General comments

Below कर्म is given as aligned to कृष्ण यजुर्वेद method undertaken in the Telugu land. It is common to find minor variations as taught by the respective गुरुs to the disciples. Please therefore be guided by your respective गुरु as you go through the content below. Second, the commentary is based on the lectures on Youtube by Shanmukha Saamaveda Sarma and Swamee Paramarthananda. Further, for क्रिया, at various places, I have referred to the method conveyed on Youtube by various generous people – I call out the Sai Sannidhi channel, SVV Astrology Channel and Swadharmam Channel whose videos have helped me put the below together. Further, the text of the कर्म has been fully sourced from the Vignanam App available on the Android store – it is a wonderful App that contains a large volume of information relating to Sanatana Dharma. As stated, the purpose of this write-up is to help practitioners to get a general idea of the meaning of various क्रिया undertaken as a part of the कर्म. Additionally, for even those who do not perform this कर्म, this write-up will satisfy their initial academic curiosity on the meaning/ purpose of this कर्म. Lastly, please do not take the below as authoritative as I am a student only – please engage with the right sources to connect with the कर्म & अर्थ in the most effective way. 

The entire कर्म is divided into two portions – पूर्वाङ्ग (referred to as संध्यावन्दन) and उत्तराङ्ग (referred to as गायत्री जप:) with further sub-classifications – these are summarized below and elaborated subsequently. पूर्वाङ्ग is the preparatory part of the कर्म that is focused on purifying the साधक and making the person fit to then perform the उत्तराङ्ग which is the main part of the कर्म. 

पूर्वाङ्ग		उत्तराङ्ग
शरीर शुद्धि	मंत्र for शुद्धि	गायत्री आवाहन	Inviting गायत्री
आचमनम्	Sipping of जल	आचमनम्	Sipping of जल
भूतोच्चाटन	शुद्धि of place where कर्म is done	प्राणायाम	Breathing control/ regulation
प्राणायाम	Breathing control/ regulation	जप सङ्कल्प	Signifying intent to perform जप
सङ्कल्प	Signifying intent to perform कर्म	करन्यासः	Divinizing one’s fingers
मार्जनम्	Invoking ईश्वर in जल	अङ्गन्यासः	Divinizing one’s शरीर
जल प्राशनम्	Sipping मंत्र-sanctified जल	ध्यानम्	Doing भावना of गायत्री
आचमनम्	Sipping of जल	चतुर्विंशति मुद्रा प्रदर्शनं	Performing 24 मुद्रा
पुनर् मार्जनम्	Reinforcing the divinity of जल	गायत्री महामन्त्र जप	Most important part of the कर्म
अघमर्​षण मन्त्रः पापविमोचनं	Getting rid of पाप present within	अङ्गन्यासः
आचमनम्	Sipping of जल	अष्टमुद्रा प्रदर्शनं	Performance of 8 मुद्रा
अर्घ्यम्	Offering जल to सूर्य	आचमनम्	Sipping of जल
सजल प्रदक्षिणं	Doing प्रदक्षिणा of सूर्य via जल	गायत्री उपस्थानम्सूर्य प्रार्थना	Asking गायत्री to return to Her abode
आदित्यादि तर्पणम्	Offer जल to देवता, ऋषि and पितृ	दिग्देवता नमस्कारः	नमस्कार done to देवता present in all directions
		मुनि नमस्कारः	प्रार्थना to all मुनि
		सन्ध्यादेवता नमस्कारः	प्रार्थना to संध्या देवता
		गायत्री उद्वासन	मंत्र relating to प्रस्थानं of गायत्री
		भगवन्नमस्कारः	Doing नमस्कार of ईश्वर
		भूम्याकाशाभि वन्दनं	Doing नमस्कार of पृथ्वी
		अभिवादः (प्रवर)	Stating out one’s identity in the लोक
		आचमनम्	Sipping of जल
		ईश्वरार्पणं	Offering entire कर्म to ईश्वर

ॐ श्री महागणाधिपतये नम: | श्री महा सरस्वत्यै नमः |  श्री गुरुभ्यो नमः | हरि ॐ

Preparatory stages for purification

1. शरीर शुद्धि

अपवित्रः पवित्रो वा सर्वावस्था-ङ्गतो-ऽपिवा । य-स्स्मरे-त्पुण्डरीकाक्षं स बाह्याभ्यन्तर श्शुचिः ॥

पुण्डरीकाक्ष ! पुण्डरीकाक्ष ! पुण्डरीकाक्षाय नमः ।

(Take जल from the पात्र into the उद्धरणि and sprinkle water over one’s head while chanting the below मंत्र – if any जल remains in the उद्धरणि, one may pour this into the plate) 

Whether one is पवित्र or अपवित्र (one who does पाप कर्म triggered by being associated with a certain अवस्था (बाल्य, ब्रह्मचारी, गृहस्थ, etc)) at a certain point of time (owing to presence of वासना within us based on our past कर्म), chanting the नाम of पुण्डरीकाक्ष cleanses the one who chants the नाम – both inside and outside. 

And what is the अर्थ of पुण्डरीकाक्ष? One who has the eyes (अक्ष) resembling a पद्म (पुण्डरीक) – this is therefore applied to विष्णु (and sometimes to सूर्य too). One may add that the gaze of विष्णु via पुण्डरीकाक्ष has the power to do our शुद्धि – both inside and outside. And a साधक doing संध्या thus sees सूर्य as the eyes of विष्णु watching over us at all times (from an उपासना lens). There is another अर्थ ascribed to पुण्डरीकाक्ष. In addition to eyes, अक्ष as per निघण्टु means “that which expands” and पुण्डरीक refers to हृदय and therefore, when one chants or does स्मरण of पुण्डरीकाक्ष, one is essentially connecting with ब्रह्म (which is the most शुद्ध तत्वम्) present in one’s own हृदय and this connecting will purify both the inner mind and the outer body when chanting this मंत्र

2. आचमनम्

आचमनम् means sipping water three times and the purpose of this कर्म is inner purification to enable one to become fit for the उपासना. And while it is understood that normal water is useful to remove मल that is external, when the same water is infused with मंत्र, it facilitates purification at an inner level. Therefore, at the time of sipping the water, we traditionally chant the below and then sip the water after each chant. 

