Is there any scripture which says how sandhya vandan should be performed

Question

I want to know about procedure as to how sandhya vandan should be performed and also it's significance

Answer 1

Nityakarm Pujaprakash published by Gita Press provides good detail of all Sandhya vandanas in morning, afternoon and evening. The book is available in Hindi, Telugu, Gujarati and Nepali. It is also available on Kindle.

Author Pt Lalbihari Mishra details about following topics

1. When to wake up and what to do after that
2. Shauch kriya incl Snaan (Morning ablutions)
3. How to dress up
4. How to perform Morning Sandhya: Puja archana and Aarti
5. It also talks about Afternoon and Evening Sandhya.

Please have a look at it's contents. Please let me know if you need more details.

Answer 2

Sandhya Vandanam literally means either “Salutation to the goddess of Dawn and dusk or, the prayers done during dawn and dusk.” Hindus considered the period just before dawn and just after dusk as well as the exact period of noon , as extremely suitable for meditation.

There is a detailed procedure to follow in Sandhya Vandanam and after completing that worship one is supposed to chant Gayatri mantra 108 times (or its half - 54 times or its half - 27 times or at least 10 times without fail). Sandhya Vandanam is a great and powerful worship; it gives immense aura, wealth, glory, fame, prosperity, knowledge, pious qualities, and many such virtuous qualities to the practitioner. When Sandhya Vandanam is performed at the morning time (prAtah sandhyA) it destroys all the sins committed by the individual during the night with hands, mouth, thought, and organ of generation. Similarly the madhyAhna sandhyA vandanaM (noon time worship) destroys all the ills and sins committed during the day, and likewise the sAyamsandhyA vandanaM (worship at the evening) destroys all the sins committed during the day. This worship makes a Brahmana sinless and raises him in glory and virtues.

Let me not quote entire procedure of sandhyA vandanaM here. But the main slokas (verses) which form the part of the worship in the three sandhyA times are quoted below.

At Dawn:

"suuryashcha maa manyushcha manyupatayashcha manyukR^itebhyaH | paapebhyo rakshantaam.h | yadraatriyaa paapamakaarshham.h | manasaa vaachaa hastaabhyaam.h . padbhyaamudareNa shishnaa | raatristadavalumpatu | yatki~ncha duritaM mayi | iadamahaM maamamR^itayonii | suurye jyotishhi svaahaa |" (Taittiriya Aranyaka 10.32.1) "May the Sun, Anger and the Guardians of anger guard me from the sins resulting from anger. May the Night efface completely whatever sin I have committed during the last night by thought, word, hands, feet, stomach and the procreative organ. Further, whatever sinful deed has been committed by me all that and myself I offer as an oblation into the Supreme Light represented by the sun, the source of Immortality. Hail!”

Here in the morning prayer of sandhyA vandanaM we can see that the prayer is addressed to Sun god (Surya), Anger (Manyu) and the guardian god who controls the Anger.

At Noon:

"aapaH punantu pR^ithiviiM pR^ithivii puutaa punaatu maam.h | punantu brahmaNaspatirbrahmapuutaa punaatu maam.h | (Taittiriya Aranyaka 10.30.1) yaduchchhishhTamabhojya.n yadvaa dushcharitaM mama | sarvaM punantu maamaapo.asataa.n cha pratigraham svaahaa |" (Taittiriya Aranyaka 10.30.2) "May this water cleanse my physical body that is made of earthy substances. Thus purified, may the earthy body purify me, the Soul within. May this water purify the guardian of the Vedas, my preceptor. May the purified Vedas taught by the purified teacher purify me. (Or may the Supreme purify me. May the water purified by the Supreme purify me). My defilement, repast on prohibited food and misconduct if any, and the sin accruing from the acceptance of gifts from persons disapproved by the scripture – from all these may I be absolved. May the waters purify me. Hail!”

Here in the Noon prayer of sandhyA vandanaM we can see that the prayer is addressed to Water (ApaH).

At Dusk:

"agnishcha maa manyushcha manyupatayashcha manyukR^itebhyaH | paapebhyo rakshantaam.h | yadahnaa paapamakaarshham.h | manasaa vaachaa hastaabhyaam.h | padbhyaamudareNa shishnaa | ahastadavalimpatu | yatki~ncha duritaM mayi | idamahaM maamamR^itayonii | satye jyotishhi juhomi svaahaa |" (Taittiriya Aranyaka 10.31.1) "May fire, Anger and Guardians of anger guard me from the sins resulting from anger. May the Day efface completely whatever sin I have committed on this day by thought, word, hands, feet, stomach and the procreative organ. Further whatever sinful deed has been committed by me, all that and myself I offer as an oblation into the Self-luminous Truth, the source of Immortality. Hail!”

Here in the evening prayer of sandhyA vandanaM we can see that the prayer is addressed to Fire god (Agni), Anger (Manyu) and the guardian god who controls the Anger.

I hope this clarifies your queries.

Answer 3

There are several scriptures that briefly discuss the Sandhyā-Vandanam procedure. Some of them are -

1. Garuḍa Purāṇa 1.36: English Tanslation & Hindi Translation.

2. Devī Bhāgavatapurāṇa 11.16: English translation & Hindi translation

3. Vidyārṇava Tantra 1.18.57: Hindi Translation

However, one should refer to their family Ācārya, Elders, and locally available books on daily worship, etc., to know the exact & detailed procedure to be followed, as per the family tradition, for that is the scriptural injunction.

For instance, the Skanda Purāṇa says Verse 2.4.5.21a says-

ततः संध्यामुपासीत स्वसूत्रोक्तेन वर्त्मना ।

21. Thereafter, he should perform Sandhyā prayers in accordance with the Sūtra followed by him.