Nitya Karmas

 1.1. ahas

ahas means daytime, in general. But, also means Sunrise to next day Sunrise. Now let us see the activities which need to be performed during ahas one by one.

1.2. brahma muhUrtham
One need to wake up during brahma muhUrtham. brahma muhUrtham is the last portion of fourth yAmam of the night. That is, 1.5 hrs before Sunrise. One needs to wake up during this time and think of Sri vishNu bhagavAn in mind.

1.3. bahirvihAra:
This is the process of cleansing our body by removing the waste accumulated. This needs to be done in the south side direction outside the house. Distance of the place to do this activity should be an arrow throw distance from house. brAhmaNan should put his sacred thread as mAlA and put around his right ear and should do this activity in a clean place. Next soucham, that is cleaning by water and sand post this activity.

1.4. gaNdUsham
Next is gargling with water. As devathAs always reside in the right side of a brAhmaNan, he needs to gargle and split only to his left side.

1.5. dhantha dhAvanam
This is brushing the teeth.
“Ayur balam yaSO varcha: prajA paSuvaSOni cha |
brahmapragyAm cha medhAm cha thvam nO dhEhi vanaspathE”

This is requesting the vruksharAjan (king of trees) to give us strength, long life and to thank him for giving the tree branch for brushing. As mentioned by mArkaNdEyar, after saying the above manthra, we have to take a small stick from the trees which has bitter taste, sour taste, scent trees or which releases milk when cut.

1.6. snAnam

One needs to do snAnam (bathing) thrice a day. That is, before each sandhyAvandhanam one needs to do snAnam. Among them, prAtha snAnam is very important.

While sleeping at night our indhriyas become impure as higher and lower indhriyas attain same state. Bathing in morning purifies our indhriyas and helps in focusing towards gaining good knowledge. One should not perform japam, hOmam, etc., without taking snAnam. brAhmaNan who does prAtha snAnam every day, will get rid of his seven birth’s sins in three years. As per dhaksha smruthi, one who does snAnam will easily get ten qualities like form, brightness, strength, purity, longevity, good health, detachment from lowly things, destroys nightmare, confidence and brilliance.

1.7. Vasthra dhAraNam

This is about wearing clothes. kAshAyam, black clothes, dirty clothes, clothes without borders or headers, clothes made by joining two or more clothes, red, yellow, smoky coloured clothes are not suitable for wearing.

It is said by maharishi gauthama that a cloth gently flapped seven times in wind can be considered dry, even if it looks wet. The same is fit to wear.

brahmachAris are supposed to wear the lower vasthram alone without kachcham. gruhasthas should wear kachcham with one cloth in waist and one in shoulders (uththarIyam). Additional third sacred thread can be allowed to replace the shoulder cloth. vAnaprasthas should wear as said for gruhasthas. sanyAsis are supposed to wear kAshAyam with the style said for brahmAchAris.

1.8. Urdhva puNdra dhAraNam

Next is Urdhva puNdra dhAraNam. Without Urdhva puNdra, any nithya, naimiththika karma, dhEva/ or pithru karma, thiruvArAdhanam, even if done, considered nishpalam (will not render any benefit).

Part 1 – jalabhAgam

Achamanam:

In jalabhAgam, Achamanam is first performed. Let us see how Achamanam is performed.

Make the right hand to the shape of cow’s ear and fill with water till mAsha rEkhA (line) gets immersed. Say achuthAya nama: and drink the water. When water reaches your chest portion, take water again as mentioned above, say ananthAya nama: and drink the water. Continue the same way, say gOvindhAya nama: and drink the water. Next wipe your lips twice with water in hand. With the root portion of thumb finger, wipe face. Join thumb & ring finger, wipe both eyes. Join index finger & thumb, wipe top portion on both sides of nose. Join little finger & thumb, wipe both ears. Join all finger or palm, touch chest & top portion of head.

Then utter the below phrase by touching the relevant parts of the body as mentioned below.

• kESavAya nama: – right hand thumb to touch right cheek,
• nArAyaNAya nama: – right hand thumb to touch left cheek,
• mAdhavAya nama: – right hand ring finger to touch right eye,
• gOvindhAya nama: – right hand ring finger to touch left eye,
• vishNavE nama: – right hand index finger to touch right nostril,
• madhusUdhanAya nama: – right hand index finger to touch left nostril,
• thrivikramAya nama:- right hand little finger to touch right ear,
• vAmanAya nama:- right hand little finger to touch left ear,
• SrIdharAya nama:- right hand middle finger to touch right shoulder,
• hriSIkEshAya nama:- right hand middle finger to touch left shoulder,
• padhmanAbhAya nama:- right hand five fingers to touch chest, (as mentioned by hArithar, for padhmanAbhAya nama:, one can touch navel with right hand five fingers)
• dhAmOdharAya nama:- right hand five fingers to touch head.

Now let us see the meaning, reason for the fingers touching relevant parts and purpose of doing Achamanam.

• “mukhAdhindhraScha agniScha” refers that agni dhEvathA was created from face and hence he is the ruler of face. Thumb has agni as its dhEvathA, hence we touch our face with thumb.
• Index finger has vAyu as its dhEvathA,
• sUrya dhEvathA was created from eyes and ring finger has sUrya as its dhEvathai, hence we touch eyes with ring finger
• Little finger has indhra as its dhEvathA,
• Middle finger has prajApathi as its dhEvathA.
• Ruler of thunder is indhra dhEvathA,
• Nose is used for breathing air. 
• So, for cleansing body parts, we are using parts which are related to relevant dhEvathA and also the finger related to them.

As per SAsthram, any karma done without doing Achamanam is considered useless without doubt. Further, Let us see more important reasons and meaning for the activities done in Achamanam.

Before we go into the meaning of each thirunAmam in Achamanam, let us see the importance of Achamanam.

“amSau sprushtvA karAgrEna thOyam sprushtvA samAhitha: | samsmruthya padhmaNAbham savipra: samyag viSudhyathi ||“

1. vyAgrapAdhar says, brAhmaNan gets cleansed if he touches with tip of his hand, touches water and thinking of lord padhmanAbha.
2. vyAsa smruthi says, by taking water thrice inside, all dhEvathAs are satisfied. By cleaning the lips, gangA and yamunA are happy. By touching our eyes, chandhra and sUrya are happy. By touching our nose, ashwini dhEvathAs are happy. By touching our ears, agni and vAyu are happy. By touching our chest, all dhEvathAs are happy. By touching our head, parama purusha SrIman nArAyaNa is happy. One who does this every day is making all of them, from parabrahmam to grass, happy.    
3. bOdhAyana says, first time Achamanam makes rig vEdha happy. Second time makes yajur vEdha happy. Third time makes sAma vEdha happy. Wiping the lips first time makes atharvaNa vEdha happy and second time makes ithihAsa puraNas happy. Touching different parts of the body as per Achamanam makes OshadhIs, vanaspathis and other dhEvathAs happy. By doing Achamanam, one is relieved from all his sins.
4. vishNu dharma promises that one who says achyutha, anantha, gOvindha, which is the ultimate medicine, will be cured of all diseases.