ॐ आचम्य 

1. ॐ केशवाय स्वाहा  (sip)  2. ॐ नारायणाय स्वाहा (sip) 3.     ॐ माधवाय स्वाहा (sip) (take जल in right palm and pour जल into the अर्घ्य plate)  4.     ॐ गोविन्दाय नमः (rub right hand over the left hand) 5. ॐ विँष्णवे नमः (rub left hand over the right hand) 6.     ॐ मधुसूदनाय नमः (rub thumb from below left lip towards right lip) 7. ॐ त्रिविक्रमाय नमः (rub thumb from below right lip towards left lip)8.     8. ॐ वामनाय नमः (close mouth with three middle fingers without touching the mouth) 9. ॐ श्रीधराय नमः (right land over the head as if it is spraying something on top) 10.  ॐ हृषीकेशाय नमः (same as above) 11.  ॐ पद्मनाभाय नमः (tap left thigh with right hand) 12.  ॐ दामोदराय नमः (tap right thigh with right hand)

13.  ॐ सङ्कर्​षणाय नमः (touch throat with middle three fingers) 14.  ॐ वाँसुदेवाय नमः (touch right nostril with middle finger and thumb) 15.  ॐ प्रद्युम्नाय नमः (touch left nostril with middle finger and thumb)ॐ 16. अनिरुद्धाय नमः (touch middle finger and thumb to right side of right eye) 17. ॐ पुरुषोत्तमाय नमः (touch middle finger and thumb to left side of left eye) 18. ॐ अधोक्षजाय नमः (join little finger and thumb of right hand and touch right ear) 19.  ॐ नारसिंहाय नमः (join little finger and thumb of right hand and touch left ear) 20.  ॐ अच्युताय नमः (place the right hand on the navel) 21.  ॐ जनार्धनाय नमः (place the right hand on the हृदय) 22.  ॐ उपेन्द्राय नमः (place the right hand on top of the head) 23.  ॐ हरये नमः (place the right hand on top of right shoulder) 24.  ॐ श्रीकृष्णाय नम: (place the right hand on top of left shoulder)

ॐ श्रीकृष्ण परब्रह्मणे नमो नमः (do नमस्कार while chanting this)

Commentary

The quantum of water should be sufficient to reach the heart of one’s body but not the stomach (meaning that the water should be sipped only minimally). After chanting the first three नाम (and discharging जल at the end of fourth नाम), one then continues the purification of rest of the body by chanting the balance 20 नाम (there is a practice of touching the respective body parts while chanting these नाम – one may learn this from a गुरु or just chant the नाम without the touching क्रिया). 

Why is sipping done for the first three नाम? By doing स्मरण of three names of नारायण, we are doing शुद्धि of our त्रिकरण (viz स्थूल, सूक्ष्म and कारण शरीर). Is there any significance of chanting 24 नाम? As per सांख्य (also conveyed in the 13^th Chapter of the श्रीमद्भगवद्गीता), there are 24 तत्वम् within our शरीर and chanting of additional नाम is undertaken to do शुद्धि of all 24 तत्वम्’s within us – note that the first three above is mandatory while chanting the balance may be done if this is part of one’s संप्रदाय as taught by one’s own गुरु (and thus not mandatory). Idea that “विष्णु is everywhere” gets internalized since while we may be doing a क्रिया outside, what we are actually expressing via such a क्रिया is that विष्णु is everywhere – and acquiring such a दृष्टि is the intent of doing this जप. 

3. भूतोच्चाटन

One invokes पृथ्वी or भू: to bless our आसन (पृथ्वी  देवी). The श्लोक is given below:

उत्तिष्ठन्तु । भूत पिशाचाः । ये ते भूमिभारकाः । ये तेषामविरोधेन । ब्रह्मकर्म समारभे । 

(take जल into the उद्धरणि and pour into right hand, place the hand close to right nostril, use ringer finger of the left hand to close left nostril, inhale & exhale from the right nostril into the जल and then dispose this जल behind oneself on the left side)

Whenever any सत्कर्म is undertaken, we kick off such a कर्म by doing शुद्धि of the location where the कर्म is undertaken – this is referred to as भू शुद्धि. In addition, the environment is also filled up with प्राणी of various types – भूत, पिशाच, etc and while these प्राणी do not have a शरीर, their ability to interfere with our संध्या कर्म at a सूक्ष्म level exists. And our mind is full of असुर शक्ति which create disturbances owing to the actions of भूत and पिशाच. These प्राणी do not have a शरीर and therefore they invade the minds of those having शरीर to partake in some पुण्य they too may acquire when a person is doing the जप. And this मंत्र is meant to ensure that the disturbance that may be brought about by such प्राणीs is mitigated before we begin our कर्म. Lastly, the use of the word, ब्रह्मकर्म is significant – संध्या वन्दनम् is a कर्म to acquire ब्रह्म (meaning it is a कर्म that enables us to attain our own परमार्थ स्थिति) – or one may take this as a कर्म to obtain फल from ब्रह्म who is परमात्मा – or ब्रह्म means वेद and since this कर्म has been specified as a नित्य कर्म to be done in the वेद, one may take performance of संध्या वन्दनम् as a वेद कर्म.  

