GAYATRI MANTRA

The Gāyatrī Mantra is a highly revered mantra, based on a Vedic Sanskrit verse from a hymn of

Rigveda

(3.62.10), attributed to the rishi Viśvāmitra. The mantra is named for its vedic gāyatrī metre. As the verse invokes the deva Savitr, it is also called Sāvitrī. Its recitation is traditionally preceded by oṃ and the formula bhūr bhuvaḥ svaḥ, known as the mahāvyāhṛti ("great utterance").

The Gayatri Mantra is repeated and cited very widely in vedic literature, and praised in several well-known classical Hindu texts such as Manusmṛti, Harivamsa, and the Bhagavad Gita. The mantra is an important part of the upanayanam ceremony for young males in Hinduism, and has long been recited by Brahmin males as part of their daily rituals. Modern Hindu reform movements spread the practice of the mantra to include women and all castes and its use is now very widespread.

Recitation of the Gayatri Mantra is preceded by oṃ (ॐ) and the formula bhūr bhuvaḥ svaḥ (भूर् भुवः स्वः), known as the mahāvyāhṛti ("great utterance"). This prefixing of the mantra proper is described in theTaittiriya Aranyaka (2.11.1-8), which states that scriptural recitation was always to begin with the chanting of the syllable oṃ, followed by the three Vyahrtis and the Gayatri verse.

Following the mahāvyāhṛti is then the mantra proper, the verse RV 3.62.10:

In Devanagari: तत् सवितुर्वरेण्यं । भर्गो देवस्य धीमहि । धियो यो नः प्रचोदयात् ॥

In IAST: tát savitúr váreṇyaṃ bhárgo devásya dhīmahi dhíyo yó naḥ pracodáyāt

Whereas in principle the gāyatrī metre specifies three pādas of eight syllables each, the text of the verse as preserved in the Rigveda Samhita is one syllable short, the first pāda counting seven instead of eight. Metrical restoration would emend the attested vareṇyaṃ with a tetra-syllabic vareṇiyaṃ.

A literal translation of the Gayatri verse proper can be given as:

"May we attain that excellent glory of Savitar the god:
So may he stimulate our prayers."

—The Hymns of the Rigveda (1896), Ralph T.H. Griffith

word-by-word explanation:

• dhīmahi "may we attain" (1st person plural middle optative of dhā- 'set, bring, fix' etc.)
• tat vareṇiyam bharghas '"that excellent glory" (accusatives of tad (pronoun), varenya- 'desirable, excellent' and bhargas- 'radiance, lustre, splendour, glory')
• savitur devasya "of savitar the god" (genitives of savitr-, 'stimulator, rouser; name of a sun-deity' and deva- 'god, deity')
• yaḥ prachodayat "who may stimulate" (nominative singular of relative pronoun yad-, causative 3rd person of pra-cud- 'set in motion, drive on, urge, impel')
• dhiyaḥ naḥ "our prayers" (accusative plural of dhi- 'mind, thought, meditation' and naḥ enclitic personal pronoun)

The literal translation of the Mahāvyāhṛti formula bhūr bhuvaḥ svaḥ prefixed to the verse is "earth, air, heaven". These are the names of the first three of the seven vyāhṛti or higher worlds of Hindu cosmology.

Notable paraphrases or free translations include:

• A free translation by Swami Vivekananda:

"We meditate on the glory of that Being who has produced this universe; may He enlighten our minds."

• Two interpretations by S. Radhakrishnan:

1. "We meditate on the effulgent glory of the divine Light; may he inspire our understanding."
2. "We meditate on the adorable glory of the radiant sun; may he inspire our intelligence."

• The Arya Samaj interpretation:

"O God ! Giver of life, Remover of all pain and sorrows, Bestower of happiness, the Creator of the Universe, Thou art most luminous, adorable and destroyer of sins. We meditate upon thee. May thou inspire, enlighten and guide our intellect in the right direction."

• The Brahmo Samaj interpretation:

"We meditate on the worshipable power and glory of Him who has created the earth, the nether world and the heavens (i.e. the universe), and who directs our understanding."

• Interpretation by William Quan Judge in his commentary on the Gāyatrī Mantra:

"Unveil, O Thou who givest sustenance to the Universe, from whom all proceed, to whom all must return, that face of the True Sun now hidden by a vase of golden light, that we may see the truth and do our whole duty on our journey to thy sacred seat."

