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RE: Upanayanam and Sandhya

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Sriran Ramanujam +1 614 860 6672 • November 7, 1995 


Talking of sandhyavandana for 'S...' people I dug out from a
book by Swami Vivekananda wherin he quotes supposedly
from Sukla Yjur Vedas : "yathA-imAm vAcham kalyaNIm AdadAmi janebhyah;
Brahma-rAjanyAbhyAm sUdrAya cha AryAya cha svAya-chAraNAya cha,
which says Just as I am speaking these blessed words to
the people, in the same way you also spread these words among 
all men and women -the Brahmanas, kshtriyas, vysayas, Sudras and
all other, whether they are our won people or aliens.
It is also said that every body was prescribed to sandhayvandanas
in the golden times, for women one of the smritis is supposed to have 
these:

purA- kalpe kumArINAm
maunjI-bandhanam-Ihyate
adhyApanam cha vEdAnAm sAvitri-vachanam thathA.

In olden times the upanayana wa performed for the girls too.
They were taught the Vedas and the gAyatri mantra.

It was probably in the medieval ages that things went bad in
the society, there are some rAmayaNa versions which quote Sita
doing sandhyaV. 
There are a large number of chettiars etc. who do have the poonal
on, on a daily basis even now. 

Apart from this would'nt it be interesting to note that SriVaishnava
sanyasis have to grihastas and have their poonal actually four sets
(signifying bramhachari, grihasta, varnashrama, sanyas ?) and have
the same nityakarmas as we normal beings where as among Madhva acharyas
giving up poonal for a sanyasi is the vogue, they probably think once
renounced everything of the previous ashrama must go even the nityakarmas
prescribed!!!.

Thanks
--sriram