पृतिवीति मंत्रस्य 

ॐ पृथिव्या: मेरो पृष्ठ ऋषि: कूर्मो देवता सुतलं छन्द: आसने विनियोगः अनन्त आसनाय नम: 

ॐ पृथिवी त्वया धृता लोका देवि त्वम् विष्णुना धृता | त्वम् च धारयमाम् देवि पवित्रं कुरु च आसनम् ॥

4. प्राणायाम

प्राण means breathing while आयाम means regulation and therefore, प्राणायाम means regulation of breathing. This is very useful for quietening of the mind. As students of वेदान्त will be aware, our शरीर has five कोश – अन्नमय, प्राणमय, मनोमय, विज्ञानमय and आनन्दमय. The प्राणमय कोश is sitting between अन्नमय (by improving physical health) and मनोमय (by improving mental/ emotional health) and therefore, the regulation of प्राण influences positively both the अन्नमय and मनोमय कोश. Therefore, the कर्म of प्राणमय comes up immediately in the beginning of the संध्या कर्म to ensure satisfactory conduct of the entire संध्या वन्दनम् क्रिया. प्राणमय needs to be done for a minimum of three times while the maximum is ten. Let us now turn to the मंत्र part of प्राणायाम and know its अर्थ. 

ओ-म्भूर्भुवस्सुवः । दैवी गायत्री चन्दः प्राणायामे विनियोगः

ॐ भू ॐ भुव: ओ गुं सुव: ॐ मह: ॐ जन: ॐ तप: ओ गुं सत्यम्  (INHALE FROM LEFT NOSTRIL) 

ॐ तत्सवितुर्वरेण्यम् भर्गो देवस्य धीमहि| धियो यो न: प्रचोदयाSत् | (HOLD BREATH) 

ओमापो ज्योतिरसोSमृतं ब्रह्म भूर्भुव: सुवरोम || (EXHALE FROM RIGHT NOSTRIL) 

ॐ  (TOUCH RIGHT EAR WITH RIGHT HAND)

Do प्राणायाम three times

Commentary

ॐ is referred to as प्रणव and भू, भुव:, etc are referred to as व्याहृतिs. Rest of the मंत्र is called as गायत्री (viz तत्सवितुर्वरेण्यम् भर्गो देवस्य धीमहि| धियो यो न: प्रचोदयाSत्) and last line is called as गायत्री शिरस् (viz ओमापो ज्योतिरसोSमृतं ब्रह्म भूर्भुव: सुवरोम). 

1. ॐ means ईश्वर (viz, as explained earlier, ब्रह्म + माया), भू, etc refer to सप्तलोक (but since there are fourteen in total, reference here is to the other seven लोक also). ॐ is prefixed for all  लोक since all लोक are emanations of ईश्वर only – सर्वम् विष्णुमयम् जगत्. It is ॐ only which manifests as all the लोक within this ब्रह्माण्ड. Put another way, all लोक are expressions of ब्रह्म only. 
2. गायत्री – I do उपासना upon the light of the सूर्य which activates my बुद्धि (simple meaning). More detailed explanation will come later in this write-up. 
3. गायत्री शिरस् part also says the same thing – viz that ईश्वर alone is everything – all आप (water in the well, rivers, ponds, oceans, etc), all ज्योति or light (सूर्य, चंद्र , नक्षत्र, अग्नि, etc), all रस or essences or nourishment contained in all food (viz भूमि तत्वम्) and even देवता nourishment (viz अमृत) is ईश्वर only. Further, ब्रह्म here means आकाश and वायु (since they pervade vast space and hence referred to as ब्रह्म here) and three लोक mentioned again here and can also be taken as three अवस्था (viz जाग्रत्, स्वप्न and सुशुप्ति) – all refer to the ईश्वर alone. Overall therefore, one can see all पञ्चभूत referred to here (आप is the जल तत्वम्, ज्योति is अग्नि तत्वम्, रस & अमृत is भूमि तत्वम् and ब्रह्म being आकाश and वायु – ॐ कारा alone is पञ्चभूत also (apart from ईश्वर). Lastly, while chanting the मंत्र, one must inhale, retain and then exhale as per one’s capacity. There is another take on गायत्री शिरस् – let us take up the seven भू – there are सप्त लोक viz . In Carnatic music, at the beginning is chanted आरोहण when the स्वर moves from low scale to high scale – chanting सप्त लोक is therefore akin to आरोहण when the जीव is asked to move up from lower plane of existence to the highest plane of existence viz सत्य. If we look at सृष्टि (creation or projection from top to bottom), we start with सत्य which is also referred to as सत्य लोक or ब्रह्म लोक. From ब्रह्म to then commence the projection, the first action is तप or तपस्या (this is also associated with ब्रह्मा who does तपस्या before projection is kicked off) – तप thus becomes the next लोक.जन: is associated with आकाश,  मह: with वायु (with got expressed as प्राण शक्ति also referred to as महत्), अग्नि is associated withसुव:, आप is associated with भुव: and पृथ्वी is associated with भू.  Taking this further, when we chant ओमापो ज्योतिरसोSमृतं, आप here signifies जल तत्वम् (oceans, rivers, ponds and even water that we consume), ज्योति (stars, fire, etc and even heat present in the food consumed by us), रस signifies taste present within the food consumed by us and अमृत refers to actual food consumed by us – ॐ is imbued in all these different aspects of food consumed by us on a daily basis. Simply put, starting from सत्य down to the level of food consumed by us, everything is ब्रह्म only – प्राणायाम therefore takes us from the journey of starting from बहिर्मुख (external orientation) and eventually making us अंतर्मुख (internal orientation).

