The Gayatri is a universal prayer enshrined in the Vedas. It is addressed to the Immanent and Transcendent Divine which has been given the name 'Savita,' meaning 'that from which all this is born.' The Gayatri may be considered as having three parts - (i) Adoration (ii) Meditation (iii) Prayer. First the Divine is praised, then It is meditated upon in reverence and finally an appeal is made to the Divine to awaken and strengthen the intellect, the discriminating faculty of man.
The Gayatri is considered as the essence of the Vedas. Veda means knowledge, and this prayer fosters and sharpens the knowledge-yielding faculty. As a matter of fact the four core-declarations enshrined in the four Vedas are implied in this Gayatri mantra.
The Gayatri Mantra is a sacred chant that demonstrates the unity that underlies manifoldness in creation. It is through the recognition of this unity that we can understand the multiplicity. Clay is one and the same thing, though pots of different shapes and sizes can be made from it. Gold is one, though gold ornaments can be multifarious. The Atma is one, though the embodied forms in which it resides may be many. Whatever the colour of the cow, the milk is always white.
The ideal times for chanting the mantra are three times a day - at dawn, mid-day, and at dusk. These times are known as the three sandhyas - morning, mid-day and evening. The maximum benefit of chanting the mantra is said to be obtained by chanting it 108 times.
The Gayatri Mantra occupies a unique place in that it has both the power of mantra and of prarthana (prayer). A mantra may be articulate or inarticulate, or a combination of them, as with AUM. It has an inherent power, known as "Mantra shakti", which has a positive influence not due to any philosophical meaning behind the mantra, but simply due to its utterance alone. The Gayatri mantra has both an intrinsic power (ie "mantra shakti"), through its mere utterance alone, and also an instrumental power (ie "prarthana shakti"), which is derived from the understanding of its meaning and philosophical significance. Hence, the repeated and correct chanting of the Gayatri Mantra, with proper understanding of its meaning, is believed to be of the greatest good to the individual. (Details of each syllable can be found in the Gayatri by Words article)
The prayer form of the Gayatri takes various forms. The Gayatri Mantra is also known as the Savitri Mantra, in which form, it is invoked as a salutation to the Sun. The form that can be used to pray to Lord Shiva is called Rudra Gayatri. Similarly, one may sing Ganesha Gayatri for Lord Ganesha, Hanuman Gayatri for Lord Hanuman, and Saraswati Gayatri for Goddess Saraswati.
The main mantra appears in the hymn RV 3.62.10. During its recitation, the hymn is preceded by oṃ and the formula bhūr bhuvaḥ svaḥ. This prefixing of the mantra proper is described in the Taittiriya Aranyaka (2.11.1-8), which states that it should be chanted with the syllable oṃ, followed by the three Vyahrtis and the Gayatri verse. Whereas in principle the gāyatrī mantra specifies three pādas of eight syllables each, the text of the verse as preserved in the Samhita is one short, seven instead of eight. Metrical restoration would emend the attested tri-syllabic vareṇyaṃ with a tetra-syllabic vareṇiyaṃ.
The Gayatri mantra is
om bhūr bhuvaḥ svaḥ
tát savitúr váreṇ(i)yaṃ
bhárgo devásya dhīmahi
dhíyo yó naḥ prachodayāt
– Rigveda 3.62.10
The Gāyatrī Mantra is dedicated to Savitr, a Vedic Sun deity. Imparting the Gayatri mantra to young Sanatan men is an important part of the traditional upanayana ceremony, which marks the beginning of study of the Vedas. Gayatri japa is used as a method of prāyaścitta, instrument of Tantric practice. It is believed by practitioners that reciting the mantra bestows wisdom and enlightenment, through the vehicle of the Sun (Savitr), who represents the source and inspiration of the universe.
A literal translation of
tát savitúr váreṇ(i)yaṃ
bhárgo devásya dhīmahi
dhíyo yó naḥ prachodayāt
is as follows:
tat - that
savituḥ - from savitr̥, 'that which gives birth', 'the power inside the Sun' or the Sun itself
vareṇiyaṁ - to choose, to select; the most choosable, the best
bhargaḥ - to be luminous, the self-luminous one
devasya - luminous/ radiant, the divine.
tatsavitur devasya - "of that divine entity called Savitṛ"
dhīmahi - to think about (something/somebody), to meditate upon (something/somebody)
dhiyaḥ - intellect, a faculty of the spirit inside the body, life activity
yaḥ - which
naḥ - our, of us
pracodayāt - to move in a specific direction.
cod - to move (something/somebody) in a specific direction.
pra - the prefix "forth, forward."
pracud - "to move (something/somebody) forward"
pracodayāt - "may it move (something/somebody) forward"; inspires
The Gayatri is considered as the essence of the Vedas. Veda means knowledge, and this prayer fosters and sharpens the knowledge-yielding faculty. As a matter of fact the four core-declarations enshrined in the four Vedas are implied in this Gayatri mantra.
