सन्ध्याविधिःThe rule of the sandhyā
Verse 77
ब्रह्ममन्त्रोपासकानां गायत्रीजपनात् प्रिये । ज्ञानात् ब्रह्मेति तद्वाच्यं सन्ध्या भवति वैदिकी ॥ ७७ ॥
brahmamantrōpāsakānāṁ gāyatrījapanāt priyē | jñānāt brahmēti tadvācyaṁ sandhyā bhavati vaidikī || 77 ||
Translation
For those who worship with the Brahma-mantra, beloved, the Vedic sandhyā comes about through the japa of the Gāyatrī and the knowledge that what it speaks of is Brahman.
Word by word
- brahma
- Brahma
- mantra
- with the mantra
- upāsakānāṁ
- for those who worship
- gāyatrī
- of the Gāyatrī
- japanāt
- through the japa
- priyē
- O beloved
- jñānāt
- (jñānāt) and the knowledge
- brahmēti
- (brahma iti) that Brahman is
- tad
- (tat) what
- vācyaṁ
- it speaks of
- sandhyā
- the sandhyā
- bhavati
- comes about
- vaidikī
- Vedic
Meaning
For the worshippers of Brahman (the path of the third chapter, with the mantra "oṁ saccid ekaṁ brahma"), the Vedic sandhyā is simple: repeating the Gāyatrī and knowing, the commentary says, that what the Gāyatrī sets forth is Brahman. The Gāyatrī ("tat savitur vareṇyaṁ…", "we meditate on the glorious light of Savitṛ; may it stir our minds") is read as a prayer to the one reality, not to the sun as a deity.
Commentary
Hariharānanda Bhāratī’s Sanskrit commentary, translated
Showing the difference of worship first, he shows the difference of sandhyā in the two verses beginning "brahma…". For worshippers of the Brahma mantra, by the japa of the Gāyatrī and by knowing that what it speaks of, what the Gāyatrī sets forth, is Brahman, the Vedic sandhyā is accomplished.