5. सङ्कल्प

This means taking the resolve (signifying the intent). It is sought for gaining चित्त शुद्धि and not for any other benefit. And given that the intent is चित्त शुद्धि only, this कर्म may be seen as a निष्काम कर्म. The श्लोक for सङ्कल्प is given below. It should be noted that during morning संध्या, the सङ्कल्प gives the expression of प्रात: सन्ध्या, सङ्कल्प for the noon called as मध्यान्न संध्या while सङ्कल्प for the evening as सायं संध्या. There is a longer format of सङ्कल्प that is reproduced below:

ममोपात्त, दुरितक्षयद्वारा, श्री परमेश्वरमुद्दिस्य, श्री परमेश्वर प्रीत्यर्थम्, शुभे, शोभने, अभ्युदय मुहूर्ते, श्री महाविष्णोराज्ञया, प्रवर्त मानस्य, अद्य ब्रह्मणः, द्वितीय परार्थे, श्वेतवराह कल्पे, वैवश्वत मन्वन्तरे, कलियुगे, प्रथम पादे, भारत देशः – जम्बू द्वीपे, भरत वर्​षे, भरत खण्डे, मेरोः दक्षिण/उत्तर दिग्भागे;, शोभन गृहे, समस्त देवता ब्राह्मण, हरिहर गुरुचरण सन्निथौ, अस्मिन्, वर्तमान, व्यावहारिक, चान्द्रमान, 

… सं​वँत्सरे (state the name of the year), 

… अयने (state whether the day forms part of दक्षिणायन or उत्तरायण)

… ऋते (name the applicable ऋतु)

 … मासे (name the applicable month)

… पक्षे (state whether the day forms part of शुक्ल पक्ष or कृष्ण Paksha)

… तिथौ (name the तिथि applicable for the day)

… वासरे (name the day of the week)

… शुभ नक्षत्र (name the नक्षत्र applicable for the day)

,शुभ योग, शुभ करण, एवङ्गुण, विशेषण, विशिष्ठायाम्, शुभ तिथौ, 

श्रीमान्, (state one’s full नाम)

.. गोत्रः (state the गोत्र one belongs to)

.. नामधेयः, … गोत्रस्य, … नामधेयोहंः

प्रातः/मध्याह्निक/सायं सन्ध्यां उपासिष्ये ॥ (pour जल into the plate)

Three ingredients of सङ्कल्प are देश (location where संध्या is being done), काल (time when संध्या is being done) and पात्र (personal particulars of the person who is doing the संध्या). Key expression of सङ्कल्प is to state out loud these three parameters and then convey the following message:

I want only the grace of the ईश्वर to help me by doing क्षय of my दोष / पाप कर्म. I am praying to morning/ noon/ evening सन्ध्या. 

To conclude, the सङ्कल्प states that the person intends to do उपासना in the form of प्रात: संध्या. The purpose of the उपासना is to remove all impediments, both internal and external, to acquire ज्ञान. And with this intent clearly stated aloud to oneself, internalizing such a भावना fully within oneself, one proceeds with the actual कर्म. 

6. मार्जनम्

This word literally means cleansing or wiping. We invoke ईश्वर or संध्या देवी in the जल. Either जल flowing in the river or tank or पञ्चपात्र or in the उद्धरणि. Why do we do this? For several reasons – first, जल is the most abundant and easily available material. Second, जल is the basis and source of all life. So is ईश्वर and hence we invoke HER in जल. Third, जल is a purifier and here, through these मंत्र, we want to do मार्जनम् viz purification alone. Hence we keep a physical purifier as a symbol for inner purification. Fourth, once we invoke भगवान् in the जल, we develop ईश्वर बुद्धि in the जल and we begin to respect जल as भगवान्. Lastly, जल (along with भस्म and दर्भ) is the best material to imbibe the power of the मंत्र – hence, these three are used in all पूजा क्रिया undertaken – संध्या कर्म is therefore no different where ईश्वर is invoked in जल before commencing the कर्म. One must not take सृष्टि (or projection) for granted and mistakenly take its 24 तत्व as lower. Taking the तत्व seriously will help in divinizing the universe. Such a person will then not pollute the जल (or other तत्व) or do danger to environment. 

ॐ आपो॒हिष्ठा म॑यो॒भुवः॑ । ता न॑ ऊ॒र्जे द॑धातन । म॒हेरणा॑य॒ चक्ष॑से । यो वः॑ शि॒वत॑मो॒ रसः॑ । तस्य॑ भाजयते॒ ह नः॒ । उ॒श॒तीरि॑व मा॒तरः॑ । तस्मा॒ अर॑ङ्ग माम वः । यस्य॒ क्षया॑य॒ जिन्व॑थ । आपो॑ ज॒नय॑था च नः । ॐ भूर्भुवः सुव: |

(Take जल in the उद्धरणि, put thumb into it and and after every chant, sprinkle the water over one’s head)

मंत्र	अर्थ of the मंत्र
ॐ आपो हि ष्ठा मयोभुव:|	O आप: ! You are the source of the joy or आनन्द
ता न ऊर्जे दधातन |	May you give us all nourishment (physical nourishment with food and mental nourishment with सत्गुण)  for the sake of आनन्द
महे रणाय चक्षसे |	चक्षस् means ज्ञान, रमणीय means beautiful/ auspicious and महत् means great – May you bless us with the great and auspicious ब्रह्मज्ञान
यो वश्शिवतमो रस: |तस्य भाजयतेह न: |	ज्ञान  is not a पुरुषार्थ. Through ज्ञान , we want to attain the essence (रस) within us viz आनन्द. You make us shareholders – let us also share HERE & NOW that MOST auspicious आनन्द viz the essence of You
उशतीरिव मातर: |	Feed us with the nourishment like a loving mother
तस्मा अरंगमाम व: |	To receive आनन्द or मोक्ष, may we become fit (attain योग्यता)
यस्य क्षयाय जिन्वथ |	You also love or crave removing पाप using जल within me (to enable me to attain आनन्द)
आपो जनयथा च न: |	O आप!! You produce or create for our sake, all this (viz योग्यता, ज्ञान  and eventually आनन्द)
ॐ भूर्भुवः सुव: |	Take Water In The Right Palm And Throw This Circularly In Clockwise Direction Over The Head

7. जल प्राशनम् (or मंत्र-आचमनम्)

प्राशनम् means sipping here, we sip मंत्र-sanctified जल. मंत्र differs as per time of सन्ध्यावन्दनम्. 

