For example, paying taxes is the duty of an individual. No one is rewarded for paying taxes but he’s penalized when it is not paid. However, we pay taxes to avail some benefits which are a byproduct of paying taxes. Similarly doing sandhyavandhanam helps in improving concentration and social tolerance. It also aids in maintaining a healthy body. For e.g. performing Praanaayaamam makes the respiratory system function efficiently. It is even better to perform sandhyavandhanam thrice a day at the appropriate time.
But, not all of us may be able to keep up time on all days. Foreseeing such circumstances, our elders have given us a choice doing it late along with Praayachitha Argyam. So, as per the saying ‘better late than never’, even if we even have an option to do it late but we have no right to skip it.
(Caution: The above rule should be used only in unforeseen/incapable circumstances.)
As mentioned earlier, Sandhyavandhanam is done thrice a day. Once, at the beginning of the day(dawn), once at noon, once at the day's end(dusk) and they are called as Pratah Sandhyavandhanam; Maadhyaanikam; Saayam Sandhyavandhanam respectively. Noon is a precise definition but dawn and dusk are not. In fact, astronomers have divided twilight into three(civil, navigational, astronomical) depending on the intensity of light and the length of its duration can be as long as half an hour. So, in this wide span of time, when should we do sandhyavandhanam? Before proceeding further, you may take a look of this link about various stages of twilight.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twilight
I've got two opinions regarding this.
First, there is a phrase which elders quote to define the time when sandhyavandhanam has to be performed.
Kaanaamal; Konaamal; KanduKaanamal refers to the time of doing Pratah Sandhyavandhanam. Kaanaamal literally means 'not seeing'. This implies that Pratah Sandhyavandhanam should be done when the sun has not risen. They say when we start the sandhyavandhanam, we shouldn't be able to see the sun and when we do the Gaayathri Japam the sun should rise.
Konaamal means 'not inclined'. Thus Maadhyaanikam should be done when we the sun is overhead(noon- that is, path of vision is not inlined at any angle to the ground).
(Note: It is however not true to say that the sun is overhead at noon. In fact, on a particular day of a year, the sun is exactly overhead only at certain places. This is termed as zenial passages. For more information on this,http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/zenial_passage
Kandu means 'to see'. This suggests, that Saayam Sandhyavandhanam should be done in the presence of the sun. A similar definition as Pratah Sandhyavandhanam holds good. When we start we should be able to see the sun, and sun should set when we do Gaayathri Japam.
From these definitions, we may have an idea of when to do the Sandhyavandhanam.
But this rule permits us to do Pratah Sandhyavandhanam even during civil twilight i.e, just before sunrise because the sun is not visible during civil twilight. But there is also a sloka in Sanskrit which mentions the grades of Sandhyadhanam depending on the time at which it is done.
Uttama tarakopeta madhyama lupta taraka
Adhama surya sahita prata: sandhya tridha mana
This means that Pratah Sandhyavandhanam can be classified into three grades; the best one which is done in the presence of stars; the medium grade refers to the Sandhyavandhanam done when the stars are fading away; the worst grade is when done after dawn(sunrise). A similar definitton exists for Saayam Sandhyavandhanam too wherein the best grade is when done under sunlight; medium if done when stars are partially visible and worst if stars are clearly visible. So, according to this definition, it is advisable to do Pratah Sandhyavandhanam when the stars are clearly visible. But stars are not clearly visible during civil twilight. Thus, this rule rejects doing Pratah Sandhyavandhanam during civil twilight as against the earlier mentioned rule. But, during those days, it is said that they used to perform 1008 times of Gaayathri Japam. If that is the case, then in order to finish the Japam during sunrise, you need to start doing when the stars are visible itself. But due to changing lifestyle we do just 108, 28 or even 10 times.
Eventually, the appropriate time to do Sandhyavandhanam is just before sunrise,noon and just before sunset. To avoid further confusions in variation in sunrise with time of the year and the place where we live, some even follow a standard time of 0545hrs-Pratah Sandhyavandhanam; 1200hrs-Maadhyaanikam; 1745hrs-Saayam Sandhyavandhanam.
Sandhyavandhanam consists of the following steps:-
-Aachamanam: Taking three sips of water, chanting certain mantras facing North direction and then touching various parts of the body with appropriate fingers.
-Praanaayaamam: Long inhalation followed by a short pause and then followed by a brief exhalation process. We are supposed to say(within our mind) the Maha Gaayathri mantra.
-Sankalpam: This is a step where we take an oath to do the Sandhyavandhanam
-ProkshaNam: This is a purification process wherein water is sprinkled over various parts of our body as we chant mantras
-Praachanam: This is a step of mental purification wherein we have to chant a mantra to get rid of the sins we have done since the previous Sandhyavandhanam.
-Puna: ProkshaNam: In this step, we once again the process as in Prokshanam.
-Argya Pradaanam: This is step of offering Argyam in which we have to face the sun, chant Gaayathri mantra and offer handful of water thrice.
-Praayachitha Argyam (Dureeya Argya Pradaanam): In this step an extra Argyam is offered when Sandhyavandhanam is not performed in proper time.
-Keshavaadhi TarpaNam: We have to offer handful of water twelve times, chanting the twelve names of Sriman Narayanan.
-Gaayatri Japa Sankalpam: In this step, an oath is taken that we aill do the Gaayathri Japam.
-Mahaa Gaayatri Japam: We have to perform Praanaayaamam 10 times.
-Gaayatri Devi Aavahanam: This step involves chanting of some mantras to invoke the Gaayathri Goddess to make us eligible to perform the Japam.
-Gaayatri Japam: This is the most important step in Sandhyavandhanam. In this step, the Gaayathri mantra is to be chanted 108 or 28 or 10 times depending on the branch of Veda we belong to, and depending on our convenience.
-Upasthaanam: This step involves chanting of a certain mantra which is dedicated to the sun god(Mitra or Surya) and rain god(varuna). This mantra varies for different branches of Vedas.
-Devathaa Vandanam: We have to worship the gods of different directions in this step.
-Abhivaadanam: This is a process of salutation offered to the Sun God in which one is supposed to introduce himself(Like a bio-data).
-Deva Namaskaaram: The extremely important step in Sandhyavandhanam. Whatever actions we perform everything is done as a service to God. So, in this step, we worship Sriman Narayana and submit ourselves to him.
It will take around 10 to 15 minutes to do sandhyavandhanam for Gaayathri Japam of 28 times. So, thrice a day, it might take around 45 minutes to practice this rich Hindu tradition. Historical evidences cite that even kshatriyas used to do sandhyavandhanam. Puraanaas provide evidences of King Nala doing sandhyavandhanam. Sri Ramayanam says that Rama and Lakshmana did sandhyavandhanam. But this culture has unfortunately dampened with time. In order to do save this age old tradition, we have to take pride in performing it regularly and try, not only to do it properly thrice a day, but also INSPIRE OTHERS to do it in the same manner.
