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Gayatri Mantra Booklet Gayatri Mantra
OM BHUR
BHUVAH SUVAHA
TAT SAVITUR VARENYAM
BHARGO DEVASYA DHEEMAHI
DHIYO YO NAH PRACHODAYAT |
We
meditate upon the
glorious splendor of
the Vivifier Divine.
May He Himself illumine our minds! |
The ancient mansion of Hindu
tradition and custom is built on the four walls
of Karma, Janma, Dharma and Brahma.Regardless of its size, a house
needs four
supporting walls. It follows therefore that in the huge mansion of
ancient
Hindu thought, customs and traditions should have a point of meeting
together
somewhere. It is not possible for anyone to escape from the
consequences of
what one does knowingly or otherwise. You have to face up to the
consequences
of all your actions, whether good or bad. Clearly, therefore, the
doctrine of
Karma stands as a cardinal principle that governs a person's life. One
has to
live and die with this principle. It is this Karma which determines
one's joys
and sorrows. And it is through Karma that you are endowed with this
life itself
What is the secret of this Janma? This body has been given to you so
that you
could undertake your Karma and therein lies the point- that through
the body
you have to uphold Dharma. When you conduct yourself in keeping with
Dharma,
you qualify to attain Brahma. The Gita proclaims that when Dharma
declines God
incarnates as an Avatar. Truly, what you see in the form of a body is
nothing
but a manifestation of God himself. God takes the form of a human
being to
restore Dharma. What you call 'creation' is a manifestation of the
Cosmic
Principle. We also refer to it as nature. Whoever is born in this
nature will
certainly have the same atribute of this nature. Man who has the same
qualities
of this Cosmic Principle, this creation, this nature, is offering all
that is
embedded in this creation to someone for some purpose. To whom is he
offering
it? Is it for the sake of one's own selfish ends? Or is it for the benefit of
the fellow beings around him? It is not right to act that way.
Whatever you do
and whatever you may perform, if you were to be inspired by the
feeling that
it is for the Ananda of God, then it is bound to reach him. Therefore,
the
abiding feeling in you should be that whatever you do, you are doing
it as
worship of the Lord. This principle contains the very essence of
Karma.
CHANTING OF GAYATRI
When an individual is first born from
the mother's womb, this is the natural
type of birth. This is the natural state. This is the first birth as
such.
After you have been given the Gayatri Manthra, the dawn of a second
birth
emerges in your life. What is this Gayatri Mantra? It is the very
quintessence
of the Vedas. Verily it is the mother of the Vedas. The meaning of the
syllable "Ga" is Jiva. Gayatri is that which protects and fosters all
life
forms. You must realise therefore that on being given this Gayatri
Manthra,
you have been given a second birth. When you start chanting this
Manthra in
conformity with certain rules and code of conduct, you will certainly
be able
to reach a state in fulfillment of this Manthra. You arrive at a new
stage,
the third stage, which is called the Vipra. At this stage you begin to
chant
the Vedas. Even as you try and understand and chant the Manthras in
the Vedas,
you must realise their significance end start practicing the
underlying
principle and thus live the Vedas every second of your life. In this
way you
will certainly succeed in attaining Brahma. It is only when you
understand
this Brahma Thathwa and perform your actions in accordance with this
understanding can one be called a Brahmana. It is not by birth alone
that one
becomes a Brahmana. It is necessary that one's actions should
correspond to
this understanding. We really deserve to be called a Brahmana only
when we
understand the Brahma Thathwa.
TIME FOR CHANTING
It has been laid down that this
Gayatri Mantra has to be chanted three times
every day: during the sandhyas of early morning, afternoon and evening.
Sandhya means the conjunction of two stages of time. Pratah Sandhya is
the
time when transition from the night to the day takes place. Likewise
evening
sandhya is the time when the day slides into the night. Madhyanna
Sandhya is
the time when the morning and afternoon are connected. Man is the
embodiment
of three Gunas. These three attributes are not confined to man as such;
even
time has these attributes. Time also has Sathwa, Raja and Thamo Gunas.
What do
we mean by time having Sathwa guna? All these three attributes have 24
hours
to go by in a day. Each of these three Gunas takes up 8 hours by
itself i.e,
Sathwa has 8 hours, Rajasik has 8 hours and Thamasik has 8 hours. What
are
these 8 hours of Sathwik time? When you designate the period from 4 a
m to
8 a m the intervening 4 hours are Sathwik. In like manner, the time
between
4 p.m. and 8 p.m. is also Sathwik. These two stretches of 4 hours
apiece are
Sathwik hours. The time from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.is Rajasik. It is during
this
time that all lifeforms keep doing whatever has to be done by them.