प्रात: काल मंत्र-आचमनम्	मध्यान्न काल मंत्र-आचमनम्	सायंकाल मंत्र-आचमनम्
ॐ सूर्य श्च, मामन्यु श्च, मन्युपतय श्च, मन्यु॑कृते॒भ्यः । पापेभ्यो॑ रक्ष॒न्ताम् । यद्रात्र्या पाप॑ मका॒र्​षम् । मनसा वाचा॑ ह॒स्ताभ्याम् । पद्भ्या मुदरे॑ण शिश्ना । रात्रि॒ स्तद॑वलु॒म्पतु । यत्किञ्च॑ दुरि॒त-म्मयि॑ । इदमह-म्मा ममृ॑त यो॒ नौ । सूर्ये ज्योतिषि जुहो॑मि स्वा॒हा॓॑ ॥	आप: पुनन्तु पृथिवीं पृथिवी पूता पुनातु माम् | पुनन्तु ब्रह्मणस्पति: ब्रह्म पूता पुनातु माम् || यदुच्छिष्टम् अभोज्यं यद्वा दुष्चरितं मम | सर्वं पुनन्तु मामापोSसतां च प्रतिग्रह गुं स्वाहा ||	अग्नि श्च, मामन्यु श्च, मन्युपतय श्च, मन्यु॑कृते॒भ्यः । पापेभ्यो॑ रक्ष॒न्ताम् । यदह्ना पाप॑ मका॒र्​षम् । मनसा वाचा॑ ह॒स्ताभ्याम् । पद्भ्या मुदरे॑ण शिश्ना । अह स्तद॑वलु॒म्पतु । यत्किञ्च॑ दुरि॒त-म्मयि॑ । इदमह-म्मा ममृ॑त यो॒ नौ । सत्ये ज्योतिषि जुहो॑मि स्वा॒हा ॥
Take उद्धरणि जल in the right palm, place left palm below the right palm and chant the मंत्र below. After the मंत्र is chanted, consume the जल (without making any sound) and wash hands into the plate.

Commentary on प्रात: काल मंत्र-आचमनम्

मंत्र	अर्थ
सूर्यश्च मा मन्युश्च मन्युपतयश्च मन्युकृतेभ्य:|	May three देवता protect us from all पाप – first देवता is सूर्य (physical Sun or परमेश्वर), second देवता is मन्यु which means anger (देवता of anger is मन्यु) – this is chosen since anger is the cause of most of the पाप and the third देवता  is the cause of anger viz राग & द्वेष
पापेभ्यो रक्षन्ताम् |	May they protect me from future पाप in the form of anger
यद्रात्र्या पापमाकार्षम् |	May She protect me from the पाप done in the previous रात्री
मनसा वाचा हस्ताभ्यां |	पाप done using mind, speech and hands
पद्भ्याम् उदरेण शिश्ना |	पाप done using my legs by going to a place where one should not go or touching sacred objects/ people with one’s foot, using stomach by eating what/ when/ amount that should not be eaten and using sexual organs
रात्रिस्तदवलुप्पतु |	May रात्री देवता remove those पाप
यत् किञ्च दुरितं मयि |	दुरितं means पाप and whatever पाप I have done including महापाप done till the previous night and tagged to us as सञ्चित पाप
इदमहं माम् अमृतयोनौ |सूर्ये ज्योतिषि जुहोमि स्वाहा ||	Now, once all पाप are removed, I am purified नैवेद्य for the भगवान्. I offer myself to the सूर्य ज्योति (means ईश्वर अग्नि or परमात्मा अग्नि). At a व्यावहारिक level, one may take this mean that I dedicate myself to भगवान् as a भक्तwhile at a वेदान्त level, one can take this to mean that me as a जीवात्मा am offering myself to परमात्मा via this कर्म. It is a सूर्य देवता that is the source of अमृत, source of आनन्द and the source of मोक्ष. My merging into ब्रह्म, I become immortal meaning I regain my original nature

To sum up, the entire focus of these मंत्र is to convey that I am offering my purified self to भगवान् – there are two levels of meaning of what is meant by “offering myself” that we can ascribe as a साधक:

1. Outer meaning: I dedicate myself to भगवान् (lower meaning). I do not have any will other than will of भगवान् and since will of भगवान् is धर्म, I too will dedicate myself to a life of धर्म. 
2. Deeper meaning – when I am purifying myself of all the superimpositions (अहम्कार and ममकार), then I become शुद्ध आत्मा, and offering myself to ब्रह्म means I become one with the One (there is no difference between जीवात्मा and परमात्मा) 

मध्यान्न काल मंत्र-आचमनम्

Before प्राशनम् is done, we invoke ईश्वर in the आप. Purification prayer is again done. I offer myself again in the noon.

