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sandhyavandanam

From the Bhakti List Archives

krish • November 6, 1995 


The Iyengars ( vaishanvite brahmins ) have a series of
rituals to be intiated to from birth: Namakaranam,
Annaprasanam, Aksharabhyasam, Upanayanm, Vivaham, etc.
At the time of Upanayanm ( 7 + ), he isintiated into
being a brahmin ( Dwija ), and is instructed to do his
daily rituals ( thrice a day ). Sandhayavandanam
includes confession in its mantras. He also promises
to renounce Kama(passion) and ego(manyu). He leads a
celebate life till marriage.
Since Vivaham requires Upanayanam, it is essential
that you have Upanayanm if you want vedic marriage.
It happened to my son, whose in-laws preferred a
Vedic wedding.
The positive aspect of Upanayanm is the rousing of a
young man's concience to a disciplined lif of
studies.
One can get translations of Snadhyavandanam in
Higginbothams, Madras. My fried Ranga feels it is not
accurate. Another interesting aspect is Abivadhaye which
may help us know our genealogy ( rather restricted
to the male ancestry, another chauvinistic aspect
of all religions ( man did it ).
Sorry I trussled some feathers on the Hindu, but I am
sure many of you are against school prayers etc.
I agree it does take too much time, keeping up
with prapatti. Krish