Sankalpam: What is it?

The Sankalpam is an introduction to any ritual. All rituals, performed by a Hindu, auspicious as well as inauspicious, must have the following as an introduction:

• Identification of the exact moment of the ritual by acknowledging the position of the planets
• Identification of the object of the ritual. i.e.,what worship he is about to perform.

Rituals always start with a fixation of the exact location where the ritual is performed, the precise time, the star, the day, the Thithi, the fortnight, the month, the season, the Ayanam or half year , and the year , as also the quarter of the yuga, the name of the yuga , the name of the cycle, the Manvantara, and the Kalpa .This practice is a part of the daily ' Nitya Anushtana' the daily routine of Hindus in general and Srivaishnavas in particular. In this way the formula for describing the exact time in the eternal cycle has been passed on from generation to generation. This is what we call the "Sankalpam' before commencing any rituals. Preparation for Sankalpam Before we perform any Sankalpam for any auspicious ceremony, we need to verify the following:

• Every day has a period of 1 1/2 hrs in a day called Muhurtham, which is a good time for performing auspicious activities.
• We also need to avoid 2 periods every day called Rahu Kalam and Yema Gandam.
• Coming back to the Sankalpam, we can now proceed to understand the various terms. We use the same basis, i.e., a year, but now work downwards, where a year is the lower limit till Prabavadi Shashti Samvatsaranam Madye, and upper limit subsequently.

Example Sankalpam:
SrI govinda govinda govinda!
asya SrI-bhagavata:
mahA purushasya vishNor AgjnayA
pravartamAnasya
aadhya brahmaNa:
Dviteeya parardhe: In the second half of Brahma’s life,i.e., the 51st year.
Svetavaraha Kalpe: In the Kalpa of Sveta Varaha
Vaivaswatha Manvantare: In the reign of Vaivaswatha
Manu Ashta Vimsati me: within the 28th cycle, i.e, the 28th Mahayuga
Kali Yuge: In the Kali yuga
Prathame Pade: In the first quarter of this Yuga
Jambu Dweepe: India being part of Jambu Dweepam
Asmin Varthamane Vyavaharike: In the current running period
Prabavadi Shashti Samvatsaranam Madye: Among the cycle of 60 years starting from Prabhava year
Nama Samvatsare: in the year named
Dakshinayane: in the Southern of the Sun Vasantha Ritu: in the Vasantha season
Mesham Mase: in the month of Mesham
Krishna Pakshe: in the fortnight before
Amavasya Navami Asyaam Punya Thithou: on this 9th holy day
Sthira Vasara uktayam: on the day of saturday
Ashiwini Nakshatra uktayam: the predominant star of the day
SrI-vishnu-yOga, SrI-vishnu-karaNa
Subha-yOga, Subha-karaNa
Yevam guNa-viSeshaNa viSishTAyAm
asyAm
……AsyAm Subha-tithou
SrI-Bhagavad-AjnayA
Sri Bhagavat-kainkarya-roopam
......Karishye.

Then, the Sankalpa proceeds to introduce the actual ritual to be performed after which we can go ahead with whatever ritual or pooja was planned. The details of each of the phrazes in the Sankalpam can be found here.

Sankalpam: Detailed explaination

Let us understand the meaning of the phrases that the Sankalpam is comprised of. To understand the phrases in the Sankalpam we need to understand the concept of the Cosmic Cycle and Cosmic time calculations

Cosmic Cycle
Time, as per Hindu practices, has evolved and revolves around the life cycle of Brahma, the Creator. This is known as the Hindu Cosmic cycle. Cosmic cycles are infinitely recurring periods of the universe, comprising its creation, preservation and dissolution.

Time Calculations
We start by using a calendar year as the basis. Unless otherwise specified, year shall mean a Calendar Year. One year for humans represents one day for the divine beings. 360 such divine days make one divine year. 12,000 such divine years makes a Mahayuga comprising the 4 yugas of Krita, Treta, Dwapara and Kali yugas.

i.e. each Yuga comprises of the following calendar years:
• Kali yuga 432,000 years
• Dwapara yuga 864.000 years
• Treta yuga 1,296,000 years
• Krita yuga 1,728,000 years.