मंत्र	अर्थ
आप: पुनन्तु पृथिवीं पृथिवी पूता पुनातु माम् |	May the आप viz none other than ईश्वर purify पृथ्वी which can be taken to mean the location where one is living (and can also be taken to mean स्थूल शरीर). Equally, let the पृथ्वी on which one is doing the कर्म may purify me too. And once the स्थूल शरीर is purified, it should purify the सूक्ष्म शरीर too viz मन, पञ्च कर्म इंद्रिय and पञ्च ज्ञान इंद्रिय.
पुनन्तु ब्रह्मणस्पति: ब्रह्म पूता पुनातु माम् ||	ब्रह्म means वेद here and ब्रह्मणस्पति therefore stands for परमात्मा, गणेश as well as वेद आचार्य (since all of these three are essentially the knowers of the वेद). मंत्र says that may my आचार्य also purify me. Additionally, may the purified वेद also purify me.Note: By “purified वेद”, it is meant that the आचार्य is the one who purifies the वेद. And the आचार्य does so by ensuring that the content of the वेद is communicated correctly and improper interpretations of the वेद are kept away.
यदुच्छिष्टम् अभोज्यं यद्वा दुष्चरितं मम | सर्वं पुनन्तु मामापोSसतां च प्रतिग्रह गुं स्वाहा ||	May the ईश्वर remove the impurity that I may acquire as a result of eating भोजन that may be उच्छिष्टम् (meaning that which is partly eaten by others) or अभोज्यं (food that is निषेध as per शास्त्र viz food that is imbued with रजस् & तमस्) or that that I am consuming may have come either from a पाप कर्म done by me or food taken from a person who does पाप कर्म (दुष्चरितं).  स्वाहा at the end indicates again the offering of myself to the परमात्मा.

सायंकाल मंत्र-आचमनम्

मंत्र chanted in the evening is almost the same as प्रात: but with slight difference. At प्रात:, we offer to सूर्य and while in the evening, the offering is to अग्नि. Since the कर्म is done close to रात्री during which time the सूर्य is setting, we pray to अग्नि at this time. Light always represents प्रकाश स्वरूप of the ईश्वर. Further, the other difference in the सायं संध्या कर्म is that instead of referring to पाप done in the previous night, we seek removal of पाप done during the day from अहर् देवता. Also, instead of offering myself to सूर्य देवता as was done in the morning, we offer ourselves to सत्य ज्योति where सत्य stands for ईश्वर.

8. आचमनम्

ॐ आचम्य

1. ॐ केशवाय स्वाहा  (sip)  2. ॐ नारायणाय स्वाहा (sip) 3.     ॐ माधवाय स्वाहा (sip) (take जल in right palm and pour जल into the अर्घ्य plate)  4.     ॐ गोविन्दाय नमः (rub right hand over the left hand) 5. ॐ विँष्णवे नमः (rub left hand over the right hand) 6.     ॐ मधुसूदनाय नमः (rub thumb from below left lip towards right lip) 7. ॐ त्रिविक्रमाय नमः (rub thumb from below right lip towards left lip) 8.     ॐ वामनाय नमः (close mouth with three middle fingers without touching the mouth) 9. ॐ श्रीधराय नमः (right land over the head as if it is spraying something on top) 10.  ॐ हृषीकेशाय नमः (same as above) 11.  ॐ पद्मनाभाय नमः (tap left thigh with right hand) 12.  ॐ दामोदराय नमः (tap right thigh with right hand)

13.  ॐ सङ्कर्​षणाय नमः (touch throat with middle three fingers) 14.  ॐ वाँसुदेवाय नमः (touch right nostril with middle finger and thumb) 15.  ॐ प्रद्युम्नाय नमः (touch left nostril with middle finger and thumb) 16. ॐ अनिरुद्धाय नमः (touch middle finger and thumb to right side of right eye) 17. ॐ पुरुषोत्तमाय नमः (touch middle finger and thumb to left side of left eye) 18. ॐ अधोक्षजाय नमः (join little finger and thumb of right hand and touch right ear) 19.  ॐ नारसिंहाय नमः (join little finger and thumb of right hand and touch left ear) 20.  ॐ अच्युताय नमः (place the right hand on the navel) 21.  ॐ जनार्धनाय नमः (place the right hand on the हृदय) 22.  ॐ उपेन्द्राय नमः (place the right hand on top of the head) 23.  ॐ हरये नमः (place the right hand on top of right shoulder) 24.  ॐ श्रीकृष्णाय नम: (place the right hand on top of left shoulder)

ॐ श्रीकृष्ण परब्रह्मणे नमो नमः

9. पुनर् मार्जनम्

दधिक्राव्ण्णो अकारिषं | जिष्णोरश्वस्य वाजिनः | सुरभि नो मुखा करत्  | प्र ण आयू गुं षि तारिषत् |

ॐ आपो॒हिष्ठा म॑यो॒भुवः॑ । ता न॑ ऊ॒र्जे द॑धातन । म॒हेरणा॑य॒ चक्ष॑से । यो वः॑ शि॒वत॑मो॒ रसः॑ । तस्य॑ भाजयते॒ ह नः॒ । उ॒श॒तीरि॑व मा॒तरः॑ । तस्मा॒ अर॑ङ्ग माम वः । यस्य॒ क्षया॑य॒ जिन्व॑थ । आपो॑ ज॒नय॑था च नः । ॐ भूर्भुवः सुव: |

(Take जल in the उद्धरणि, put thumb into it and and after every chant, sprinkle the water over one’s head)

