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The Radiance of Sandhyā: A Discourse on Evening Prayer and Practice

The sacred time of Sandhyā is a period for prayer and inner harmony. As day meets night, all creatures return to their rest and, in their own way, turn toward the divine. This is not a time for negative thoughts or conflict. One should awaken before sunrise in Brahmamuhūrta, acknowledging one's humanity with gratitude. Being human means choosing goodness, honoring parents, and remembering the divine. The earth is a moving globe, sustained by natural laws like gravity. Practice prāṇāyāma beginning with the left nostril for purification. This world is like a dream, yet one must live consciously within it, seeking liberation through truth.

"Therefore, in this Sandhyā time, one should not harbor negative thoughts, speak negatively, give bad thoughts to anyone, or fight."

"In this māyā, why are you in māyā? You got into the world, but this world is not anyway. It is a dream."

Filming location: Strilky, Czech Republic

Siddhi, Nārāyaṇa, Bhagavān, Kī, Devādhī, Deva, Deveśvara, Mahādeva, Kī, Satguru, Svāmī, Madhavānandajī, Bhagavān, Kī, Alakh, Purī, Jī, Mahādeva, Kī, Jayā, Kī, Jayā. We all bow down to our Gurudeva. Then we say our mantra: Oṁ Namaḥ Śrī Prabhu Dīpa Nārāyaṇam. Oṁ Namaḥ Śrī Prabhu Dīpa Nārāyaṇam. Haṁsabhādāsa Prabhu Śaraṇāparāyaṇam. Śabdāśa Prabhu Śaraṇāparāyaṇam. Oṁ Namaḥ Śrī Prabhu Dīpa Nārāyaṇam. Oṁ Namaḥ Śrī Prabhu Dīpa Nārāyaṇam. Haṁsabhādāsa Prabhu Śaraṇāparāyaṇam. Haṁsabhādāsa Prabhu Śaraṇāparāyaṇam. Oṁ Namaḥ Śrī Prabhu Dīpanārāya... Oṁ Śāntiḥ. Asato mā sadgamaya. Tamaso mā jyotirgamaya. Mṛtyormā amṛtaṁ gamaya. Sarveṣāṁ svastir bhavatu, sarveṣāṁ śāntir bhavatu, sukhaṁ maṅgalaṁ bhavatu, viśvaṁ pūrṇaṁ bhavatu. Lokaḥ samastaḥ sukhino bhavantu. Nāhaṁ kartā, Prabhu dīpa kartā, Mahāprabhujī dīpa kartā, hī kevalam. Oṁ Śāntiḥ, Śāntiḥ,... Hari, Oṁ. This is a beautiful atmosphere this afternoon, this evening. This is a wonderful day. Sūrya Nārāyaṇa now resides on the other part of our globe, giving rest to all creatures, trees, and animals. This is the time known as Sandhyā. Sandhyā means collecting together—the sunlight going in one direction and the dark night coming together. That union is called Sandhyā. During this time of Sandhyā, it is said that after working and speaking throughout the day, we come home. As the night approaches, our Gurujī, Svāmī Madhavānanda Bhagavān, said: "Japaṭa paśu or pakṣī pyāre, śubha or śyām." Holī Gurujī said, "Japaṭa paśu or pakṣī." Japaṭa means singing, meditating. In their own language, all creatures talk and ask God for prayers. They know when night is coming and go to sleep. So, japaṭa paśu or pakṣī. Japa means meditation, thinking in their own way. As the sun sets, they all return to their own places—nests, branches. Holy gurus have said that in both morning and evening, they are thinking of God. Therefore, in this Sandhyā time, one should not harbor negative thoughts, speak negatively, give bad thoughts to anyone, or fight. This is the time of Bhagavān Sūrya Nārāyaṇa. Sūrya is the sun, and Nārāyaṇa is Bhagavān Viṣṇu. This is very important. O human, know that all creatures, in their language and feeling, are talking about God. So why should we not do it? Still, billions of people, morning and evening, make their prayers according to their God, religions, language, and traditions. Every day they remember God. It is said, and I have said many times, when we wake up and first open our eyes, we say, "I am human." We do not say, "I am an animal." Eyes open, we say, "God has given us. I am a human." The birds and animals are also singing. We should awake before sunrise. That is Brahmamuhūrta, Brahmamūrti. When we wake, the birds are already dancing and speaking bhajans. This is very important. So I am a human. O merciful, I am a human. What does it mean to be a human? A human will not do bad things. So, I am a human. I am not an animal. I am not negative. What is written in humankind is very great. When we say, "I am a human," and we see people doing something very wrong—fighting, killing—we automatically say, "Oh my God, they are not human." Because if I am human, I will not like that. Second, when you open your