[Advaita-l] aruNa prashna for sUrya namaskaara - A Scholar's Opinion

[S Jayanarayanan]

--- bhaskar.yr at in.abb.com wrote:

[..]

> During
> sUrya namaskAra after the end of each anuvAka we say * gruNi
> sUrya
> AdityAyanamaH namaskAraM samarpayAmi*

"samarpayAmi" means "[I am] offering". It is not a vidhi
(order).

> itself lot of vidhi vAkya-s are there ( for exp. dvE dvE
> darbhAni
> nikshipya, apa upa spurShya,

apa upaspR^ishya is not a vidhi. It is a mantra.

Mantras are distinguished from vidhis in mImAmsA by the
following definition:

prayogam samaveta artha anushhThAnaM smArakAH mantrAH .
"[Those statements] that remind one of the instructions
associated with a procedure (while it is being performed) are
called Mantras."

"apa upasR^ishya" which means "water is touched" is merely
reminding oneself that one's hands are being rinsed. Therefore,
it is a mantra and not a vidhi.

An analogy is the following: when one is driving a car, an order
would be, "Stop the car when the traffic signal turns red."
While following the order, one might remind oneself when the car
has been stopped by saying, "The car has been stopped at the red
signal." The last statement is not an order, but only serves as
a reminder. Vidhis are orders to be followed in action, but
Mantras are reminders during the performance of an action.

I will soon be posting the next installment in the series on
pUrva mImAmsA, which will contain this distinction of a mantra
from a vidhi.

-Kartik

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