Commentary

मंत्र	अर्थ
दधिक्राव्ण्णो अकारिषं |	I am doing स्तुति  of ईश्वर (in the form of अग्नि) as one who pervades and sustains the whole creation as the उपादान कारण (material cause of creation)
जिष्णोरश्वस्य वाजिनः |	One whose स्वभाव  is to win consistently at all times (one who is never defeated), अश्व means to be व्यापक (meaning it is present everywhere) and one who travels very fast – ईश्वर is सर्व व्यापक as well as one who given food (since food is eaten after cooking for which अग्नि is used)
सुरभि नो मुखा करत्  |	May my मुख become fragrant (meaning I start being capable of using sweet words, soft words not hard words, truthful words not untruthful words, honest not hypocritical, etc and give आनन्द to all)
प्र ण आयू गुं षि तारिषत् |	प्रतारिषत् means elongated – May the ईश्वर  give me a long elongated आयू (life) or may I have a long healthy life (long life may also be understood that one should not have an unnatural death)Note: One seeks a long life not for entertainment – instead, since life of a मनुष्य comes with a lot of difficulty, one seeks a long life to ensure that one is able to undertake साधना fully and thereby get a full opportunity to attain मोक्ष using the मनुष्य शरीर (or उपाधि)

Essentially, मंत्र states that आप is सर्वम् and since ईश्वर is सर्वम्, आप: is ईश्वर. And at the end of the chant, the साधक writes “ॐ श्री केशवाय नम:” in the water.  And then following this, the below मार्जन मंत्र is chanted and at the end of each such मंत्र, the sanctified water is sprinkled on top of one’s head. These मंत्रs are also called as प्रोक्षण मंत्र (sprinkling मंत्र) and the nine मंत्रs given below remove nine kinds of पाप – the nine पाप are (the पाप done owing to रजस्, तमस् and मोह, the पाप done in जाग्रत्, स्वप्न and सुशुप्ति अवस्था and पाप done by वाक्, मन: & काय)

हिर॑ण्यवर्णा॒ श्शुच॑यः पाव॒काः या सु॑जा॒तः क॒श्यपो॒ या स्विन्द्रः॑ । अ॒ग्निं-याँ गर्भ॑न्दधि॒रे विरू॑पा॒ स्तान॒ आप॒श्शग्ग् स्यो॒ना भ॑वन्तु । या सा॒ग्ं॒ राजा॒ वरु॑णो॒ याति॒ मध्ये॑ सत्यानृ॒ते अ॑व॒पश्य॒-ञ्जना॑नाम् । म॒धु॒ श्चुत॒श्शुच॑यो॒ याः पा॑व॒का स्तान॒ आप॒श्शग्ग् स्यो॒ना भ॑वन्तु । यासा’’-न्दे॒वा दि॒वि कृ॒ण्वन्ति॑ भ॒क्षं-याँ अ॒न्तरि॑क्षे बहु॒था भव॑न्ति । याः पृ॑थि॒वी-म्पय॑सो॒न्दन्ति॑ श्शु॒क्रास्तान॒ आप॒शग्ग् स्यो॒ना भ॑वन्तु । या-श्शि॒वेन॑ मा॒ चक्षु॑षा पश्यतापश्शि॒वया॑ त॒नु वोप॑स्पृशत॒ त्वच॑ म्मे । सर्वाग्ं॑ अ॒ग्नीग्ं र॑प्सु॒षदो॑ हु॒वे वो॒ मयि॒ वर्चो॒ बल॒ मोजो॒ निध॑त्त ॥

(Pour any remaining जल left in the hand, if any, into the plate)

Commentary

मंत्र	अर्थ
हिर॑ण्यवर्णा॒ श्शुच॑यः पाव॒काः या सु॑जा॒तः क॒श्यपो॒ या स्विन्द्रः॑ ।	जल has a हिरण्य (meaning golden) वर्ण (meaning colour). Why so? Since as per the पञ्चीकरण process, जल comes from अग्नि, अग्नि is situated in the गर्भ of अग्नि and therefore, जल is expressed as having the वर्ण of हिरण्य. This is also the reason why जल has the शक्ति of making everything पवित्र (since अग्नि is the real purifier of all). हिरण्य also means pure (apart from golden). Further, निरुक्त describes हिरण्यम् means that which is हितं (beneficial) and रम्यम् (enjoyable) – and both these are the लक्षण of जल. This जल has स्वरूप of being शुद्ध & पवित्र. Both इंद्र and क॒श्यप were born from जल (since all सूर्य and नक्षत्र are said, as per वेद, to have been created from a मूल तजस् that is called as क॒श्यप). And the energies of all देवताs as well as क॒श्यप came from जल, by doing प्रार्थना of the जल, we can reach or attain invoke their energies within जल itself.
अ॒ग्निं-याँ गर्भ॑न्दधि॒रे	What is stated here is that the जल has hidden अग्नि within itself. Once again, by doing जल उपासना, one will be able to access the energy present within अग्नि viz that of परमात्मा.
विरू॑पा॒ स्तान॒ आप॒श्शग्ग् स्यो॒ना भ॑वन्तु	When one involves जल present within the उद्धरणि, you are invoking the जल principle present across the Universe (since जल principle is present in multiple रूप across the Universe).  “Let both types of सुख शं and स्यो॒ना, be obtained by me” (first सुख is one that comes as a relief when experiencing intense misery while second सुख is one that one obtains while already being in a सुख mode).
या सा॒ग्ं॒ राजा॒ वरु॑णो॒ याति॒ मध्ये॑ सत्यानृ॒ते अ॑व॒पश्य॒-ञ्जना॑नाम्	वरुण, as the king of all जल, lives as a साक्षी observing the सत्य and असत्य (meaning पुण्य and पाप) present within all जीव (thus here, वरुण will mean परमेश्वर Herself). वरुण is not just present passively but works as an active principle directing the जीव by giving them experiences as aligned to their पुण्य and पाप कर्म (hence the word अवपश्य is used as against अपश्य).
म॒धु॒ श्चुत॒श्शुच॑यो॒ याः पा॑व॒का स्तान॒ आप॒श्शग्ग् स्यो॒ना भ॑वन्तु	वरुण, enjoying म॒धु॒ रस (meaning having आनन्द स्वरूप) present within the जल which is both शुद्ध & पवित्र – may such वरुण grants us सुख.
यासा’’-न्दे॒वा दि॒वि कृ॒ण्वन्ति॑ भ॒क्षं-याँ अ॒न्तरि॑क्षे बहु॒था भव॑न्ति	जल is भोजन for all (both मनुष्य and देवता) as the essence present within all types of food is expressed as जल here. Existence as per वेद is divided into three categories – दि॒वि, अन्तरिक्ष and भू with the दि॒वि region inhabited by the देवताs, अन्तरिक्ष as the intermediate region while भू is inhabited by humans (and other beings). In the दि॒वि also, देवता consume this जल, in अन्तरिक्ष, जल takes varied forms (vapour, clouds and raindrops)
याः पृ॑थि॒वी-म्पय॑सो॒न्दन्ति॑ श्शु॒क्रास्तान॒ आप॒शग्ग् स्यो॒ना भ॑वन्तु	The above जल then enters पृथ्वी in a pure manner and wets it – may such जल give me सुख.
या-श्शि॒वेन॑ मा॒ चक्षु॑षा पश्यतापश्शि॒वया॑ त॒नु वोप॑स्पृशत॒ त्वच॑ म्मे सर्वाग्ं॑ अ॒ग्नीग्ं र॑प्सु॒षदो॑ हु॒वे वो॒ मयि॒ वर्चो॒ बल॒ मोजो॒ निध॑त्त	O जल! please look at me with शुभ दृष्टि and come into contact with me. I invoke all kinds of अग्नि present within this जल into myself which gives me positive aura (वर्च:), strength (बल) and energy (ओज:) and allow these to remain within me.