The Gayatri Mantra is a sacred chant that demonstrates the unity that underlies manifoldness in creation. It is through the recognition of this unity that we can understand the multiplicity. Clay is one and the same thing, though pots of different shapes and sizes can be made from it. Gold is one, though gold ornaments can be multifarious. The Atma is one, though the embodied forms in which it resides may be many. Whatever the colour of the cow, the milk is always white.
The ideal times for chanting the mantra are three times a day - at dawn, mid-day, and at dusk. These times are known as the three sandhyas - morning, mid-day and evening. The maximum benefit of chanting the mantra is said to be obtained by chanting it 108 times.
The Gayatri Mantra occupies a unique place in that it has both the power of mantra and of prarthana (prayer). A mantra may be articulate or inarticulate, or a combination of them, as with AUM. It has an inherent power, known as "Mantra shakti", which has a positive influence not due to any philosophical meaning behind the mantra, but simply due to its utterance alone. The Gayatri mantra has both an intrinsic power (ie "mantra shakti"), through its mere utterance alone, and also an instrumental power (ie "prarthana shakti"), which is derived from the understanding of its meaning and philosophical significance. Hence, the repeated and correct chanting of the Gayatri Mantra, with proper understanding of its meaning, is believed to be of the greatest good to the individual. (Details of each syllable can be found in the Gayatri by Words article)
The prayer form of the Gayatri takes various forms. The Gayatri Mantra is also known as the Savitri Mantra, in which form, it is invoked as a salutation to the Sun. The form that can be used to pray to Lord Shiva is called Rudra Gayatri. Similarly, one may sing Ganesha Gayatri for Lord Ganesha, Hanuman Gayatri for Lord Hanuman, and Saraswati Gayatri for Goddess Saraswati.
The main mantra appears in the hymn RV 3.62.10. During its recitation, the hymn is preceded by oṃ and the formula bhūr bhuvaḥ svaḥ. This prefixing of the mantra proper is described in the Taittiriya Aranyaka (2.11.1-8), which states that it should be chanted with the syllable oṃ, followed by the three Vyahrtis and the Gayatri verse. Whereas in principle the gāyatrī mantra specifies three pādas of eight syllables each, the text of the verse as preserved in the Samhita is one short, seven instead of eight. Metrical restoration would emend the attested tri-syllabic vareṇyaṃ with a tetra-syllabic vareṇiyaṃ.
The Gayatri mantra is
om bhūr bhuvaḥ svaḥ
tát savitúr váreṇ(i)yaṃ
bhárgo devásya dhīmahi
dhíyo yó naḥ prachodayāt
– Rigveda 3.62.10
The Gāyatrī Mantra is dedicated to Savitr, a Vedic Sun deity. Imparting the Gayatri mantra to young Sanatan men is an important part of the traditional upanayana ceremony, which marks the beginning of study of the Vedas. Gayatri japa is used as a method of prāyaścitta, instrument of Tantric practice. It is believed by practitioners that reciting the mantra bestows wisdom and enlightenment, through the vehicle of the Sun (Savitr), who represents the source and inspiration of the universe.
A literal translation of
tát savitúr váreṇ(i)yaṃ
bhárgo devásya dhīmahi
dhíyo yó naḥ prachodayāt
is as follows:
tat - that
savituḥ - from savitr̥, 'that which gives birth', 'the power inside the Sun' or the Sun itself
vareṇiyaṁ - to choose, to select; the most choosable, the best
bhargaḥ - to be luminous, the self-luminous one
devasya - luminous/ radiant, the divine.
tatsavitur devasya - "of that divine entity called Savitṛ"
dhīmahi - to think about (something/somebody), to meditate upon (something/somebody)
dhiyaḥ - intellect, a faculty of the spirit inside the body, life activity
yaḥ - which
naḥ - our, of us
pracodayāt - to move in a specific direction.
cod - to move (something/somebody) in a specific direction.
pra - the prefix "forth, forward."
pracud - "to move (something/somebody) forward"
pracodayāt - "may it move (something/somebody) forward"; inspires
No comments:
Post a Comment