DEGREE OF GOD’S MANIFESTATION
There are Purna-Avataras (full incarnations), Amsa-Avataras (partial incarnations),
Avesa-Avataras (inspirational incarnations), etc. The Lord Krishna has sixteen rays. He is a
Purna-Avatara. He still exists. There are His Nitya-Lilas in Go-Loka or Celestial Vrindavana.
It is only ignorant, deluded souls who speak against the doctrine of Avatara, who say that
the Lord Krishna was a human being only. They have not studied properly the holy scriptures. They
are Tamasic persons with little understanding. They cavil and carp. The Lord Krishna says: “The
evil-doing, the deluded, the vilest men, they come not to Me, they whose wisdom is destroyed by
illusion, who have embraced the nature of demons. Such is their fate.”
Friends! Worship Rama or Krishna at all times with all your heart and with all your mind.
Glorify Him in your heart. He will soon reveal Himself to you and you will feel His Presence. You
will attain immortality and eternal bliss. Glory to Avataras. Glory to the Lords, Krishna and Rama,
the Avataras of Lord Vishnu! May their blessings be upon you all.
CHAPTER 6
HINDU RITUALS
SANDHYOPASANA
Sandhyopasana literally means ‘worship at the junctions of time.’ It is a prayer and worship
offered to the Lord at the junction (Sandhi) of night and morning, forenoon and afternoon and at the
junction of evening and night. The Arghyapradana to the sun and the meditation on and recitation of
Gayatri, form the heart of the worship. Properly understood, the whole Sandhya is an earnest prayer
addressed to the Lord to forgive all one’s sins committed during one’s routine, daily activities and
to bestow illumination and grace.
Sandhyopasana must be performed at the proper Sandhyas. Then only the performer can
derive much merit. There is a special manifestation of force at Sandhyas. This force disappears
when the Sandhya is past.
52
ALL ABOUT HINDUISM
AN OBLIGATORY DUTY
Sandhyopasana is the daily religious practice of the Hindus whose investiture with the holy
thread has been performed. Sandhya is a Nitya Karma or an action that is to be done daily. Sandhya
is an obligatory duty to be performed daily for self-purification and self-improvement.
Sandhya should be performed by all followers of the Sanatana Dharma. Every Brahmachari
and every householder must perform it every day. If he fails to perform it, there is Pratyavaya Dosha
or the sin of omission. He loses his Brahma-Tejas.
According to the Hindu Sastras, a Brahmana, a Kshatriya and a Vaisya will get hell, if they
do not perform three times Sandhyopasana (Traikalika Sandhya) daily. It is for the purpose of
Sandhya only, the law of Yajnopavita-Samskara is laid down in the Yajnavalkya Smriti which says:
“The Brahmana in his eighth year, the Kshatriya in his eleventh year and the Vaisya in his twelfth
year are fit to be given Yajnopavita.” Because, only after this particular Samskara, they are
supposed to be worthy to worship Sandhya and take to Vedic rites. They should keep themselves
pure internally and externally. They can nicely understand the sacred glory of this divine science.
BENEFITS OF SANDHYOPASANA
Sandhya is a combination of Japa, Upasana, Svadhyaya, meditation, concentration, Asana,
Pranayama, etc. He who does Sandhya daily has Brahma-Tejas or spiritual lustre, in his face. A
man who performs his daily Sandhya, according to the prescribed rules, at the appointed time as
laid down in the scriptures, attains purity and success in his every effort. He becomes powerful as
well as calm. Regular Sandhya cuts the chain of old Samskaras and changes everybody’s old
situation entirely. It brings purity, Atma-Bhava, devotion and sincerity.
THE CEREMONY
The important features of this ceremony are: (i) Achamana or sipping of water with
recitation of Mantras (viz., Achyutaya Namah, Anantaya Namah, Govindaya Namah, etc.),
Marjana or sprinkling of water on the body which purifies the mind and the body, Aghamarshana
or expiation for the sins of many births, and Surya Arghya or oblations of water to the Sun-god, (ii)
Pranayama or control of breath which steadies the wandering mind, and silent recitation of Gayatri,
(iii) Upasthana or religious obeisance.
Arghya
The first part up to Arghya consists of hymns addressed to water and its benefits. The
sprinkling of water on the face and the head and the touching of the different organs (the mouth,
nose, eyes, ears, chest, shoulders, head, etc.) with wetted fingers, are meant to purify those parts of
the body and invoke the respective presiding deities on them. They also stimulate the nerve-centres
and wake up the dormant powers of the body.
The Arghya drives the demons who obstruct the path of the rising sun. Esoterically, lust,
anger and greed are the demons who obstruct the intellect from rising up. The intellect is the sun.
53
HINDU RITUALS
Pranayama and Japa
The second part of Sandhya consists of Pranayama and Japa of Gayatri.
Suryopasthana
The third part of Sandhya is the Suryopasthana. It is a prayer for forgiveness, mercy and
grace. The prayer is: “Let me not go down to the earthly house. Have mercy, O Lord! My strength
was very weak, O Lord! I did wrong actions. Have mercy, O Lord!” These are Vedic hymns
addressed to the sun in the morning, noon and evening. The sun is the intellect in man. Ignorance is
the night. Knowledge is the light. When you rise up from the darkness of ignorance, when the eye of
intuition is opened through the grace of Gayatri, the Blessed Mother of the Vedas, you attain eternal
bliss, supreme peace and immortality. It is that divine light which dispels delusion and the darkness
of ignorance. It is that adorable splendour with which the world is glowing. It is that holy lustre
which graciously fills the heart of a devotee with eternal bliss. It is this supreme Light which the
aspirant craves from God through the Gayatri Mantra. He begs of God this Knowledge for his
Realisation.
SANDHYOPASANA—AN EXACT SCIENCE
Man naturally wants to realise the Truth. He wants to know the secret of Creation. In this
connection, scriptures emphatically declare: “Only at the moment when all doubts are cleared,
ignorance is destroyed, hypocrisy and cruelty are rent asunder, and when a man sees Him in the
abode of his heart, the real and ultimate Truth is revealed.”
Sandhya-Vijnana or the Science of Sandhya is an exact science to attain success in the realm
of Truth. One need not have any kind of superstition to learn this divine science. One need not prove
its greatness. Its greatness, its glory, is open truth. Even the materialistic society of today agrees
with the truth of Sandhya-Vijnana. In the scriptures, it is laid: “Brahmanhood is the tree, Sandhya is
its root, Vedas are its branches, religious acts are its leaves; therefore take care of its root, i.e.,
Sandhya.” Now the glory of Sandhya is very clear. Sandhya is absolutely necessary for a man who
is treading the path of Truth. Aharahah Sandhyamupasita, i.e., a Brahmin should perform regularly
his daily Sandhya at any cost—is the injunction of the scriptures.