10. अघमर्​षण मन्त्रः पापविमोचनं

द्रु॒प॒दा दि॑व मुञ्चतु । द्रु॒प॒दा दि॒वे न्मु॑मुचा॒नः । स्वि॒न्न स्स्ना॒त्वी मला॑ दिवः । पू॒त-म्पवित्रे॑णे॒ वाज्यं’’ आप॑ श्शुन्दन्तु॒ मैन॑सः ॥ 

(take जल into the उद्धरणि and pour into right hand, place the hand close to right nostril, use ringer finger of the left hand to close left nostril, inhale & exhale from the right nostril into the जल and then dispose this जल behind oneself on the left side)

Commentary

क्रिया done while chanting this मंत्र is to take जल into our hand, then take the जल to the left nostril, imagine that पाप पुरुष within us is coming out of the left nostril into the जल in our hand, then leave the जल behind oneself on the left aside where one is sitting. And then one washes their hands after this process is completed. Essentially, after the entire cleansing process undertaken till the previous stage, one is now capable of drawing out the पाप पुरुष present within us and getting rid of this before starting the main गायत्री जप that will follow. 

Just as a person feels free after being tied up to a rope, let me feel the same freedom once I have got rid of the पाप पुरुष who had bound me. Just as a person feels drained out after passing through a hot day and feels joyful after having a bath, let me experience joy of relief by being rid of the पाप कर्म which had bound me. Just as ghee is purified by the touch of दर्भ during a यज्ञ, let me also become पवित्र (since पाप कर्म has gone out of me) by the touch of this जल. 

11. आचमनम्

ॐ आचम्य 

1. ॐ केशवाय स्वाहा  (sip)  2. ॐ नारायणाय स्वाहा (sip) 3.     ॐ माधवाय स्वाहा (sip) (take जल in right palm and pour जल into the अर्घ्य plate)  4.     ॐ गोविन्दाय नमः (rub right hand over the left hand) 5. ॐ विँष्णवे नमः (rub left hand over the right hand) 6.     ॐ मधुसूदनाय नमः (rub thumb from below left lip towards right lip) 7. ॐ त्रिविक्रमाय नमः (rub thumb from below right lip towards left lip)8.     8. ॐ वामनाय नमः (close mouth with three middle fingers without touching the mouth) 9. ॐ श्रीधराय नमः (right land over the head as if it is spraying something on top) 10.  ॐ हृषीकेशाय नमः (same as above) 11.  ॐ पद्मनाभाय नमः (tap left thigh with right hand) 12.  ॐ दामोदराय नमः (tap right thigh with right hand)

13.  ॐ सङ्कर्​षणाय नमः (touch throat with middle three fingers) 14.  ॐ वाँसुदेवाय नमः (touch right nostril with middle finger and thumb) 15.  ॐ प्रद्युम्नाय नमः (touch left nostril with middle finger and thumb) 16. ॐ अनिरुद्धाय नमः (touch middle finger and thumb to right side of right eye) 17. ॐ पुरुषोत्तमाय नमः (touch middle finger and thumb to left side of left eye) 18. ॐ अधोक्षजाय नमः (join little finger and thumb of right hand and touch right ear) 19.  ॐ नारसिंहाय नमः (join little finger and thumb of right hand and touch left ear) 20.  ॐ अच्युताय नमः (place the right hand on the navel) 21.  ॐ जनार्धनाय नमः (place the right hand on the हृदय) 22.  ॐ उपेन्द्राय नमः (place the right hand on top of the head) 23.  ॐ हरये नमः (place the right hand on top of right shoulder) 24.  ॐ श्रीकृष्णाय नम: (place the right hand on top of left shoulder)

ॐ श्रीकृष्ण परब्रह्मणे नमो नमः (do नमस्कार while chanting this)

(To be continued…..)