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" Srimathe Ramanujaya Namaha !"
Q. : Kindly enlighten us on different ways of Sandhyavandanam as per respective Veda Shaka one by one in detail. For the people who are new to sandhyavandanam, kindly advise which one to be followed by all in general , who does not follow any veda or have specific veda earlier. Is it compulsary to chant aditya hridaya (ramayana) in complete in Sandhyavandanam. kindly enlighten us with the meaning and detail explanation of aditya hridaya.
Ans .: All vedic religions have given great importance to sandyavandanam. It is said that one who does not perform Sandyavandanam is ever impure and is thus rendered unfit to perform the vedic rites - the nitya (daily) or naimithica (occasional) duties prescribed in the scriptures. If however he did perform the duties once in a way in spite of self inflicted impurity (due to non performance of sandyavandanam regularly) the said performance will not yield any result. This point has also been brought out by Poigai alwar (Mudal Tiruvandadi stanza 3).
Meaning and Philosophical significance
Aditya represents pure sattwa characteristics and He is bright (prakasa) and light (laghu). He is entrusted with the portfolio of health of souls (chetanas) in our planet as per the distribution of duties during the evolution of the universe. Our human body contains every element of the universe and they get subdued or become invisible due to the character (Rajoguna and tamoguna) of the individuals. However, it is possible to culture any of the elements of the universe present within himself by providing suitable environment. Worship through Arghyam is a process by which the element of Aditya within us can be cultured and in turn acquire the qualities of Aditya - namely lustrous and health preserving quality of the body and mind., light body, high intellect with grasping power, high intuition, memory and many other qualities. The arghya should be offered seeing the sun in the horizon and meditating (through gayatri) on aditya.
The Arghyas delivered skyward from the palms of the worshipper serve as missiles to destroy demons known as Mantehars attacking the sun. This statement in the vedas has a great significance. Vedas are also referred to as Thrayi - that is the statements have three meanings (external, internal and philosophical). The philosophical meaning of this statement is important. The element of sun in our body is clouded by our "Rajoguna" and "Tamoguna". The Arghyams offerred as worship to Sun or Aditya at sunrise and sunset will help free the sun element in us. The word Manteha also means body, therefore the word mantehars refers to the devils in our body.
Jai Srimannaryana !
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