* Sankalpam and its meaning*
*Sankalpam and its meaningWe are always curious to know the meaning of the
Sankalpam that we take before the start of a pooja or a ritual. Firstly, we
need to know the Hindu Cosmic cycle. 1 Mahayuga = Sum of 4 Yugas(Krita,
Treta, Dwapara and Kali) = 4,320,000 years. 1000 such mahayugas comprise a
day-time of Brahma also known as a Kalpa. The kalpa is ruled by 14 manus
in succession. The reigning period of a manu is onemanvantara which is
71.42 mahayugas.There is an equivalent night-time of 4,320,000,000 years.
The day-night of Brahma together constitutes one Brahma day (8.64 billion
years). 360 Brahma days constitute a Brahma year while 360 years represent
the lifetime of Brahma which is the life of the cosmos. Doing this simple
calculation gives the age of the cosmos to be 311 trillion years. Carl
Sagan, the noted scientist says in relation to this, ""The Hindu religion
is the only one of the world's great faiths dedicated to the idea that the
Cosmos itself undergoes an immense, indeed an infinite, number of deaths
and rebirths. It is the only religion in which the time scales correspond,
to those of modern scientific cosmology. Its cycles run from our ordinary
day and night to a day and night of Brahma, 8.64 billion years long. Longer
than the age of the Earth or the Sun and about half the time since the Big
Bang. And there are much longer timescales still." We are presently in the
Sveta-Varaha kalpa in the reigning period of Vaivaswatha - the 7th manu. In
this manvantara we are in the 28th mahayuga. As per our Cosmology, Brahma
is supposed to have completed 50 Brahma years and is in his51st year. That
is why he is called "Parardha-dvaya-jivin"(ie) he lives for two parardhas.
A parardha is half. Two halves make one. He is called so as he has
completed one half of his tenure. These terminologies makes better sense in
relation to the Sankalpa. The actual Sankalpa mantra and its meaning runs
like this ".... Dviteeya parardhe - in the 2nd half of Brhama's life
Svetavaraha kalpe - in the kalpaof Sveta-Varaha Vaivaswatha manvantare - in
thereining period of the current manu Vaivaswatha Ashta Vimsati tamey - in
the 28thmahayuga of the current manavantara Kaliyuge - in this kali
yugaPrathame Padhe - in the firstquarter of this yuga Jamboodveepe - this
denotes theplace where the ritual is performed. India was known as
Jambudveepa Bharata Varshe, Bharata Kande -in the land of BharatSakhabde
Mero, Dakshine Parsve -to the South of the Meru mountain Asmin Varthamane
Vyavaharike -in the current period now reigning Prabhavadi Shasti
Samvatsaranam Madya - among the cycle of 60 years starting from
Prabhava.....Nama Samvatsare - the name ofthe year in the 60 year Hindu
calendar .... Ayane - Dakshinayane (Aadito Marghazi) or Uttarayane (Thai to
Aani) .... Ritou - denotes the 6seasons or Ritus - Vasantha, Greeshma,
Varsha, Sharadh, Hemantha and Shishira .... Maasey - one
of the 12 tamil months.... Pakshey - either ShuklaPaksham (day after
Amavasya till and including Pournami) or Krishna
Paksham(day after Pournami till and including Amavasya).... Subha Thithou -
one of the15 days between Pournami and Amavasya
(Prathama, Dvithiya, Trithiya,Chaturthi, Panchami, Shasti,
Saptami, Ashtami, Navami, Dasami,Ekadasi, Dwadashi,
Trayodasi, Chaturdasi, Pournami or Amavasya
.... Vasara Yuktayam - one of thedays of the week (Bhanu, Soma, Bhowma,
Soumya, Guru, Brugu and Sthira) .... Nakshatra
Yuktayam - the day's star or Nakshatram. After saying the above the name of
the ritual is said. The Paramacharya says the Sankalpam is a kind of
record of what you performed with finer details going down to the dayand
location of the ritual. It seems to me the fore runner for a kind
ofbookkeeping or a system of maintaining minutes of a meeting. Sankalpam:
Detailed explanationLet 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
calculationsCosmic 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
CalculationsWe start by using a calendaryear 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 thefollowing
calendar years:• Kali yuga -- 432,000 years• Dwapara yuga -
864.000 years • Treta yuga --- 1,296,000 years• Krita yuga ----
1,728,000 years. KalpaTotal 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
28thMahayuga)14 such Manvantaras make one dayor Kalpa of the Creator
Brahma. 2 kalpas = 1 day and night of Brahma ( called Ahoratras ) 360
ahoratras = 1 year of BrahmaParardheHalf the life span of Brahma, OR50
Brahma years. We are in the 51st Brahma Year, OR the second or Dwiteya
Pararadhe Two Parardhe : Life span of Brahma ie 100 yearsAfter that,
pralaya equal to the duration of 2 parardhas take place, and at its end, a
new cycle starts. Jamboo dveepey 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. Sri Bhagavatham
deals with the geography of the world in a great detail. It divides the
world into seven dweepas. India is in Jambu dweepa and America in Krauncha
dweepa. Bharata varshey, Bharata:khandey, Sakhabde, mero: dakshiney
parsveyIn 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 samvatsarEResuming the reference to time,the Sankalpa
proceeds further as follows: Samvatsaram is a Year. Hinducalendar has a 60
year cycle. Next year is Nandhana corresponding to the Year (2012
-2013)……AyaNE (Ayanam) As per calendars based on thesolar 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 MargazhiUttarayanam (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, tillAmavasya, 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 ofAdi, Shukla Pakshe since it was pournami and
paksham would change the nextday, Pourniasyam, the name for Pournami,and
since it was Saturday, it was Sthira vaasa. The star of the day was
Sravana.SrI govinda govindagovinda! asya SrI-bhagavata: mahA
purushasyavishNor 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 vartamAnEvyAvahArikE,
PrabhavAdi shashTi samvatsarANAmmadhyE Sarvadhaari Naamasamvathsare
Dakshinaayane greeshma rithou kataka Maase Sukhla Pakshe Pournamaasyaam
subhathithousthira vaasara SravaNa Nakshathra SrI-vishnu-yOga,
SrI-vishnu-karaNa, Subha-yOga, Subha-karaNa, Yevam
guNa,-viSeshaNaviSishTAyAm, asyAm …… AsyAm
Subha-tithou,SrI-Bhagavad-AjnayA, Sri Bhagavat-kainkarya-roopam*
<http://groups.yahoo.com/subscribe/worldmalayaliclub/>
[image: Photo: Quote of the day.]
*வாழிய செந்தமிழ்! வாழ்க நற்றமிழர்!*
*வாழிய பாரதமணித் திருநாடு!*
*Vanakkam ** Subbu*
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