As per Dharmashastras there are 6 karmas which are recommended for every human being on a daily basis
Snanam, Sandhya Japo, Homa, Devatanamcha poojanam Athityam, Vaiswadevam cha Shat Karmani dine dine
This means Snanam (having a bath - daily), Sandhyavandanam and Japam, Homa or fire sacrifice, doing pooja (propriation) of Gods, treating guests well and feeding other living beings like crows, cows, dogs and ants, these are the 6 karmas which have to be performed daily
As you can see, Snana here is a Karma (duty) and only Snana (bath) offers you the platform to perform the rest of the karmas. Two purposes of the Snana are cleanliness of the body and cleanliness of the mind (chitta shuddhi). The body has 9 holes and various waste products are being produced by these 9 holes, which make the body further impure. Snana cleans us of the dirt, both external and internal.
There are 3 classes of Snana:
- Nitya Snana – Daily bath
- Naimittaka Snana – Special occasional bath like death of relative, hair cut etc
- Kamya Snana – Bath for special vows undertaken, like in a temple tank etc.
Apart from this, there are some more types of Snana which have been described in Dharma Shastras
- Agneyam : Application of Bhasma (Ash) all over the body
- Vaarunam : Bath at river, lake, home well, with mantras
- Brahmam: Bath chanting “apohistha mantra” and sprinkling on chest
- Vayavya: Bath with dust from the hooves of cows during dusk
- Divya: Bath during uttarayana when Sun is shining and it rains
- Kapilam: Bath by wiping onself with wet cloth
- Gayatram: Reciting Gayatri mantra 10 times and sprinkling water on self
- Manasam: Meditating on Lord Vishnu with 4 arms
- Parthiva/mrittika: Bath with earth/soil (mud bath)
We should understand that water is a “Devata” (God) called “Varuna”. If we propitiate this Devata he will bless us with happiness, good rains, crops etc. And if we pollute it and disregard Varuna, he will play havoc like floods, tsunami etc.
Having a bath in a holy river/or any river is not a joke or a casual process. Some people jump in the water, swim, wash up themselves, splash, play and leave, all for entertainment. But beware, Shastras completely forbid this type of behaviour. The water in the river is a Vedic God Varuna and during a bath, we are interacting with a Devata. We have to keep that in mind.
We should go for having a bath in the river at “Brahmamuhurtha” (time of Brahma) which is 96 minutes before sunrise. We should wear 2 pieces of clothes (dhoti and upper cloth to cover upper body). Only these two clothes are allowed as clothing, for river bath (for ladies, saree). Here we would like to raise a question. Would you go to your club’s swimming pool without a proper swimming costume or would you swim with your shirt and pant on, in your club pool? Why can’t we respect a holy river? We probably don’t know the rules. This article is aimed at creating awareness of the same
Before you even enter the river for a bath, you need to have a bath at the bank to clean yourself before entering the river, as you cannot pollute the river with your dirt, as per Vedic texts. Now you can find exactly the same rule at a swimming pool, where we need to have a shower before, so that we are clean before entering the pool. Ironically, in Kali Yuga, swimming pools get more respect than a holy river!
The rules for bathing in a river are described below:
1. Achamanam (sipping of water)
2. Pranayamam (controlled breathing)
3.Maha Sankalpam – Here you have to declare which location you are taking a bath, who you are (Gotra-lineage), which day it is etc as per astrological calendar and that you are going to take a bath for purity of the body and soul thereby relieving yourself of the sins you have committed till date. Sankalpam simply means “resolve”
4.Chanting praises of the River : If you are at a holy river like Ganga then chant Ganga Strotram, if at Godavari, chant Godavari Stuti etc. You sing praises of the river before entering the water and pray that the water should be auspicious to you always.
5.Marjanam (Sprinkling of water on oneself) : With chant of 'Apohishta' mantras which are purificatory mantras, you sprinkle yourself with water to clean yourself. This will purify your mind of bad thoughts
6. Agamarshana Sooktam : Enter the water by chanting 'Agamarshana Sookta' which mentioned in the Vedas for destroying the sins you have committed. 'Aga' means dirt and 'Marshana' means to wipe away/cleansing the sins.
7. The holy dip : While chanting this sooktam (hymn-vedic verse), you take a dip with your head totally submerged into the water 3 times in quick succession. This can be repeated 1-2 times more during the chanting of Agamarshana sookta and your bath is complete. You cannot use soap, detergent, shampoo etc to clean yourself, it is totally prohibited as per Shastras. Remember, you cannot pollute the river.
8. Offering tarpana to Devas(Gods), Rishi(Sages) and Pitrus(Manes) : Offer arghya or oblation with water to Devas, Rishis and the Pitrus to satisfy their thirsty souls. They flock to the river and look forward to our oblations as soon as we do the sankalpam (point number 3 above). Once we tell them in the sankalpa, who we are and where we are, they come to accept our offerings.
9. Vasodhakam: This is squeezing your upper cloth to satisfy the Pitrus (manes) who are trapped in the earth plane and not yet passed to the Pitru loka (the abode of ancestors). There are specific mantras for the same. You come out, on the bank and squeeze only your upper cloth or Uttareeya.
10. Yaksha Tarpana : Each river, lake, pond is guarded by a semi-divine being called 'Yaksha' and they can cause harm, if you do not thank them for allowing you to have a bath in their property. This is similar to the way we say thank you to our swimming coach. You should offer water oblation to them before leaving the river.
11. Change of clothes: Change to dry clothes and do Sandhya vandana and Gayatri Japa at the river bank and then leave for your house after the sunrise.
This process completes the Vedic bath which ancient Hindus used to practise daily (nithya snana). Nowadays it has become occasional (naimittaka snana) but still a few people staying near rivers practise the same. This type of bath only helps you attain purity and destruction of the sins committed, not the bath we take in the bathroom. Unfortunately in Kali yuga we have time to go for a movie, dining outside, playing games outdoor and indoor, watching TV but we don’t have time to learn or atleast practise, even occasionally, such Karmas which have been in practice since earlier than 5000 BC. This is the reason for negative karmic overload and our current suffering in Kaliyuga, in terms of no mental peace or health, despite having money. We should be proud of our heritage and need to do everything to preserve it in its entirety, which is what Veda Ghosham aims at.
All Veda Ghosham Vidhyarthis (who are students and working professionals across all ages) were trained for 1 month on this 'Snana Vidhi' as per Dharma Shastra with mantras. All Veda Ghosham Shishyas took a holy dip in the River Godavari in Nashik on the occasion of Mahakumbh which comes only once in 144 years. We also performed the same at River Kaveri at Srirangam last year
Om Varunaaya Namaha!
