Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies - DUBOIS, Abbé Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies, Dubois | Page 302

THK ARGHYA OFFERING
202
granted
duties
we may by
to us that
it
its
aid
fulfil
our religious
'
!
He
addresses the fire in these words
fire
come here I have need of you for puja offer
it yourself, since you are the emblem of it
He says to the water
water remain on the earth, for the use of us who
remain that we may drink you, and come
require you
down abundantly to fertilize our land
Whoever repeats all these prayers at the midday sandhya
will have all his wishes gratified and obtain pardon for all
:
'
!
;
;
'
!
:
1
!
:
'
!
his sins.
He
—
I worship
again addresses the gayatri as follows
You are the
you,
goddess, under the image of Brahma.
mother of the world Brahmins offer you pitja, and in
return enjoy your favours. You have the outward appear-
but you are indeed the creator, preserver,
ance of a stone
and destroyer of everything
He offers arghya to the sun. To this end he puts water
and red flowers, some darbha grass, some sandalwood
powder, and some mustard seed into a plated copper
vessel.
While mixing all these together, he says
sun you are the most brilliant of all the stars
You are pure
Vishnu borrows his splendour from you
Glory to the
and you purify men I offer you worship
sun
I offer him this arghya
It is a religious
Such, then, is the noonday sandhya.
exercise which must never be omitted, but if for any reason
one fails to perform it, one must do penance before per-
forming the evening sandhya. This penance consists in
repeating the gayatri ten times, and offering arghya to the
:
'
;
;
'
!
:
1
!
!
!
!
;
'
!
!
sun.
A
Brahmin who does not perform the sandhya regularly
not permitted to fulfil any other act of religious wor-
ship.
It would be quite fruitless for him to offer puja,
or sraddha (the sacrifice for the dead), or to fast or to
is
pray.
The inestimable advantages which the gayatri mantram
procures are proportionate to the number of times it is
repeated.
Thus for a thousand repetitions you would
for ten thousand,
obtain success in all your undertakings
;