Kalpa
Total for one Mahayuga (Also called Chatur Yuga) = 4,320,000 years or 4.32 million years.
72 Mahayugas constitutes one 'Manvantara' (i.e.) the life of a Manu, the law giver ( we are in the 28th Mahayuga)
14 such Manvantaras make one day or Kalpa of the Creator Brahma.
2 kalpas = 1 day and night of Brahma ( called Ahoratras )
360 ahoratras = 1 year of Brahma

Parardhe
Half the life span of Brahma, OR 50 Brahma years. We are in the 51st Brahma Year, OR the second or Dwiteya Pararadhe
Two Parardhe : Life span of Brahma ie 100 years
After that, pralaya equal to the duration of 2 parardhas take place, and at its end, a new cycle starts.

Jamboo dveepE
Then, the Sankalpa refers to the geographical position of the place where the ritual is performed. This could be the historical or mythological name of the place. Bhagavata Purana deals with the geography of the world in a great detail. It divides the world into seven dweepas. AND India is in Jambu dweepa ,and America in Krauncha dweepa.

BhArata varshE, Bharata: khaNDE, SakAbde, merO: dakshiNE pArSvE
In the geographical part to the south of the Meru Mountain in the land of Bharata. Meru is the mythological heavenly mountain, and our planet Earth is south of it. Technically, this also means that this particular term merO: dakshiNE pArSvE would be applicable to all parts of the world.

……nAma samvatsarE
Resuming the reference to time, the Sankalpa proceeds further as follows:
Samvatsaram is a Year. Hindu calendar has a 60 year cycle. The current year is Virodhi corresponding to the Year (2009 -2010)

……AyaNE (Ayanam)
As per calendars based on the solar system the year is divided into two halves in accordance with the movement of the sun, Northwards and Southwards. The former is termed Uttaraayanam and the latter Dakshinaayanam.

Dakshinayanam (6 months) - Aadi to Margazhi
Uttarayanam (6 months) - Thai to AaNi

……Ritou (Rithus)
The year is divided into 6 seasons or RITUS, which correspond to 2 months each of the Lunar Calendar. These are as follows:
• Chithirai & Vaikasi = Vasantha Rithu (March-April,April-May)
• Aani & Aadi = Greeshama Rithu(May-June,June-July)
• Aavani & Puratasi = Varsha Rithu (July-Aug, Aug-Sep)
• Iypasi & Karthigai = Sharadh Rithu(Sep-Oct,Oct-Nov)
• Markazhi & Thai = Hemantha Rithu(Nov-Dec, Dec-Jan)
• Masi & Panguni = Shishira Rithou (February/March)

……Subha-tithau (Thithis)
These are days of the month calculated from the day after Pournami, till Amavasya, or vice versa.
Pournami/Amavasya + 1: Prathama
+ 2. Dvithiya
+ 3. Trithiya
+ 4. Chaturthi
+ 5. Panchami
+ 6. Shashti
+ 7. Saptami
+ 8. Ashtami
+ 9. Navami
+ 10. Dasami
+ 11. Ekadasi
+ 12. Dvadashi
+ 13. Trayodasi
+ 14. Chaturdasi
+ 15. PourNami OR Amavasya

……mAsE (Months)
• Chitirai – Mesham April - May
• Vaikasi – Rishabam May – June
• Aani – Mithunam June - July
• Aadi – Kadakam July - August
• Aavani – Simham August - Sep
• Puratasi – Kannya Sep - Oct
• Iypasi – Tulam Oct - Nov
• Karthigai – Virchikam Nov - Dec
• Markazhi = Dhanur Dec - Jan
• Thai – Makaram Jan - Feb
• Masi – Kumbam Feb - March
• Panguni – Meenam March – April

……pakshE (Paksham)
Shukla Pakshe: day after Amavasya till and including Pournami
Krishna Pakshe: day after Pournami till and including Amavasya

