There are thousands, if not millions, of mantras - for every deity, pupose, or occasion. In general, a Mantra is a Sanskrit (or other language) sound which is meant for releasing or delivering (traya) the mind (mana) -- Mana-Traya -- Mantra. Not ALL mantras are necessarily used for that, but the ones that we're interested in generally do.
And although I don't usually talk much about mantra - focusing more on Self Inquiry - mantras have had a powerful and postive effect on my life and particularly my spiritual journey. Two mantras in particular have been a huge part of my life - the Hare Krsna mantra (which I still chant daily hundreds of times), and Gayatri mantra.
Gayatri is both a specific mantra AND a poetic or verse style, with "gayatri" mantras for nearly every deity of the Vedic culture - often times two, three or more! But most often when people speak of "Gayatri mantra" they're referring to the "Savitri Gayatri" the Gayatri verse in praise of, and invoking the divine light of the Sun, or God, as the Sun is considered the local representative of the Light of God.
This is how Gayatri mantra looks in the Sanskrit Devanagri script:
ॐ भूर्भुवः स्वः
तत्सवितुर्वरेण्यं
भर्गो देवस्य धीमहि
धियो यो नः प्रचोदयात् ॥
Transliteration: (i.e. one you can read if you don't read Sanskrit)
Om Bhur Bhuvah Svah
Tat savitur varenyam
bhargo devasya dhimahi
dhiyo yo nah pracodayat
Word for word meanings:
Om - God, the primordial sound from which all originates,
bhur - The earthly plane,
bhuvah - The heavenly plane,
svah - The causal plane,
tat - The Absolute. Or "That",
savituh - Traditionally 'Of the Sun', but also 'Of God', the Source of all,
varenyam - Worshippable,
bhargah - The Divine Light; that which is ever expanding,
devasya - Of God, Of the Divine,
dhimahi - Let us meditate upon,
dhiyah - Our wisdom, intelligence (buddhi), our meditation,
yah - Who,
nah - us,
pracodayat - Enlightens, enthuses, awakens, quickens
My simplistic translation:
"Om, let us meditate upon that Supreme Lord of all existence, the Worshippable Divine Effulgence and Source of all that is, that He may enliven, awaken and enlighten our intelligence."
And another translation, perhaps more poetic translation (not sure from whom)
"Oh, creator of the universe. We meditate upon thy supreme splendor. May thy radiant power illuminate our intellects, destroy our ignorance and guide us in the direction of enlightenment by purifying our inner hearts."
But in either case, and basically all translations, the idea is the same - we are invoking or callng upon the Light of the Divine, which permeates ALL the levels of existence, and meditating upon that Light to awaken us, to purify and enlighten our mind, heart and intelligence. So, it's essentially a prayer to God or the Divine to fill us with that Holy Light and assist us on our spiritual journey.
The nice thing about Gayatri, is even though it's in Sanskrit, it's pretty non-denominational. You're not addressing some specific Deity of the "Hindu pantheon", but rather the Divine Light Itself - no matter WHO it may be coming from. :-D And your intentions when chanting Gayatri can be addressed toward whatever Divinity you look to, whether Vedic, Christian, or none at all.
Sometimes, Gayatri is also refered to as Tri-Sandhyam, as it is traditionally been chanted at the three (tri) conjunctions (sandhya) of the day - dawn, noon, and dusk, which are considered very powerful moments energetically of the day.
It can be chanted out loud or silently. It can be said once or hundreds of times. It is not only used for personal en-LIGHT-enment, but for the purification of the atmosphere, environment, or even water. Perhaps you are familiar with the experiments of Japanese scientist Masaru Emoto. (Look him up) He found that by 'energizing' water with sounds, thoughts, emotions, etc, he could then freeze that water and see the results. Below are photos of un-energized water, and then water energized with Gayatri mantra.
Often people use a "japa mala", a string of beads of wood, crystal, or other materials to chant a specific number of mantras at a time, much like a rosary. The most common number is 108 beads, plus a "head" bead making 109. One chants one mantra on each of the 108 beads, and then turning around when they get to the 'head' bead. Of course, there is no hard rule on the number of times.
For some time, we were monthly performing a Gayatri Homa - where on the Full Moon day, we would chant Gayatri 108 times while offering ghee and rice into a 'homa fire'. This is a very powerful ceremony that not only benefits the individual participating, but is said to profoundly purify the environment as well. Hmmm....perhaps we should start that up again.
Each letter of the Gayatri is also said to correspond to specific points on the body, thus energizing those points and energy channels, which makes a nice meditation, helping to envision divine light moving throughout one's body.
If mantra feels like something that would be advantageous for your spiritual journey, and it definitely can be, I highly recommend Gayatri mantra. Make it a part of your daily life. Thousands have found powerful spiritual, mental, intellectual, and bodily healing results!
