Sandhavandanam and Gayatri

[kisalipa]

Q) What is the meaning of Sandhya and Gayatri?
Swami replied: Sandhya means time of worship. Gayatri means mode of worship. The first word speaks about the proper time for worship. The second word speaks about the proper mode of worship to God. When to worship God and how to worship God are the two questions answered by these two words respectively. In the morning time, after a long sleep, you find yourself quite fresh to concentrate on God. Moreover, that is the leisure time since you're going to enter into duties of your job after morning time. Again, in the evening time, you find leisure after returning from the duties to worship God. In morning and evening, the heat of the sun is also at very low level, which is congenial to worship God. Even though the value of heat is nil in the night, due to the presence of darkness indicating ignorance (because the sleep that causes the ignorance starts in the night only), night cannot be congenial to worship God with full enlightenment of awareness. The word Gayatri indicates the best mode of worship irrespective of caste, gender, religion, etc. Poetry (Rig Veda) is better than prose (Yajur Veda). Song (Sama Veda) is better than poetry. Song attracts the mind easily to get absorbed in God with climax of devotion. Hence, Lord said that He is the Sama Veda, which means that song is the highest mode of worship (Vedaanaam saamavedosmi – Gita). If this inner sense is realized, the ego of a specific caste (Brahmin, Kshatriya and Vaishya), a specific gender (male) and a specific religion (Hinduism) will disappear indicating the impartial God opening the gates of salvation without any partiality based on only universality. Song does not mean the exercise of music. It only means a little sweetness added to the poetry with your own way of the process of singing talent. God is attracted by your devotion rising through that song and not through your scholastic and tedious exercise of musical exposure (like sa, ri, ga, ma, pa, da, ni, sa etc.).
All the above explanation is about theoretical devotion only (jnana yoga and bhakti yoga), which does not give any practical fruit without the practical devotion (karma yoga), called as service and sacrifice. But, the theoretical devotion is the mother that delivers the practical devotion. Of course, one can expect theoretical fruits (like improvement of intelligence and improvement in the sweetness of the voice) for theoretical devotion since God said that He will give fruits in the same path in which you approach Him (ye yathaa maam… Gita). This point is very important fundamental of the spiritual knowledge about which most of the devotees are in ignorance and misunderstanding. The other name of the Gita is Nishkama Karma Yoga, which means practical service and sacrifice to God without aspiring any fruit in return. This is the highest plane about which I am not speaking here! I am only speaking about the lower justified level, which is theoretical fruit for theoretical devotion and practical fruit for practical devotion (business deal or exchange called as Vaishya bhakti). The lowest unjust level is to expect practical fruit for theoretical devotion (Veshya bhakti or prostitutedevotion)!
At The Lotus Feet of JagadGuru Dattaswami!!!