Article by Dr Raghuram Y.S. MD (Ay) & Dr Manasa S, B.A.M.S
Brahma / Brahmi – creator, pertaining to the creator of the world ‘Lord Brahma’
Muhurta – time period of approximately 48 minutes
Brahma or Brahmi Muhurta is ‘the time of the creator’. According to Ayurveda, everyone should wake up at Brahma Muhurta. When done regularly as a practice, it will bestow comprehensive health. If Brahma Muhurta is considered as the time at which the creator, after a phase of rest, would wake up to look after yet another day’s proceedings, waking up at this time for us will be equivalent to ‘waking up with the creator’.
What is Brahma Muhurta?
Brahma or Brahma Muhurta is considered as the divine time of the day or the ‘time of creator’. This is a time period when the world is ready to receive the first sun rays i.e. the time period before sunrise. It is said to be the time period between 3am and 6am, before dawn or pre-dawn period.
Brahma Muhurta is precisely one hour thirty six minutes before sunrise.
Muhurta is a time period of approximately 48 minutes. Brahma Muhurta begins at dawn and represents the penultimate Muhurta of the night.
The term and the God ‘Brahma’ represent knowledge. So it is the time to acquire knowledge in its purest form and also to establish a strong connection with the Paramatma, to merge the inner energy of self with the energy of cosmos.
Ayurveda introduces us to ‘Brahma Muhurta’ in the chapters related to Dinacharya – daily regimen. So, waking up early at Brahma Muhurta is a daily regimen and is not optional. It is mandatory for all those who seek good health. It is a healthy practice.
Acharya Manu opines to discuss the Dharma – righteous activities during Brahma Muhurta. One should do adhyayana i.e. practice of Vedas and Samhitas at this period as per the opinion of Acharya Charaka. Brahma Muhurta, according to Acharya Vagbhata bestows health and longevity. Bhavaprakasha and Yogaratnakara treatises advise one to worship Madhusudhana and touch or see auspicious things like curds, ghee of cow, mustard seeds, Bilwa, Gorochana, garland of flowers or look for image of self in a vessel filled with ghee. All these bestow auspiciousness and longevity.
There are different opinions regarding the time of Brahma Muhurta but many would reach an opinion that it starts two Muhurta before sunrise and lasts for one Muhurta time. It depends on the time of sunrise which varies among days. Example, if the sunrise on a particular day is 6am, then Brahmi Muhurta starts two minutes before 6am i.e. 96 minutes before 6am which is approximately 4.24am. It lasts for one muhurta from there (from 4.24 am) i.e. till 5.12am.
Mention of Brahmi Muhurta in Ayurveda treatises in the context of Dinacharya – daily regimen
Ayurveda advocates one to wake up at the auspicious ‘Brahma / Brahmi Muhurta’. For this to happen, the person also needs to make it a habit of sleeping early. The quality and quantity of sleep along with a habituated time slot is very important for physical and mental health.
The person will be fresh when he wakes up at this Brahma Muhurta only if he has completed ‘satisfactory sleep’ that night. When we make it a practice of this pattern, we will sync with our circadian rhythm and wake up at Brahmi Muhurta spontaneously, without help or alarm.
Why do you wake up so early at Brahma Muhurta? Who will be benefitted?
Everyone will be benefitted – Since awakening at Brahma Muhurta is a part of Dinacharya, everyone following it will be benefitted by the goodness of this regimen.
The freshness factor – The early hours of morning will be calm and pleasant. The body and mind will be fresh after a good night’s sleep. Our emotions too will be in a state of balance.
Study and revise at this time – This time is said to be ideal for students. Students can remember whatever they read at early hours of morning better than what they read during other parts of the day. It helps in understanding and comprehension.
Right time for Yoga – This time is also good for doing Yoga, exercise and Surya Namaskara which will contribute to physical, mental and emotional health.
Walk and jog for physical fitness and mental balance – Earliest hours of the morning are ideal for walking and jogging. Nature will be at its best. The walk path will be free of noise and pollution and will have optimum oxygen and especially so if your path falls amidst greenery. This practice will set the tempo going and you will be refreshed and rejuvenated so as to jump into daily chores.
Tap Vitamin D – This time will also be free of UV rays of the Sun. The time period around ‘rising sun’ will be rich in vitamin D which is very important for our physical and mental health.
Write some blueprints and become creative – This is also a proper time for making plans for the day or future. Very good and constructive ideas pop up during these hours. Since it is the ‘creator’s time’ you too can become a creator of something great when you sit and plan at this time.
Beat stress – Waking up at Brahma Muhurta is also a good stress buster.
Ideal time to pray and worship – This is also the proper time to offer prayers to God after having taken a bath.