Not only
men, but also animals and the like do what is expected of them during
these
8 hours. The factory worker, the farmer, the agriculturist and anybody
that
on can think of has to work during these 8 hours of Rajasik time. So
we find
that every individual has an experience of this Rajasik time Then we
have the
time from 8 p.m. to 4 a.m. during the night. This is the Thamasik
time. That
it is indeed Thamasik we know from our experience. The chief quality
that is
associated with this time is sleep. Sleep is being equated to Thamasik
in
this analysis. It is during the Sathwik time viz., from 4 a.m. to 8
a.m and
from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. that we should undertake our sacred and noble
duties.
This will sanctify our life. We should understand and appreciate how
time has
been divided for various activities and only then can we realise the
true
nature of our existence. This Gayatri Manthra has to be taken up for
chanting
at any time during the period of from 4 a.m. to 8 a.m., and then at
any time
between 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. lt is absolutely necessary that you chant
this
Gayatri Manthra either in the early hours of the morning or in the
evening
hours. During the mid-day also it can be taken up for chanting, but
for certain purposes. When you look upon it as a Sadhana, it is the
morning and
evening hours which are sacred for chanting. You should chant this
Manthra
at least three times in the morning hours and three times in the
evening time.
When you do this, you can certainly free yourselves from the fruits of
your
Karma. It is said that a day's chanting takes care of all the ill
effects of
the day's Karma. To illustrate this point, let me cite an example.
When you
go and buy a certain thing on loan, not only does the loan amount
increase,
but also the interest on it goes up. On the other hand, if you were to
barter
something for the item at the shop, there is no loan to be cleared,
nor is
there any interest to be paid. When you have borrowed something on
loan,
then you find that whatever you have earned has to be given for
repayment
of the loan, and the interest thereof. So, when you try and clear your
debts
as and when you buy a certain thing, then there is no loan nor is
there any
interest to be paid back. In the same manner, chanting Gayatri three
times in
the morning and three times in the evening hours before you go to bed
would
take care of all your errors in the form of loan and interest to be
cleared
off. By chanting this Manthra with this feeling you can certainly
transcend
Your Karma, you can even reach the state of Nishkama Karma. You can
sanctify
your life in this manner. Therefore, in order that you may understand
the
significance and reap the benefits of chanting Gayatri, you should
know the significance of the morning and evening hours. There are those who
feel that
they do not have the time either in the morning or in the evening, to
chant
Gayatri. You do have the time indeed! Where there is a will, there is
a way,
it is said. We do fritter away a lot of our time. A fraction of your
time
that you waste, if directed to chanting Gayatri, can purify your life.
You do have a bath every day. So, even as you bathe, if you chant this
Manthra, you are not only chanting this Manthra and deriving the
benefits
thereof, but it becomes a form of worship. So also, in the afternoon,
if you
were to chant this Manthra as you eat your food, the meal becomes
sanctified-
the food becomes a Naivedya. You may or you may not chant any other
Manthra,
but do remember that chanting the Gayatri is beneficial and you can
experience
this yourself.
EXPLANATION OF THE MANTHRA
Gayatri is the embodiment of all
forms of Godhead- "Sarva Devatha Swaroopam."
Gayatri does not belong to any caste, to any sect or to any religion
as such.
It is universal in its scope.
Gayatri has nine important attributes.
These are:
1. Aum
|
Sound
as the basis of Creation, Brahman. |
2. Bhuh
|
The
Earth, the gross. |
3.
Bhuvah |
The
Atmosphere, the Ether, the Subtle. |
4.
Suvah |
Heaven,
the region beyond Bhuvah the Causal. |
5. Tat |
Stands
for That. The Ultimate Reality
is simply referred to as That because
it defies description through speech or language. |
6.
Savitur |
Stands
for Divine Savitri, equated
with the vivifying power contained
within the Sun. |
7.
Varenyum |
Adore. |
8.
Bhargo |
Radiance, Lustre, Illumination. |
9.
Devasya |
Divine
Radiance or Grace. |
"Dheemahi" signifies worship of or
meditation on the Lord. "Dhiyo Yo Nah
Prachodayat" as the last syllable, is a prayer. Therefore, in the Gayatri,
there is Varnam, Dhyanam and Prathana (description, meditation and a
prayer)
these aspects converge in the Manthra.
GAYATRI AND ADVAITHA
What goes on within you, depending
upon the circumstances, are classified as
follows - we talk of Sankalpa and for this we use the "manas" or the
mind.
When we talk of the aspect of "wavering" we have the "Chithha." When
you
think of discrimination, "Vicharana," we use the tern "Buddhi", the
intellect.
When you have the motive of selfishness, you talk of "Ahamkara" or
ego. What
you have to understand is that basically one entity is described as
mind,
chithha, intellect and ego. We will do well to understand the basic
difference
between the mind on the one hand and the intelligence on the other.
