Sankalpam
and its meaning
We are always curious to know
the meaning of the Sankalpam that we take before the start of a pooja or
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 one
manvantara 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 maths 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 time
scales 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 his
51st 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 terminology 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 kalpa
of Sveta-Varaha
Vaivaswatha manvantare - in the
reining period of the current manu
Vaivaswatha
Ashta Vimsati tame - in the 28th
mahayuga of the current manavantara
Kaliyuge - in this kali yuga
Prathame Padhe - in the first
quarter of this yuga
Jamboodveepe - this denotes the
place where the ritual is performed. India
was known as Jambudveepa
Bharata Varshe, Bharata Kande -
in the land of Bharat
Sakhabde 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 of
the year in the 60 year Hindu calendar
....Ayane - Dakshinayane (Aadi
to Marghazi) or Uttarayane (Thai to Aani)
....Ritou - denotes the 6
seasons or Ritus - Vasantha, Greeshma, Varsha,
Sharadh, Hemantha and Shishira
....Mase - one of the 12 tamil
months
....Pakshe - either Shukla
Paksham (day after Amavasya till and including
Pournami) or Krishna Paksham
(day after Pournami till and including
Amavasya)
....Subha Thithou - one of the
15 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 the
days 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 day
and location of the ritual. It seems to me the
forerunner for a kind of
bookkeeping or a system of maintaining minutes of
a meeting.
Sankalpam: Detailed explanation
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. Next year is
Nandhana corresponding to the Year (2012 -2013)
……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