eyes and say, "I am a human," if possible, you should have a nice picture of your father and mother. The first is mother, and father is our God. God has given our parents to us. See the face of your parents. They are good. They are humble. We love them. But still, there is a difference between humans and animals. They have their soul also, as a human. I am not saying animals are not like that. But if you take so much love for animals, then why are you eating meat? Why don’t you think like that? This is not right. After your mother and father, you may have holy pictures of any god, or your Satguru, Gurudev, or Bhagavān Rāma, Kṛṣṇa, etc. We have many gods, but all are one. Varāha, the first god, brought out the earth from the ocean. That Varāha brought it up and let it move. In truth, the sun is not going anywhere up or down. The sun is not rising nor setting. The movement is of our earth; it is a globe. That is from Vāharāya Bhagavān, who said the earth is round. Then the Saptarṣis said, and it is written in the Vedas when there were no other religions except Sanātana Dharma, that the globe is round. The earth is round, but there are high mountains and flat lands, so it is not perfectly round, but from far away, it is round. Therefore, we have great gods. There are two kinds of gods. One is God for all ages, and that is called the Self. The second is Satguru, Gurudev, who incarnates every day. There is not only one guru, but many, for every time. Then, at other times, another god comes. Now, Kali Yuga will come. You will see how Kali Yuga will be. In that time, either good air will come and everyone will become great, knowledge will come, with no fighting or dualities; or there will be suffering and killing. Those coming from Satyuga will go before this Kali. Kālī means dark. The good, like you all, will come to Satya Yoga before that. Others will come into life very painfully. They will no longer be human; they will become like animals. But we are all trying, praying very much. This globe, we all know, moves at a very high speed, but we cannot feel it. It is balanced, like an airplane flying high at 10,000 or 40,000 speed; we do not feel anything. Similarly, the Earth is moving, but we do not move. We are sleeping when the sun is gone to the other side. The earth turns, and it becomes dark. Are you not afraid? At night, you are dropped down, but God has done everything. If we throw a stone up, it comes back. What is that? Gravity. God has done this nicely. If there were no gravity, we would not know where in the sky we would be. So, human and animals, our world... We do not have this planet, but it is the earth, the globe. So we are coming further. In Kali Yuga, we will worship very much, meditate very much, and pray: "Merciful, please give all peace and harmony, and do not let them suffer. God, please let there be harmony and peace for all. Do not let anyone suffer, good or bad humans. O merciful Lord, please protect them all and give them good knowledge in their brain." Not only them, but also your children and all other creatures. This is very, very important, Sandhyā. That is the Sandhyā, and that is the prayers. So we are connecting day and night. Similarly, when you wake up in the morning, it is also called Brahma Muhūrta. Brahma is that cosmic Self. That is Brahma, not the sun, not the moon, not the planet, not heaven and hell. That Brahman is the whole globe, what we see up, endless. Sometimes we search endlessly, going and searching. One day we will land again here, so we are not going straight like a sun ray. The rays, my dear, are not coming straight. They are going round as the Earth is rolling. Everything is rotating in our world. Where the ocean is, water is also traveling, but the water is not going down. Even if it goes up, it comes back. This is all a globe. And how far? Very little, close from the moon. So energy is so far from us. My dear, you are standing here, and you do not know how far your energy is going. It is said when we go to where there is only snow and glaciers, there are some animals in the water—I do not know the English—and they can smell from many kilometers away. They have a sixth sense to feel something far away. A bird can also see far