >>
> > >
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > Regards
> >
> > -Venkatesh
> >
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