GAYATRI MANTRA

Om Bhur Bhuvah Svah;

Tat Savitur varenyam bhargo devasya Dhimahi;

Dhiyo yo nah pracodayat 

 

Translation:

Om-Brahmaor Almighty God

Bhur-Embodiment of vital life force energy ( Pranava)

Bhuvah -Destroyer of sufferings

Svah-Embodiment of happiness

Tat - That

Savitur -Bright, luminous like the sun

Varenyam-best, choicest

Bhargo -Destroyer of sins

Devasya -Divine

Dhimahi- Intellect

Yo - Who

Nah -Our

Pracodayat -May inspire

 

We meditate on that spiritual effulgence of that adorable supreme divinity reality, the source or projector of the three phenomenal world plans-the gross or physical, the subtle or psychical and the potential or causal, both macrosmically and microcosmically-who is fit to be worshipped, who is the embodiment of knowledge and light and who is the destroyer of all sins and ignorance. May that supreme divine being stimulate our intelligence, so that we may realise the ultimate truth.

 

Benefits of chanting Gayatri mantra:

• said to dispel fear, sorrow and misery and lead to the attainment of peace, prosperity and harmony in society as it purifies the mind
• eventually gives liberation or emancipation from the cycle of birth and death.

 

More salient points on Gayatri mantra:

• the word “Gayatri” means the Universal Energy which is constantly working in various ways(”gayam” means the cosmic and universal energy, and “tri” means working in various ways)
• can be recited by anyone, irrespective of caste, creed or religion
• forms the universal prayer for all Hindus
• greatest prayer mantra which incorporates all the ideas of the universal cosmic sound,Om
• gayatri is the name of a particularly sacred verse of the Rigveda
• the Vedas proclaim that Gayatri is the mother of all mantras
• a mantra which inspires righteous wisdom and is the source of all energies in this universe- is for the enlightenment of all human beings to enable them to realize the supreme truth
• one of the holiest and most efficacious mantras

Others sources on Gayatri mantra:

• Isha Upanishad:

         - this mantra is also known as Savitri mantra as it is

            addressed to the Sun (Savita) who is the symbolic

           representation of the supreme divinity, for he destroys

           darkness and promotes life and is identified with the

           inner self of man

 

• Mundala Upanishad:

          - states about the Gayatri mantra: ” Taking the

             almightly Upanishadic weapon as a bow, fix on it the

             arrow sharpened by constant meditation. And having

             drawn it to the full with a mind absorbed in its

             thought, penetrate the target, the immutable reality”

• Chandogya Upanishad:

           - mentioned that “Gayatri indeed is all this, whatever

             being exists. Speech indeed is Gayatri; for speech

             indeed sings and removes fear of all that exists… Such

             is the greatness of this Gayatri”