The two ears with the little finger, repeating Trivkrama and Vāmana;
The shoulders with the middle finger, repeating Sridhara and Rishikēsa;
The navel and head with all the fingers, repeating Padmanabha and Damōdar.
This Āchamana is the usual preliminary to all Brāhman religious rites. The water sipped is believed to cleanse the internal parts of the body, as bathing cleanses the external parts.
After Āchamana comes Prānāyāma, or holding in of vital breath, which consists in repeating the Gāyatri (hymn) and holding the breath by three distinct operations, viz:—
Pūraka, or pressing the right nostril with the fingers, and drawing in the breath through the left nostril, and vice versâ.
Kumbhaka, or pressing both nostrils with finger and thumb or with all the fingers, and holding the breath as long as possible.
Rēchaka, or pressing the right nostril with the thumb, and expelling the breath through the left nostril, and vice versâ.
The suppression of the breath is said to be a preliminary yōga practice, enabling a person to fix his mind on the Supreme Being who is meditated on.
The celebrant next repeats the Sankalpa (determination), with the hands brought together, the right palm over the left, and placed on the right thigh. Every kind of ceremony commences with the Sankalpa, which, for the Sandhya service, is as follows:—“I am worshipping for the removal of all my sins that have adhered to me, and for the purpose of acquiring the favour of Narāyana or the Supreme Being.” The performer of the rite then sprinkles himself with water, repeating:—“Oh! ye waters, the sources of all comforts, grant us food, so that our senses may grow strong and give us joy. Make us the recipients of your essence, which is the most blissful, just as affectionate mothers (feed their children with milk from their breasts). May we obtain enough of that essence of yours, the existence of which within you makes you feel glad. Oh! waters, grant us offspring.” He then takes up the water in his palm, and drinks it, repeating the following:—“May the sun and anger, may the lords of anger, preserve me from my sins of pride and passion. Whate’er the nightly sins of thought, word, deed, wrought by my mind, my speech, my hands, my feet; wrought through my appetite and sensual organs; may the departing night remove them all. In thy immortal light, Oh! radiant sun, I offer up myself and this my guilt.” At the evening service, the same is repeated, with the word Agni instead of Sūrya (sun). At the midday service the following is recited:—“May the waters purify the earth by pouring down rain. May the earth thus purified make us pure. May the waters purify my spiritual preceptor, and may the Vēda (as taught by the purified preceptor) purify me. Whatever leavings of another’s food, and whatever impure things I may have eaten, whatever I may have received as gift from the unworthy, may the waters destroy all that sin and purify me. For this purpose, I pour this sanctified water as a libation down my mouth.” Once more the celebrant sprinkles himself with water, and says:—“I sing the praise of the god Dadikrāvan, who is victorious, all-pervading, and who moves with great speed. May he make our mouths (and the senses) fragrant, and may he prolong our lives. Oh! ye waters, the sources of all comforts, grant us food,” etc.