Gayatri Mantra
The Gayatri Mantra is the greatest mantra of the Vedas. It is the perfect Vedic mantra for Paramatman meditation. The seer of this mantra is sage Vishwamitra and the deity is Savita or Brahma, the creator of the world. Sage Vishwamitra was the first to realize the meaning of this mantra.
The Gayatri Mahamantra has ten words. These are tat, savitur, varenyaṃ, bhargo, devasya, dheemahi, dhiyo, yo, naḥ and prachodayat. Three other words (om, bhur, bhuvahsvah) are traditionally added to the beginning while chanting the Mahamantra. This Mahamantra must be chanted during Nitya (daily) Puja (worship).
ॐ भूर् भुवः स्वः
तत् सवितुर्वरेण्यं।
भर्गो देवस्य धीमहि
धियो यो नः प्रचोदयात्॥
om bhur bhuvahsvah tat savitur varenyam bhargo devasya dheemahi dhiyo yo nah prachodayat
ॐ – om (AUM)- The primitive sound
भूर् – bhur – the soul
भुवः – bhuva – the destroyer of all sorrows
स्वः – svaha – the source of happiness
तत् – tat – That, God; Paramatman
सवितुर – savitur – the Sun, the Creator, the Preserver
वरेण्यं – varenyam – the best of the acceptable
भर्गो – bhargo – glory, radiance, light
देवस्य – devasya – of supreme Lord
धीमहि – dheemahi – we meditate on
धियो – dhiyo – intelligence, Intellect
यो-yo-may this light
नः – nah – our
प्रचोदयात् – prachodayat – enlighten, guide, inspire
We meditate on the glory of that being (Savitur, the Sun) who has produced this universe, who is the essence of our life existence; may he imbibe his divinity and brilliance within us.
God is the soul, the destroyer of all sorrows and the source of happiness. He is the only one who deserves to be the ruler of all the worlds and the best. In our hearts we meditate on his pure divine light. He removes the sin of ignorance and inspire pure intellect in our hearts.
om bhur bhuvahsvah
The terms bhur, bhubh and svaha have been used here to mean ‘the earth’, ‘the sun’ and ‘the galaxy’ respectively. When a fan rotates at a speed of 900 rpm, it generates a sound through the air. Similarly, when infinite planets, solar systems, and galaxies rotate 20,000 times per second, they produce a sound. Sage Vishwamitra tried to hear this sound through meditation and declared that this sound is divine ‘Om‘ (AUM). The sages of that generation came to the conclusion that this ‘Om‘ is always produced and exists in this creation and that there is a way for God to communicate with His creation. Even in the Gita, Lord Krishna declares that God is Om Iti Ekaksaram Brahman, by which it means that there is no other form of worshipping God except ‘Om’. The Yogi calls this word “Udgit Naad” which is chanted during meditation to reach Samadhi (the highest state of mental concentration). It is added at the beginning of all other Vedic mantras.
tat savitur varenyam
Here, tat means ‘Paramatman‘, savitur means ‘a planet called Surya’ which is synonymous with the sun and varenyam means ‘bowing before the best of the acceptable or adorable’. We are bowing before the Creator who is manifested as ‘Shabdabrahma‘ and who looks like light coming from the infinite planets.
vargo devasya dheemahi
In this part of the Mahamantra, vargo implies ‘light’, devasya implies ‘of incomparable Master’ and dheemahi implies ‘to think’. We ought to ponder upon the divine light of preeminent Ruler. It is exceptionally important for yoga science.
dhiyo yo nah prachodayat√
Here, dhiyo means ‘intelligence’, yo means ‘may this light’, nah means ‘our’ and prachodayat means ‘to guide’. God is the one who gives us information or shows us the correct way to pick up information. He is called Pranab since the vitality radiating from this unbounded system is spread all over this creation. This is often comparative to K.E. = 1/2 mv2
The Gayatri Mantra may be considered as having three parts – (i) Reverence (ii) Reflection and (iii) Supplication. To begin with, the Divine is lauded, then It is contemplated upon in respect and at last, an offer is made to the Divine to stir and reinforce the judgment skills, the separating workforce of man.
The Gayatri Mantra is a significant mantra in the Vedic Hinduism. According to popular belief, the Gayatri Mantra, like other mantras in the Vedas, is “Apaurusheya” ( not composed by any human being) and is revealed to a Brahmarshi Vishwamitra as mentioned before. In Vedas the Gayatri Mantra is mentioned several times (Rig Veda 3.62.10, Yajur Veda 3.35, 22.9, 30.2 and 36.3, and Sam Veda 462). This mantra is also mentioned in the Upanishads as an important custom and in the Bhagavad Gita as the lyric of the Divine. It is composed in the Gayatri meter.
According to Vedic tradition, a student is first initiated to the Gayatri Mahamantra, and only after that, does he receive other forms of education. Thea Gayatri Mahamantra is also known as Savitri Mantra. It is a universal prayer.
Gayatri is accepted to be a secret Mahamantra that is passed from generation to generation. The father chants this mantra into the ears of a male child amid his Upanayanam (sacred thread ceremony). Some individuals accept that the mantra must not be chanted loudly but must be said quietly. In any case, there are distinctive convictions and practices.
Gayatri is the mother of all Vedas. She is also the mother of all mantras and scriptures. She has three names: Gayatri, Savitri and Saraswati. Mother Gayatri is very powerful. She is depicted through the Gayatri Mahamantra. The reason why mother Gayatri holds such a lofty position is that she speaks to unbounded information. It is she who removes the haziness from our life, and helps us attain enlightenment by showering us with the intelligence that we require in our day to day life, additionally the life that extends beyond.
By Krishna Das
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