• a paraphrase by Sir William Jones:

"Let us adore the supremacy of that divine sun, the god-head who illuminates all, who recreates all, from whom all proceed, to whom all must return, whom we invoke to direct our understandings aright in our progress toward his holy seat."

• Common man's prayer:

"Whoever produced me and the one recites this mantra, let Him save both of us from sinning against each other."

The Savitri mantra is cited widely in Vedic texts.

• The Rgvedic stanza 3.62.10 is found a number of times in the mantra listings of the srauta liturgy, where it is used without any special distinction, typically as one among several stanzas dedicated to Savitar at appropriate points in the various rituals. Accordingly, the stanza is cited several times in the Brahmanas and the Srauta-sutras.

• In this corpus, there is only one instance of the stanza being prefixed with the three mahavyahrtis. This is in a late supplementary chapter of the Shukla Yajurveda samhita, listing the mantras used in the preliminaries to the pravargya ceremony. However, none of the parallel texts of the pravargya rite in other samhitas have the stanza at all. A form of the mantra with all seven vyahrtis prefixed is found in the last book of the Taittiriya Aranyaka, better known as the Mahanarayana Upanishad.

• The stanza is also cited in a number of grhyasutras, mostly in connection with the upanayana ceremony in which it has a significant role.

• The stanza is the subject of esoteric treatment and explanation in some major upanishads, including mukhya works such as the Brhadaranyaka Upanishad, the Svetasvatara Upanishad and the Maitri Upanishad; as well as other well-known works such as the Jaiminiya Upanishad Brahmana.^]

• The stanza is the apparent inspiration for derivative "gāyatrī" stanzas dedicated to other deities, patterned on the formula " ...vidmahe ... dhīmahi ... pracodayāt", instances of which have been interpolated into some recensions of the Shatarudriya litany. Gāyatrīs of this form are also found in the Mahanarayana Upanishad.

In traditional Brahmin practice the Gayatri Mantra is addressed to God as the divine life-giver, symbolized by Savitr (the sun), and is most often recited at sunrise and sunset. 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. Recitation at sunrise every morning is part of thedaily ritual. While often associated with outward ritual offerings, it can be recited more inwardly and without rites, a practice generally known as japa.

Imparting the Sāvitrī mantra to young Hindu males is an important part of the traditional upanayanam ceremony, which marks the beginning of study of the Vedas. S. Radhakrishnan has described this as the essence of the ceremony, which is sometimes called "Gayatri diksha", i.e. initiation into the Gayatri Mantra. However, traditionally, the stanza RV.3.62.10 is the Sāvitrī imparted only to Brahmin boys. Other Sāvitrī verses are used in the upanayanam ceremony for non-Brahmins: RV.1.35.2, in the Trishtubh meter, for a Kshatriya; and, either RV.1.35.9 or RV.4.40.5, in the Jagati meter, for a Vaishya.

In 1827 Ram Mohun Roy published a dissertation on the Gayatri Mantra that analysed it in the context of various Upanishads. Roy prescribed a Brahmin to always pronounce Om at the beginning and end of the Gayatri Mantra. From 1830, the Gayatri Mantra was used for private devotion of Brahmos. In 1843, the First Covenant of Brahmo Samaj required Gayatri Mantra for Divine Worship. From 1848-1850 with the rejection of Vedas, the Adi Dharm Brahmins use Gayatri Mantra in their private devotions.

Hindu revivalism

In the later 19th century, Hindu reform movements extended the chanting of the Gayatri Mantra beyond caste and gender limitations. In 1898,Swami Vivekananda began initiating non-Brahmins with the sacred thread ceremony and the Gayatri Mantra. He based this on the interpretations of the Vedas and Bhagavad Gita that Brahmin status is earned and not hereditary. The Arya Samaj notably spread the teaching that recitation of the mantra was not limited to males, but that women could rightfully be taught both the Vedas and the Gayatri Mantra. In his writings, S. Radhakrishnan encouraged the teaching of Gayatri mantra to men and women of all castes

Gayatri in Devanagari letters

Literally hundreds of books and thousands of web pages are currently dedicated to explaining the esoteric meaning of this mantra, so I will not repeat that discussion. Instead I will provide a basic grammatical explanation of this most famous mantra and if you are new to Hinduism and want to know at least one prayer, this is the prayer you should learn.