.……vAsara (days of a week)
• Sunday: Bhanu Vasara;
• Monday: Indu/Soma Vasara;
• Tuesday: Bhowma Vasara;
• Wednesday: Soumya Vasara;
• Thursday: Guru Vasara;
• Friday: Brugu Vasara;
• Saturday: Sthira Vasara

……nakshatra yuktAyAm (Nakshatram)
Aswani/ Aswinee ,
BharaNi/ apabharaNee ,
Kaarthikai/ Krutthikaa ,
ROhiNi/ ROhiNee ,
Mrugaseersham/ Mrugasiras ,
thiruvAdhirai/ AardhrA ,
Punarpoosam / PunarvasU ,
Poosam / Pushyam,
Aayilyam/. AaslEshA ,
Makam / MaghA ,
Pooram/ Poorvabhalgunee ,
Hastham/ HasthA ,
Chittirai/ ChithrA ,
SvAthi / SvAthee ,
VisAkam/ VisAkaa ,
anusham/ anurAdhA ,
KEttai/ JyEshtA ,
Moolam/ Moolaa ,
PoorAdam/ , PoorvAshADaa ,
UttharAdam/ UtthaAshAdaa ,
ThiruvONam/ SravaNam ,
Avittam/ Dhanishtaa ,
Sathayam/ Sathabhishak ,
PorrattAthi/ Poorvabhadhra ,
UttharattAdhi/UthrabhdhrA ,
Revathy/REvathee .

Example
The following is a worked out example of the Sankalpam. This is for Yajur Upakarma for Saturday,16th August,2008. The Ritual Year was Sarvadhari,it was Dakshinayane (since it was Adi month) Kataka Mase, the ritual name for the month of Adi, Shukla Pakshe since it was pournami and paksham would change the next day,Pourniasyam, the name for Pournami,and since it was Saturday, it was Sthira vaasa.The star of the day was Sravana.

SrI govinda govinda govinda!
asya SrI-bhagavata:
mahA purushasya
vishNor AgjnayA
pravartamAnasya
aadhya brahmaNa:
dviteeya-parArdhE
SrI-SvEtha-varAha-kalpE,
vaivasvatha-manvantarE,
kaliyugE,
prathamE pAdE,
Jamboo dveepE,
BhArata varshE,
Bharata: khaNDE,
SakAbde:,
merO: dakshiNE pArSvE
asmin vartamAnE vyAvahArikE,
PrabhavAdi shashTi samvatsarANAm madhyE

Sarvadhaari Naama samvathsare
Dakshinaayane
greeshma rithou
kataka Maase
Sukhla Pakshe
Pournamaasyaam subha thithou
sthira vaasara
SravaNa Nakshathra

SrI-vishnu-yOga,
SrI-vishnu-karaNa,
Subha-yOga, Subha-karaNa,
Yevam guNa,-viSeshaNa viSishTAyAm,
asyAm ……AsyAm Subha-tithou,
SrI-Bhagavad-AjnayA, Sri Bhagavat-kainkarya-roopam

Samskaaraas

It was Ramanujachary, around a thousand years back, who rebelled against this philosophy, in spite of the fact that his own guru, Yadavprakash, was a very strong exponent of Shaivism. Ramanujacharya broke away from both Dwaitism, as well as Advaitism, which was also prevalent, and propounded his new theory of Visihtadvaitism, thereby ushering in the beginning of Srivaishnavism

What is Samskaara?
SamskArA means "betterment" ( Sams ) of a thing ( kaaram ). The cleansing process set in motion by the observance of SamskArAs leads to the betterment of life and qualifies a person for spiritual upliftment. According to the Tarka sAsthrAs , the word SamskArA is defined as " an impression on the memory " Steady practice of scriptural injunctions establishes firm tracks in the memory so that the practitioner does not swerve from the correct path The samskArAs cover the life span of a Hindu starting from the time of formation (conception ) of the embryo (nishEkam) to the time of cremation in the burning ghaat (smasaanam ). Agni is an indispensable part of the samskArAs, and is therefore revered, being a witness to the samskArAs. Even cremation is considered as an offering of the ghee-smeared body to Agni as the ultimate offering. Some of the samskArAs are simple and brief,yet others are elaborate and require continuous performance over many days. Some of the samskArAs are done at home, whereas the others call for lots of space as well as time. A number of samskArAs have to be performed daily,some to be practised twice a month, some once a month, while other samskArAs have to be performed once a year or at least once in one's life time.