distances. So do not think you are sitting only here. You are very far, and far, and far. Therefore, Annamaya Kośa is here, Prāṇa is here, and after Prāṇa is our mind. But after the mind, knowledge comes from very far. So, this is the time to have a prayer. That was, "Thank you." This morning, I said, "You, from our Gurudeva, our Holy Gurujī, or what we call Satguru Svāmī Madhavānandajī Bhagavān." There are so many photos of Gurujī. You see the radiance from a master or guru. That radiance is for all. But certain animals cannot see the sunlight. Before sunrise, they hide themselves in the earth. When the sun sets and it becomes dark, they come out. There are some people who will get up from their grave—what do you call them? Vampires, zombies. Like that, there are different kinds of animals because they cannot resist the sun, or they are hidden. So all are different. Morning Brahmamuhūrta: Brahma is the supreme, the highest, beyond everything. At that time, we shall pray, meditate, or do some pūjā. It need not be one hour; it depends on you. Simply get up in the morning and say, "Gurudev, please bless me and protect me." The prayer is done. Then come to your mother and father. But in Kali Yuga, there are parents who are not so good, or parents are good but children are not. That is it. Because of what I was told this morning, whichever way we are going, therefore, śubha—if you have positive thinking, then the whole day will be positive. And if something is wrong on the way, it is also good because that little happening is a little bit. Otherwise, others can become very great; one can die. So, in your Kriyā Anuṣṭhāna, where I am talking about the prāṇa... This prāṇa, we call prāṇāyāma, and that is done with the left nostril, breathing in and out. This is purifying, cleaning. First left, then second. Again, ten times or twenty times only with the left nostril in and out, and then twenty times with the left nostril in and out cleaning. That is called śodhana. Śodhana means cleaning. We should always begin with the left nostril. There is a very important side in the brain, the left nostril. But there are techniques; you will see if we should do first left or right. So, inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale. These two fingers, we also call victory—not like this, that is different—but this will be a different side then. This is a victory. With the right hand, these two fingers—index finger and middle finger—this is index, and this is the middle finger. The middle finger must have the power of the heart. Therefore, it comes to the left nostril side. You know that more power, prāṇa, is coming to the left nostril, in the left hemisphere. Mostly people say that when someone has a problem on this side, then one is paralyzed. From this side, from our eyes, jaw, left hand—if it is very hard, then it can also be the leg. But that can come slowly. Doctors give medicines, and it will come again. But if it is the right side, then it may die. It can also be very hard to paralyze. So, we always have to clean the left nostril. Of course, there are many doctors here with us. They can tell us better. I am a yogī, and they are doctors. This is the difference. So, inhale. Always begin prāṇāyāma with the left nostril. Both fingers should be balanced here. The right thumb should be slightly present on the side of the left nostril, so that the left nostril is closed. Do not push into the nose. Just very soft. Close the right nostril with the right thumb. Then these two fingers remain like this, closed. If many people do it like this, then their breath from the nostrils is blocking, and there is a disturbance in the flow of these two nāḍīs. So, inhale and exhale left. Then close the left nostril with the thumb. Inhale and exhale twenty times. Likewise, it depends on your master; your teacher will tell you how long to do it. This is a sādhanā, cleaning. Then comes bhedana. Bhedana means to go through. So, inhale from the left nostril. Then, block the left nostril with the ring finger and exhale from the right. You have to remove the thumb, otherwise you cannot go through. Inhale left, exhale right—twenty times. Then, one or two minutes of normal breath. Then, closing the left