Ideal time for philosophical and spiritual gains – Experts believe that it is also a suitable time to practice Dhyana, Atma Gyana and Paramatma Gyana and conduct other religious rites like Sandhya Vandana – offering prayers to the junction of the night and day or to the rising sun. While doing these activities one would connect to the inner self and the greater selfie God. All these are needed for comprehensive physical, mental, spiritual and social health and a healthy life.
Remember Benjamin Franklin’s famous quote – ‘Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise’.
Ayurveda has said this ‘thousands of years ago’.
Other benefits of starting the day at Brahma Muhurta
Tonic for mind and senses – Getting up at Brahma Muhurta keeps our mind and senses healthy. It also induces freshness and alertness. They will enhance the perception of indriyas – sense organs and we will understand, remember and interpret things far better than what we used to when we were not habituated to ‘Brahma Muhurta’ awakening.
Impact on Physical and Mental Doshas – Vayu is the chief controller of the mind and senses. The perception of objective and subjective knowledge through the indriyas – sense organs, the transmission of the same to the mind, intellect and subconscious levels to be saved as ‘memories of the knowledge gained’ are under the control of Vayu. Putting it the other way, the mental functions and perception of knowledge by sense organs, the physiology of understanding things and their apprehension will be intact and perfect if the Vayu ecosystem in the body is balanced. The reverse is also true i.e. Vata will be in a state of balance if the mind and sensual health are good and balanced. The brain and mind functions are totally dependent on individual and relative balance of the doshas governing the head / brain and nervous system i.e. Prana Vata, Sadhaka Pitta and Tarpaka Kapha. Waking up early keeps these dosha subtypes healthy and actively working. This will help us in accomplishing all our tasks comprehensively.
Early awakening also has a positive and motivating impact on the mind doshas. It keeps the sattva quality in high spirits, which provides us the motivation and drive to do all our works, mainly mental works properly. By keeping the rajas and tamas qualities of the mind at balance, it will help us to keep the stress levels at bay. The activities we do early in the morning too will benefit these doshas to a large extent. The thought process, wisdom, decision making abilities and memory which are under the control of Tridoshas and Trigunas will be at their best of functioning capacities when one trains self to wake up at Brahma Muhurta.
We also know that the physical doshas and mental qualities (trigunas) are interrelated. They have mutual influence over each other in a state of balance as well as imbalance. So, the positive influence of ‘early morning awakening’ at Brahma Muhurta on physical and mental doshas and also sattva quality of the mind will help in proper synchronization of body-mind-sensual functions.
Gateway to achieve Purusharthas – The exercises, walking, jogging and other sporting activities done at this time will contribute positively towards more physical health and also mental health to an extent. On the other hand, the studies, spiritual activities like worshiping the Gods, Sandhya Vandana (offering prayers to the junction of night and day), meditation, prayers and Yoga will contribute positively towards mental, emotional and spiritual health. This complete health will help one to achieve Purushartha Chatushtayas i.e. four pursuits of life – Dharma, Artha, Kama and Moksha.
Since they also relieve the stress in us, these activities will also keep the physical stress under check so that we are fit and going throughout the day.
Connection with creation – We can see that our sincere efforts in planning or executing some task at Brahma Muhurta would give us fruitful results due to the association of our inner energy with the energy of the cosmos. This is because we are a small and negligible part of a massive and unimaginable cosmos. We need to be aware of this connection of the microcosm inside us with the macrocosm outside us. The synchronization is very important for our overall health and this is possible at Brahma Muhurta. Yoga and meditation will further help us in achieving this synchronization when practiced at this time.
Through the modern lens – According to modern day scientists, ACTH is more secreted from the brain early in the morning. Its levels are low in the evening time. ACTH helps in withstanding stress and trauma in life.
It is also proved through studies that people who rise early in the morning are more proactive (Christopher Randler, Biologist, 2010).
It is also noted that the students who consistently woke up early in the morning, as a habit, every day, scored better scores in tests and overall grade points in comparison to those students who slept till late morning.
Effects of not waking up in Brahma Muhurta
If you wake up after Brahma Muhurta, you would wake up during the part of the day which is dominated by kapha and are likely to be affected by predominance of Tamo Guna related to Kapha throughout the day. Also one would tend to have problems with bowel movements which would be sluggish and not satisfactory. This is also due to the influence of kapha. The person who wakes up late will wake up to a polluted atmosphere and busy things surrounding him or her which would straight away expose them to stressful situations, which will have an impact on their mind and senses through the rest of the day. One who sleeps during Brahma Muhurta and will not wake up will lose their auspiciousness and would suffer from diseases and ill health, says Smriti Ratnavali.
Related Reading
A decent science behind the Brahma Muhurta
Brahma Muhurta for Healthy Lifestyle – A Review Study
A case-control study to evaluate quality of life w.s.r to Brahmamuhurta Jagarana
Importance of Brahma Muhurta with respect to Vibandha
Benefits of waking up early
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