What others have said about Gayatri mantra:
"Because the Gayatri mantra is especially meant for God realization, it represents the Supreme Lord. This mantra is meant for spiritually advanced people, and when one attains success in chanting it, he can enter into the transcendental position of the Lord."
( Srila AC Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada - Bhagavad Gita As It Is 1972, Text 10.35 - purport )
"Gayantam trayate yasmad gayatri tvam tatah smrta: one who chants the Gayatri mantra is gradually delivered from the material clutches."
( Sri Caitanya Caritamrita Madhya-lila, Text 2.8.138 - purport - Srila Prabhupada)
"...Gayatri the supreme creative energy of the divine. It endows its devotee with true wisdom. A subtle, uninterrupted current of divine energy starts flowing through the inner being of the devotee, cleansing his intellect, mind and emotions of the perverse, perverted and dark thoughts, feelings and desires. The effect of sincere and steadfast Gayatri Sadhana is swift and miraculous in purifying, harmonizing and steadying the mind and thus establishing unshakable inner peace and a sense of joyfilled calm even in the face of grave trials and tribulations in the outer life of the Sadhak.". (Pandit Shriram Sharma Acharya)
"The great mantra of Gayatri has a unique contribution to make in the impending new age. Its impact on the moral and ethical renascence of this new scientific-intellectual age will be unequalled, unparalleled and extraordinary. " ( Pandit Sriram Sharma Acharya)
"Of the many methods of yoga one of the most potent is the yoga of Gayatri mantra. Mantras have powers to endow one with remarkable abilities. The Gayatri mantra gives the devotees spiritual as well as material benefits." (Sri Ramana Maharshi)
"Even divinities like Brahma pray to Gayatri because Gayatri makes possible the realization of Brahman. Gayatri removes from you the propensity to evil actions." (Rishi Bharadwaja)
For more information:
If you'd like to know more about Gayatri, japa malas, homas, mantras, or anything else, please feel free to just ask! Add a comment below or write to me at my email.
I also wrote a relatively short booklet specifically on Gayatri, entitled "Gayatri Mantra - The Sound of Divine Light" You can download either a reading or printing version (as well as other books) from my dropbox site - https://www.dropbox.com/sh/z9f5q6hagjaufx7/t8DWXrUGqq
And although I don't usually talk much about mantra - focusing more on Self Inquiry - mantras have had a powerful and postive effect on my life and particularly my spiritual journey. Two mantras in particular have been a huge part of my life - the Hare Krsna mantra (which I still chant daily hundreds of times), and Gayatri mantra.
Gayatri is both a specific mantra AND a poetic or verse style, with "gayatri" mantras for nearly every deity of the Vedic culture - often times two, three or more! But most often when people speak of "Gayatri mantra" they're referring to the "Savitri Gayatri" the Gayatri verse in praise of, and invoking the divine light of the Sun, or God, as the Sun is considered the local representative of the Light of God.
This is how Gayatri mantra looks in the Sanskrit Devanagri script:
ॐ भूर्भुवः स्वः
तत्सवितुर्वरेण्यं
भर्गो देवस्य धीमहि
धियो यो नः प्रचोदयात् ॥
Transliteration: (i.e. one you can read if you don't read Sanskrit)
Om Bhur Bhuvah Svah
Tat savitur varenyam
bhargo devasya dhimahi
dhiyo yo nah pracodayat
Word for word meanings:
Om - God, the primordial sound from which all originates,
bhur - The earthly plane,
bhuvah - The heavenly plane,
svah - The causal plane,
tat - The Absolute. Or "That",
savituh - Traditionally 'Of the Sun', but also 'Of God', the Source of all,
varenyam - Worshippable,
bhargah - The Divine Light; that which is ever expanding,
devasya - Of God, Of the Divine,
dhimahi - Let us meditate upon,
dhiyah - Our wisdom, intelligence (buddhi), our meditation,
yah - Who,
nah - us,
pracodayat - Enlightens, enthuses, awakens, quickens
My simplistic translation:
"Om, let us meditate upon that Supreme Lord of all existence, the Worshippable Divine Effulgence and Source of all that is, that He may enliven, awaken and enlighten our intelligence."
And another translation, perhaps more poetic translation (not sure from whom)
"Oh, creator of the universe. We meditate upon thy supreme splendor. May thy radiant power illuminate our intellects, destroy our ignorance and guide us in the direction of enlightenment by purifying our inner hearts."
But in either case, and basically all translations, the idea is the same - we are invoking or callng upon the Light of the Divine, which permeates ALL the levels of existence, and meditating upon that Light to awaken us, to purify and enlighten our mind, heart and intelligence. So, it's essentially a prayer to God or the Divine to fill us with that Holy Light and assist us on our spiritual journey.
