GĀYATRĪ MANTRA

GĀYATRĪ MANTRA

The Gāyatrī-mantra is a Vedic mantra originating from the Rg Veda . In fact , the mantra is exalted as the essence of the Veda . In this mantra , Īśvara is invoked in the form of Savitā (the sun deity) .

Thus , the Gāyatrī-mantra is chanted during the Sandhyāvandana period – dawn , noon and dusk . Furthermore , the mantra is not recommended to be chanted at night . The Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad mandates that the Gāyatrī-mantra must only be chanted in the gāyatrī-meter , in which the 24 syllables are divided into three parts with eight syllables each .

Here is the mantra and the meaning :

Oṃ bhūrbhuvassuvaḥ , tat saviturvareṇyam

bhargo devasya dhīmahi , dhiyo yo naḥ pracodayāt

“ Om , is the basis of everything . The Lord is the one who is the most worshipful . We meditate on that all-knowing Lord in the form of the sun’s effulgence . May that effulgent One illumine and set our intellects in the right direction . ”

The Gāyatrī-mantra is glorified in various Vedic scriptures . For instance , the Chāndogya Upaniṣad aptly praises the mantra as “gāyati ca trāyate ca” , meaning “it sings and protects” . Chanting the Gāyatrī-mantra itself protects the devotee because it is a prayer . Upon learning and assimilating the meaning of the mantra , it protects oneself from sorrow and limitations by bestowing self-knowledge .

The Gāyatrī-mantra expounds the nature of Īśvara as limitless awareness by equating the Lord with the sun’s limitless effulgence . As such , if the Lord is limitless , everything is the Lord , including oneself . Thus , the Gāyatrī-mantra is a mahāvākya – a statement that reveals the identity of the individual as non-separate from Īśvara . In the Bhagavad Gītā (10.35) , Lord Kṛṣṇa identifies Himself as gāyatrī in the Bhagavad Gītā (10.35) when the Lord says , “gāyatrī chandasām aham ” – “among the meters , I am gāyatrī ”

The Vedic vision is unique . The śāstra reveals that Īśvara , the creation and oneself are not separated . All that is here is only Īśvara . Om Tat Sat .