nostril, inhale through the right nostril. Close the right nostril and exhale left. Inhale right, exhale left, and so on. So first is cleaning canalization, and where something is more blocked, we go left, right, left, right. Then that side and this side. Now, there are two names for this. First is called Candra-bhedana and Sūrya-bhedana. Go through: Candra means moon, and out through the sun. Then again, immediately from right to Sūrya and go out through the left. So we can also say Anulom Vilom. Anulom Vilom means inhale through left, exhale through right; inhale through right, exhale through left. Or the same name means something else: Candra Bheda, Sūrya Bheda. Sūrya Bheda, Candra Bheda. So I have heard from one of the teachers: Sūrya Bhedana, Candra Bhedana. So, like this, go in, like... like. What Holy Gurujī said, and that is what I told you this morning, and yes, number 12 I have said, and now it is 13. So, these are the other letters: J-J. J-J.... You know, we begin from that K-K, G-G, C-C, and now it is coming J-J. In the English language, they made it 21 letters. In Sanskrit, it is 52. That is a difference, so sometimes we say different. They say different. You do not tell me, "Svāmījī, Maheśvara Nand." Say Maheśvarānand. We say Maheśvarānand. No, we say Maheśvarānand. And Americans say it more, but they do not pronounce the "A." And if we have again the "A" there, then you will say Maheśvarānanda. I am not in Maheshwarananda. I am only Maheshwarananda. So this is always different. Czech is a beautiful language. Yes, and German is also good. Czech has many good letters. When Czech people go to Austria and go to their kitchen, the Austrian said, "What did they say?" I also cannot speak very nicely, but it is in the kitchen. And there we make a mistake always. So what Gajānand is doing, he is confusing. It is maybe for their grave, but they want to read that. So, Jājā, Jagat Swapnakī Māyā, it is said: this world is only a dream. This is only māyā. Māyā means nothing. Is māyā māyā? Why do you fall into this? It is beautiful. We are born now, but you know, till the last life, it is only a dream. And in this māyā, why are you in māyā? Why are you now involved in this? You got into the world, but this world is not anyway. It is a dream. But in this dream, you should not say, "This is a māyā, don’t go in the māyā." Did you understand? Who did not understand? Tell me, please. Very good. Otherwise, I will put you in the night, in a dream. So now you will not be in the dream, okay? Good, good, good mantra. Ja and ja. Ja and ja. So in this, Jā and jā, just chhod do, bhai. First was Jājā, it was in the sleeping dream. Jaja Jut Chodori Bhai, therefore do not talk wrong. Jaja Jut. Somebody is talking empty. Therefore, O my brother, give up negative thoughts. Therefore, speak truth. Through this, you will get liberation. And that is how you get Mukti, liberation. Beautiful. Tomorrow morning. Tonight we are under the sky. And as the stars will fall, be careful. Yesterday again I saw the moon; a star was falling. We were sitting for nearly one and a half hours, waiting in the night. I was looking up also. Some kind of little animals were falling. So I said, "Let’s go," and the star fell. The day before yesterday also, then again, a star was falling. Otherwise, there are some airplanes or satellites. Maybe you can, if you wish. That is good. Tomorrow. So my dears, it is something that Holy Gurujī has written. He gave very clearly what and what this letter can do. Of course, one letter began many, many. But Holī Gurujī made some very, and that is very good for us, all of us. So it is said that Sandhyā, and now is the Sandhyā, so we should have the prayer. Satguru Svāmī Madhavānandajī Bhagavān Kī Jaya, Brahmanandajī Mahārāj Kī Jaya, Sūrya Nārāyaṇa Bhagavān Kī Jaya.

This text is transcribed and grammar corrected by AI. If in doubt what was actually said in the recording, use the transcript to double click the desired cue. This will position the recording in most cases just before the sentence is uttered.

The text contains hyperlinks in bold to three authoritative books on yoga, written by humans, to clarify the context of the lecture:

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