The Sage of Kanchi

Pranams at the lotus feet of Sri Paramacharya!

Sri Paramacharya emphasizes the significance of Sun Worship/Sandhyavandhanam, which is considered as one of the most compulsory rites of a twice-born after the performance of sacred thread ceremony, any religious rites performed without sun worship would remain unfruitful.  All the religious and spiritual rite should be performed after the performance of sun worship to attain the meritorious reward mentioned in the scriptures.  Gayathri Mahamanthra is the essence of Rig, Yajur, Sama Veda, it is also known as 'Thripadha Gayathri', it has 24 sacred syllables which are divided as a set of eight into three.  It is highly propitious Mahamanthra which protects the intellect, virility, and energy of the worshiper who recites with intense devotion and faith.  Gayathri Mahamanthra is the mother of Veda, therefore recitation of this Mahamanthra would provide the piousness of the recitation of all the Vedic chants. The worshiper would attain all those Manthrasiddhi with the sincere worship of the Sun.  It is important that the worshiper should keep his body free from impurities to attain all those benefits of the performance of Sun worship.  The body is considered as a shrine which is the dwelling place of Paramathma in the form of soul.  It is our practice to keep the shrine free from impurities, in the same manner, the worshiper should keep his body free from impurities like addiction causing intoxicated and spirituous ingredients or consumption of meat, etc..

The temples follow particular disciplines and rules, shrine should be kept free from impurities.  At home we follow the different practices,  we do not observe all those strict practices followed in the temples.  The worship place and the living space should be kept separately in the homes, it is sad to note that nowadays people are not following any of the strictness in the homes.  It is the responsibility of the twice-born to practice religious rites and Vedic chants for the welfare of the Universe and its people, therefore he has to keep his body and mind free from impurities, he has to follow strict austerities and disciplines.  A twice-born should utilize his body for the welfare of the Universe and its people, the performance of religious rites, the recitation of Veda and protect Veda.  There was a time, the Kings and rulers were offered an abundance of wealth and grains as a charity for the performance of religious rites, and huge contributions were made to the Brahmins for the performance of religious rites.  Nowadays the situation has changed, people are not aware of the importance of religious or spiritual rites, either they are not willing to follow the custom or not aware of its importance.  Therefore, a twice-born has to work hard for earning money, that does not mean that he has to leave all his religious rites and accumulate wealth or engage in activities which are morally wrong.  It was believed that a twice-born should starve to attain knowledge, which promotes the welfare of the Universe and its living beings.  A twice-born need not cross the ocean to earn money and lead a comfortable life by leaving all his religious rites.  The primary duty of a twice-born is to protect Veda and perform religious and spiritual rites, which is capable to protect the entire Universe and its living beings.  A twice-born should be capable to alleviate the miseries of the people and protect the people from disaster with his Manthrasiddhi.  Unfortunately, in recent years twice-born has less interest in his duties and responsibilities, he got accustomed to the comforts, his mind, and body has become impure, even though he has a spark in him which he as attained from the piousness of previous births, if he put an effort to kindle the spark of worship of  Goddess Gayathri and Sun, it would protect him.   If he protects Veda and follows the religious rites,  it is definite that he will remain protected always,  when a person and his three generations stop performing sun worship would be considered as a Dhur-brahmin, he should  perform the atonement rites meticulously, even though it is impossible to regain the status of a twice-born.  It is the duty of a twice-born to recite Sahasra Gayathri whenever possible, and he should avoid consuming meals cooked other than in his home.