Sandhyā and Arundhatī

The Śiva Purāṇa tells of Sandhyā at the opening of the Satī Khaṇḍa in the Rudra Saṃhitā. Sandhyā arose from Brahmā with overwhelming beauty. Because of the kāma (desire) her appearance stirred, she felt deep shame, did tapas, and gave her body to the sacred fire. Her body became the three sandhyā moments of the day. She was then reborn as Arundhatī, the wife of the ṛshi Vasishṭha.

The account also shows that Bhagavān Śiva alone, among all the beings present, was not moved by kāma. And it gives the origin of the Sandhyā-vandana, the rite performed three times a day.

Sandhyā’s birth

At the beginning of creation, Brahmā was busy with mānasī sṛshṭi, creation born from the mind. Sandhyā arose from his creative wish. She was a young woman of overwhelming beauty, bright with divine light, standing calm and self-possessed among the newly made Prajāpatis and ṛshis.

Her appearance had an immediate effect that no one chose. Brahmā himself felt kāma-vikāra (a stirring of desire) toward his own creation. The Prajāpatis and ṛshis who were gathered there were affected in the same way. The only one who was not was Bhagavān Śiva, who was present as the witness (sākshī). He watched the scene without the least disturbance, and he laughed. His laughter was the first sign to Brahmā of what had happened. Brahmā came to himself and was deeply ashamed. The ṛshis also recovered themselves. (Śiva Purāṇa, Rudra Saṃhitā, Satī Khaṇḍa, Chapter 2)

Sandhyā’s resolve

Sandhyā knew what her appearance had done. Her form had caused kāma to rise even in the Creator and in ṛshis of the highest tapas. This filled her with deep hrī (shame and distress). She said to herself:

“I arose from Brahmā. In arising, I caused a disturbance that no being should cause. I cannot stay in a form that has this effect. This body is a cause of vikāra (disturbance). I will not keep it.”

She chose the path of tapas. She left the assembly and went to the Candra-parvata (the Mountain of the Moon) to do austerities. In time Brahmā noticed that she was gone and, moved by concern, came to ask her to return. She refused and told him that her resolve was fixed and she would not turn from it. (Śiva Purāṇa, Rudra Saṃhitā, Satī Khaṇḍa, Chapter 3)

The tapas and the offering

Śiva accepted Sandhyā’s tapas on the Candra-parvata. When the tapas was ripe, she made the last offering: she gave her own body into the sacred fire.

As her form dissolved in the flame, each part of her became a sign in the sky:

• Her light became the soft, changing colours of prātaḥ-sandhyā, the twilight of dawn.
• Her radiance became the warm colours of sāyaṃ-sandhyā, the twilight of evening.
• The moment of her dissolving became the ever-returning madhyāhna-sandhyā, the threshold of noon.
• Together her body became the three sandhyā moments, the meeting points between day and night that mark every day in every world.

The word sandhyā comes from sandhi, a junction, joining or threshold. Through this change it took its meaning for the whole cosmos. (Śiva Purāṇa, Rudra Saṃhitā, Satī Khaṇḍa, Chapter 3)

The Sandhyā-vandana

The three sandhyā moments, dawn, noon and dusk, are exactly the times at which all the twice-born (dvija) perform the Sandhyā-vandana. This rite is done three times a day and has offering of water, recitation of mantras and prayer. The Śiva Purāṇa therefore presents it as honour given directly to this changed being at each of her appearances through the day. It is a daily act of honouring the tapas, the self-offering and the cosmic change of Sandhyā. (Śiva Purāṇa, Rudra Saṃhitā, Satī Khaṇḍa, Chapter 4)

Rebirth as Arundhatī

After her cosmic change, the purified ātmā (soul) of Sandhyā was born again in a body as Arundhatī. The shame and the tapas that Sandhyā had gone through cleansed the ātmā that had first come out of Brahmā’s moment of vikāra. Her new birth was an example of perfect purity, tapas and faithfulness in marriage.

Arundhatī was married to the great ṛshi Vasishṭha, one of the Saptarshis (the Seven Ṛshis). Her pativratā dharma, a wife’s devotion to her husband, was praised through all creation as the highest form of that devotion. The star Alcor, seen near the handle of the Saptarshi constellation (the Big Dipper) in the night sky, is known as Arundhatī’s place in the sky. In the traditional marriage ceremony, the groom shows the bride the Arundhatī star as a sign of the ideal that the two are to live by. (Śiva Purāṇa, Rudra Saṃhitā, Satī Khaṇḍa, Chapter 4)

Sources

• Śiva Purāṇa, Rudra Saṃhitā, Satī Khaṇḍa, Chapter 2
• Śiva Purāṇa, Rudra Saṃhitā, Satī Khaṇḍa, Chapter 3
• Śiva Purāṇa, Rudra Saṃhitā, Satī Khaṇḍa, Chapter 4