There are forty samskArAs out of which the following two sets are relevant here

1. A set of seven starting from GarbhadhAnA to Chudakramaa
2. Another set of seven starting from UpanayanA to VivAhA

All the seven samskArAs prior to Upanayanaa are performed by the parents on behalf of the child, since it has not reached the stage of discriminating knowledge. These are:

1. GARBHADHAANAM: Seeding of the wife’s womb by the husband , leading to embryo formation is known as GarbhAdhAnam .The life cycle rituals of the Hindu begins at this point
2. PUMSAVANA SAMSKAARAA: This is to be performed during the third month of pregnancy, a stage preceding the rapid growth of the life in the mother’s womb.
3. SIMANTHONAYANA SAMSKAARAA: This samskArA (hair parting of the pregnant mother) has to be performed either in the sixth month or in the eighth month of pregnancy.
4. JAATHA KARMAA: This is performed soon after the child's birth. The tongue of the new –born child is touched thrice with ghee to the accompaniment of appropriate Vedic mantrAs praying for protection and long life for the new born.
5. NAAMAKARANAA: This fifth samskArA is about naming of the child on its eleventh day of its birth.
6. ANNAPRAASANAM: This deals with the feeding of the baby for the first time with solid food at the age of six months. ManthrAs are recited, while they feed the child.
7. CHUDAKARMAA: The last of the pre-upanayana samskArA is chuda Karmaa for a male child, when a tuft or sikhA is created.

Upanayanam
Education of a child normally starts at the age of five. When it reaches the age of eight, has developed skills in speech and language, and therefore is considered eligible for receiving Vedic Instruction. Mata, Pita, Guru Daiywam: The parents, Mata and Pita do their duty by bringing the child to the stage of Upanayam. Upanayana means bringing one close to the guru or the teacher, who initiates the child into Veda vidya. A sacred thread ceremony known as Upanayanam is performed by the father and the boy is blessed with the initiation into reciting the sacred Gayathri Manthram. Next, his Vedic instruction begins with the proper guru. From this stage, he has to follow various routines. The first one is Sandhyavandam.

Sandhyavandanam
Vandanam means worship. Both worship and meditation are involved in Sandhyavandanam. Sandhya means the time of union. The time which relates to the union of two things, i.e. the time between the night and morning (first junction Dawn), between forenoon and afternoon (second junction Noon) and between afternoon and evening (third junction, Dusk); Sandhya means dawn, noon and dusk. Sandhyavandanam means a ritual done at the time of three junctions, Dawn, Noon and Dusk. Sandhyavandana is a prescribed ‘nityakarma’.

Upanishads speak very highly of Sandhya times. It says that benefits are far more during Sandhya times than that at other times. Recent researches have also brought out abundant release of beneficial energy at sun rise and withdrawal of non-beneficial energy at sun set.

Though Upanishads refer to two Sandhya-names Sun rise and Sun set , the wise men of the past had added one more 'Sandhya' namely 'Madhyanika' or mid-day. Sun rises in east , moves upward , reaches zenith , and then descends to west. The point at zenith represents change from upwards to downwards. This sandhya is considered to be beneficial for worship of 'Pithru Devatas' - that is devatas who are instrumental for one to get son , grandson , etc and also one to be a son or grandson , etc. However, due to time constraints, and other reasons, this procedure (Madhyanika) is generally given the go by. So, the population growth cannot be entirely due to performance of Madhyanikas!!!

Now the budding Srivaishnavite is ready for the next stage of Samskaras.