Gayatri is actually the name for a Sanskrit poetical meter that contains three lines of eight syllables each. There are, therefore, many gayatri mantras, but this particular one is the oldest and most well known of all gayatri mantras. In Hinduism all Gods and Goddesses have a gayatri mantra associated with them. There is a gayatri for Ganesha, one for Shiva, one for Durga, one for Vishnu, one for Lakshmi, and so on. Most people are unaware of this fact and when Hindus talk about the gayatri mantra they mean thee gayatri mantra shown above, which is addressed to Savitri, the sun. The first line: om bhur bhuvah svah that you see above is not actually part of a gayatri mantra. It is a special utterance called vyahriti that has been added to the beginning of this famous gayatri . This vyahriti is important in and of itself and we will discuss it after we have explained the basic gayatri mantra.

1. tat-savitur varenyam.

2. bhargo devasya dhimahi,

3. dhiyo yo nah pracodayat

Here is a word-for-word breakdown of the gayatri mantra that most Hindus know.

tat–that (God)
savitur–of the sun
varenyam–the best
bhargo (bhargas)–light, illumination
devasya–divine
dhimahi–let us meditate (a verb)
dhiyo (dhiyah)–thought(s)
yo (yah)–which
nah–of us, our
pracodayat–May it push, inspire (a verb)

Savitri: the Sunrise

The deity associated with this gayatri mantra, as we mentioned, is the sun,savitri. (The second word of this mantra.) The more common name for the sun issurya. Generally "surya" is the name for the sun while it is above the horizon andsavitri is the sun as it is rising and setting, just below the horizon. There is a great metaphor in Hinduism that when understood explains a lot about the Hindu way of seeing the universe. The metaphor is: “the sun equals light, which equals knowledge, which equals consciousness.” This metaphor applies not only to thegayatri mantra, but also to the design of temples and homes, and to details such as why we circumambulate from left to right and offer incense and lamps in a clockwise direction.

The most important word in the gayatri mantra is the word, “tat,” which is a neuter pronoun meaning “that.” It is a reference to “that One," God. According to the metaphor mentioned above, the sun, which is the source of illumination, heat, food and so many other things in our life, can naturally be seen as the “representative” or symbol of God in this world. There are two verbs in the gayatri mantra, dhimahi and prachodayat. Dhimahi means, “let us meditate.“ So, “let us meditate on the light (bhargo) of the sun which represents God.” This is the basic meaning of the first part of the gayatri mantra.

The second part is also straight forward. The verb prachodayat literally means , “it should push,” but in more poetic language we can translate it as “let it inspire.” Dhiyah is “thoughts,” so dhiyo yo nah prachodayat means, “may our thoughts be inspired” So the most literal meaning of the gayatri mantra is, “Let us meditate on the light of the sun which represents God, and may our thoughts be inspired by that divine light.”

Gayatri Devi

As with most things Hindu, the gayatri mantra is also personified as the Goddess, Gayatri Devi. She is the wife of Brahma and is pictured with five heads sitting on a lotus. She is the embodiment of the supreme brahman. You will also see other depictions of Gayatri Devi that vary somewhat.

The gayatri mantra is traditionally whispered into the ear of a young boy in a ceremony called The Thread Giving Ceremony (upanayana), which is one of the rites of passagefollowed by many Hindus. In addition, the gayatri mantra is repeated during daily prayers performed by many Hindus three times a day, while facing the sun: at sunrise, at noon and at sun set. It is also common to recite the gayatri as part of a havan, or to recite it in a collective way in temples or homes.

The Great Utterance

The first part of the gayatri mantra, om bhur bhuvah svah, which we mentioned at the beginning as not part of the mantra, is called vyahriti or the “great utterance.” This mantra is repeated not only in conjunction with the gayatrimantra, but also separately during havans or fire ceremonies. The word om is a auspicious sound made at the beginning of many prayers. The expression bhur bhuvah and svah is technical, but a simple way to think of it is as a “call to creation,” that the light of the sun (the light of God) shines on the earth (bhur), in the sky (bhuvah), and in space (svah), and therefore the implication is, “let that light also shine on me.”

The technical explanation vyahriti has to do with subtle practices of meditational yoga. This earth is simply one of many planes of existence. In fact, above this earth are six higher planes, heavens as it were. Including this earth, there are seven planes up (heavens) and seven planes down, or hells below this earth. The earth is in the middle. If you have ever heard the expression, “he is in seventh heaven” you should understand that this is a reference to the Hindu idea of heavens. The seventh heaven is the highest heaven. The first three of these planes starting with the earth are called bhur, bhuvah and svah. The utterance bhur bhuvah svah, therefore, refers to the first three subtle planes of existence that may be reached in meditation by a yogi.