My journey with Sandhyavandanam

I was in my second year of Engineering, and my parents decided to conduct my Upanayanam ceremony. Upanayanam, as I have referred in my earlier posts, is a sacred rite of passage that marks a boy's passage into spiritual learning. Anyway, the Upanayanam was done. After that, I had to begin the trikaala (three times a day) Sandyavandanam - morning, noon and evening. Sandhyavandanam is done by chanting the Gayathri Mantra to foster spritual growth and well-being. It's a way to connect with the divine energy. If you ChatGPT the significance of Sandhyavandanam, I am sure there will be a detailed explanataion of what it means inspite of whatever hallucination you see ChatGPT spitting out. 

 I was 20. After the Upanayanam, you are expected to do Sandhyavandanam by learning from the elders at home. My father, I have never seen him do Sandhyavandanam. How do I get started? The vaadhyar (priest) who conducted my Upanayanam came on the first day, performed the Sandhyavandanam with me. I just followed him, and that evening, I had done my first ever Sandhyavandanam. Now, I had the unenviable task of remembering the formalities and following to a T. Of course, I didn't remember much of the first experience. The mantras were far beyond me. I was just confused as to how I was going to get all this right. I walked to 8th cross to this Vedanta Book House, and picked a copy of Yajur Sandhyavandanam book. It had a mixture of Sanskrit and English. As I could read the Sanskrit verse, I didn't bother reading the English transliteration. I just looked at the English text for the instructions - how to do Achamanam, Praanayanam, Sankalpam, Abhivaadaye, and so on. Over a period of time, I learnt how to do the Sandhyavandanam. There were mistakes initially. I couldn't get the Mantras easily. It took some time. But, I got it. Eventually, when you keep doing something on a regular basis, there is no other alternative but to get it. 

 Some of my friends had the thread ceremony when they were between 8 and 12, but here I was getting mine done at a ripe "old" age of 20. By this time, I had also got interested in the Vedas and rituals. The effect of having a mother who was religious was pretty profound. Growing up in Malleswaram, the surroundings also helped me be with that religious and spiritual bent of mind. I started taking the spiritual aspect of life with some level of seriousness. 

I was on and off with the daily practice itself. There were days in a row I wouldn't miss and there were days where I would miss. Both ways, they extended to weeks and months. And then, call it guilt or on someone's egging, I would restart my practice. Even today, when my mother or mother-in-law is here, they would point to me if I missed a couple of days. "Please take some time to do Sandhyavandanam." The aspect of having elders at home definitely adds positivity to your life. I was wondering, "What is Sandhyavandanam? How does it matter to me?" For the first question, you can always check out hundreds of references on the internet. I can try to answer the second one. Sometimes, it is a sense of duty. Sometimes, it is just a feeling of warmth and comfort when you get into that meditative trance. It's like following a routine. Routines are boring but it also sets your pace for the rest of the day. One of the explanations I've heard is this,

When you're chanting Rudram or other Suktams, one can make mistakes in the rendering. Sandhyavandanam is a way of protection from those mistakes. So, by doing Sandhyāvandanam regularly, you are in effect creating a spiritual “firewall” that absorbs or neutralizes small slips in other chants.

I don't know how much that is true but that's stayed with me. This is the book I have been following for the last 25 years. I know the steps but I just need this book to be with me when I am doing the daily ritual. This book has seen many places in the world, but it's been with me in whatever condition it is in now.

I have also evolved over a period of time. Just like others. Studies brought me abroad. I have stayed here now for a couple of decades. Work, travel, family, and many other duties have many a time made me take a pause on Sandhyavandanam. Earlier, missing Sandhyavandanam filled me with guilt. Now, I take it in my stride. I do what I can and when I can. I try to set myself up for both regularly. The occasional misses don't bother me as much as it used to. At the end of the day, we are all products of our destiny. Nothing can change that. There are some days where even if I do the Sandhyavandanam, I feel mechanical about it. Other days, I am really charged up for the rest of the day. I don't try to correlate anything anymore. But over time, I am really tending towards the meditative aspect of the daily practice. I get ten minutes of meaningful time with myself. Now that I am teaching my son to get into the routine, I feel good to pass the dharmic duty to the next generation. There are days where I have to coax him to do it, but other days, he just gets it.

📥 Download PDF

Over time, views change, lifestyle changes but the constant has been the daily duty of doing Sandhyavandanam. I was fidgety about it when I started. I saw it as a sense of duty. I saw it as some part of me being bound to the tradition of my ancestors. I derived multiple meanings at different stages of my life. I don’t know if I will ever do it perfectly every day, but even in my imperfect rhythm, Sandhyāvandanam has woven itself into my life.