Home | Information | Religious

Back to Index

A person on waking up in the morning should perform the cleaning of the teeth as prescribed (the rules have been already discussed) and in the early hours of morning called Ushaa Kaal, before sunrise should perform oblations through giving water (Tarpan) to the gods and the departed elders.

By performing the bath, a man is released of the sins incurred by having carnal relationship with prohibited counterparts, from the sins of theft, from the sins of receiving presents from the sinful people and from the sins committed in secret.

The bath gives us equanimity and pleasantness of mind. It endows on us great beauty and health and helps us in maintaining these two for a long time It is the elixir relieving us from mental agony, bad dreams and it gives us ultimate emancipation from worldly toils (Moksh) and it makes us jubilant and excited.

All the practices prescribed in Ved and Shaastra are to be performed by men only after bath and therefore all should stick to the schedule of morning bath which is the enhanced of wealth, welfare and good health.

The tortures for the sins that one may face after death and after reaching the house of Yam will never visit the person who is performing his morning-baths regularly. With one dip in the water during bath, all the sins and evils stored in a man vanishes. With the second dip in water, one becomes absolutely clean in body and mind. With the third dip there will be satisfaction for the self, Devtaa and Pitri. These are the benefits of a nice bath.

There are five limbs to the ritual bath. First is the Sankalp or declaring with devotion that one is going to take bath in the name of and for the satisfaction of the God. Then the Mantra worshipping the presiding deities of the water and the source of water like the river should be chanted. Then one should clean oneself of all the physical dirt with water. Then one should chant the Aghamarshan Mantra (found in Taittireeya Aaranyak, Mahaa Naaraayan Upanishad starting with "Hiranyashringam Varunam...). As the final ritual one should pay oblations with water to the Gods (and departed elders wherever called for.)

It is reiterated that the Dharm Shaastra state that very grave sins will be washed away by bath. It should be understood that the intention is to praise the greatness of bath and its impact on the physical and mental welfare of the people. It should never be construed to mean that one can commit all the sins in the world and get away with it by just having three dips in water in the morning.

Home | Information | Religious

Back to Index