The nice thing about Gayatri, is even though it's in Sanskrit, it's pretty non-denominational. You're not addressing some specific Deity of the "Hindu pantheon", but rather the Divine Light Itself - no matter WHO it may be coming from. :-D And your intentions when chanting Gayatri can be addressed toward whatever Divinity you look to, whether Vedic, Christian, or none at all.
Sometimes, Gayatri is also refered to as Tri-Sandhyam, as it is traditionally been chanted at the three (tri) conjunctions (sandhya) of the day - dawn, noon, and dusk, which are considered very powerful moments energetically of the day.
It can be chanted out loud or silently. It can be said once or hundreds of times. It is not only used for personal en-LIGHT-enment, but for the purification of the atmosphere, environment, or even water. Perhaps you are familiar with the experiments of Japanese scientist Masaru Emoto. (Look him up) He found that by 'energizing' water with sounds, thoughts, emotions, etc, he could then freeze that water and see the results. Below are photos of un-energized water, and then water energized with Gayatri mantra.
Gayatri can also be used to purify or energize food or water, offering those things to the Divine while chanting the mantra out loud once, 3 times, 10 times, or even 108 times, thus purifying them. We used to chant Gayatri over quartz crystals for people to wear, carry with them, or put on their altars to help disseminate that pure energy.
Often people use a "japa mala", a string of beads of wood, crystal, or other materials to chant a specific number of mantras at a time, much like a rosary. The most common number is 108 beads, plus a "head" bead making 109. One chants one mantra on each of the 108 beads, and then turning around when they get to the 'head' bead. Of course, there is no hard rule on the number of times.
For some time, we were monthly performing a Gayatri Homa - where on the Full Moon day, we would chant Gayatri 108 times while offering ghee and rice into a 'homa fire'. This is a very powerful ceremony that not only benefits the individual participating, but is said to profoundly purify the environment as well. Hmmm....perhaps we should start that up again.
Each letter of the Gayatri is also said to correspond to specific points on the body, thus energizing those points and energy channels, which makes a nice meditation, helping to envision divine light moving throughout one's body.
If you'd like to know how to pronouce Gayatri mantra, there are many videos on Youtube. Make sure it's actually THE Gayatri and not a gayatri to some specific deity. In other words, it sounds like the words that I've written above. There will be slight variations on how it's pronounced, the rhythm, and the melodies - just find the one that feels the best for you.
If mantra feels like something that would be advantageous for your spiritual journey, and it definitely can be, I highly recommend Gayatri mantra. Make it a part of your daily life. Thousands have found powerful spiritual, mental, intellectual, and bodily healing results!
What others have said about Gayatri mantra:
"Because the Gayatri mantra is especially meant for God realization, it represents the Supreme Lord. This mantra is meant for spiritually advanced people, and when one attains success in chanting it, he can enter into the transcendental position of the Lord."
( Srila AC Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada - Bhagavad Gita As It Is 1972, Text 10.35 - purport )
"Gayantam trayate yasmad gayatri tvam tatah smrta: one who chants the Gayatri mantra is gradually delivered from the material clutches."
( Sri Caitanya Caritamrita Madhya-lila, Text 2.8.138 - purport - Srila Prabhupada)
"...Gayatri the supreme creative energy of the divine. It endows its devotee with true wisdom. A subtle, uninterrupted current of divine energy starts flowing through the inner being of the devotee, cleansing his intellect, mind and emotions of the perverse, perverted and dark thoughts, feelings and desires. The effect of sincere and steadfast Gayatri Sadhana is swift and miraculous in purifying, harmonizing and steadying the mind and thus establishing unshakable inner peace and a sense of joyfilled calm even in the face of grave trials and tribulations in the outer life of the Sadhak.". (Pandit Shriram Sharma Acharya)
"The great mantra of Gayatri has a unique contribution to make in the impending new age. Its impact on the moral and ethical renascence of this new scientific-intellectual age will be unequalled, unparalleled and extraordinary. " ( Pandit Sriram Sharma Acharya)
"Of the many methods of yoga one of the most potent is the yoga of Gayatri mantra. Mantras have powers to endow one with remarkable abilities. The Gayatri mantra gives the devotees spiritual as well as material benefits." (Sri Ramana Maharshi)
"Even divinities like Brahma pray to Gayatri because Gayatri makes possible the realization of Brahman. Gayatri removes from you the propensity to evil actions." (Rishi Bharadwaja)
For more information:
If you'd like to know more about Gayatri, japa malas, homas, mantras, or anything else, please feel free to just ask! Add a comment below or write to me at my email.
I also wrote a relatively short booklet specifically on Gayatri, entitled "Gayatri Mantra - The Sound of Divine Light" You can download either a reading or printing version (as well as other books) from my dropbox site - https://www.dropbox.com/sh/z9f5q6hagjaufx7/t8DWXrUGqq
With Deep Love
Aja
Well written. Good content.
ReplyDeleteCharlie H
Thank you, Charlie. 🙏❤️
Delete