Mind is
something that has got in its nature a divisive tendency. The
intellect is
beyond such divisions. Therefore this intellect is associated with the
principle of "Adwaitha". When there is a division taking place in
understanding
the phenomena, we are assailed by the "Dwaitha" bhava. When you have
this
divisiveness in you, when you tend to see more than one thing, it is
the mind
that perceives this duality. The intellect tries to see the one among
the many.
What you should try and do is see the underlying unity in the
diversity and
not the other way around. This Gayatri is a sacred Manthra which tells
you
about this underlying unity in the diversity of things. It is through
this
vision on unity that we can perceive divinity and sanctify our lives.
In this
world we have mud or clay in one form or another. This clay can be one
but
the forms that it can take are multifarious. Likewise, gold is one,
but the
ornaments could be many. Milk is one, but the cows can be many in
description.
So also the Atma is one, but the forms that it indwells are many. In
the world
around you, beyond the names and forms, there is no third entity. This
world is
nothing but the convergence of name and forms. One form, one name.
Between
these two viz., the name and form- is the form that changes
continually,
something which withers away and fades away and finally disappears.
Though the
form disappears, though the form undergoes change, the name as such
remains
the same at all times (Nithya Sathya); it remains changeless. For
example, you
have given the name cow to an animal. Tho cow, the animal, will
disappear with
the passage of time. But the name will remain. Forms will disappear
but the
name will last forever.
The sanctity of the name needs to be
understood properly. It will be difficult
for you to try and identify a person in a crowd by means of his form.
However
even in a huge congregation of people, if you were to call out the
name of an
individual, he would respond to your call. Through this name,
therefore you
can recognise the individual. In the same way if you take up the Lord's
name
as the basis, you can understand that forms in various hues and sizes
have
taken that name. If you know the name of the station, you can ask for
a ticket
for that station and undertake your journey. When you are not aware of
the name of the station, how can you possibly proceed on the journey?
Therefore
it is the name that is important, and not the form as such. When you
understand the full efficacy and the significance of this Gayatri, you
will
be in a position to understand the true nature, the underlying unity,
the Atmic principle dwelling in all different forms.
ITS GREAT BENEFICIAL EFFECTS
Who is this Gayatri? She is the
personified unity of the triumvirate divinity
- Gayatri, Savitri and Saraswathi. Gayatri is also known as the
five-faced
divinity. The first face signifies Om. The second is Bhur Bhuvah Svah.
Thath
Savithur Varenyam is the third face. Bhargo Devasya Dheemahi is the
fourth
face. Dheeyo Yo Nah Prachodayath is the fifth face. This is the Pancha
Mukhi
Swaroopam, the five-faced divinity. From these five faces emanate the
five
life forces, Pancha Pranas. These five life forces are fostered and
protected
by Gayatri and therefore She is called the benefactor and the
protector. During
the time She is protecting thus, She is called "Savitri." You may have
read
about the story in the epics that Savitri protected Satyavan. Who is
this
Savitri? She is the Pancha Prana Swaroopini. This truly means that
Savitri
protects and guides those who lead a life of truthfulness. When She
tries to
improve your qualities, She is called Gayatri; when She protects and
fosters
your word, She is called Saraswati. Therefore, this Goddess protects
the
intellect, the life force and the word, and thus in every way She
protects the
individual at all times. Today you have been given this Gayatri
Manthra. It is
verily a day when you are having your second birth. Purify and
sanctify your
second life and then you become eligible for the third stage of
Viprathwa.
From there you will proceed to the stage of attaining Brahma. "Brahmavid
Brahmaiva Bhavathi" - how do you attain this state? You can attain in
only
when you have understood your own nature. When you ask the question,
`when do
we become deserving to attain the state of Brahma?' then can you
understand
this. Before being married, a girl would be an ordinary person. After
the
marriage, she has the privilege of claiming half of whatever her
husband has,
as a matter or right. What is it that marks out from the earlier stage
of
being an alien and the latter stage of married life when she can claim
something by right? That right is conferred on her by a sacred thread
tied
to her neck, the Mangal Sutra. In the same manner, so long as you have
not
reached the state of surrender, you are an alien to the Lord. Once you
have
put the thread of surrender around your neck, you become One with Him,
and you
have earned the right to, and can demand from God, half of whatever He
has.
Therefore, through your own efforts you should try and reach the state
of
surrender to GOD. How is it possible, you might ask, by chanting this
Gayatri
continuously, to reach the state of fulfillment and sense of feeling
that you
have received something? There is an inner meaning in giving this
Gayatri
Mantra to young people. We have in this Mantra the concluding words,
Dheeyo yo
nah Prachodayat. The meaning is this: Before you were given this
Mantra, you
may have been backward intellectually, or were a bit lazy. But now
that you
have been given this Mantra, you become sharper in intellect, become
more
zealous, more enthusiastic, and certainly become more qualified for
scaling
greater heights in acquiring knowledge.
CONCLUSION
Before the sun rises, everything is
enveloped in darkness. Even as the rays
of the Sun dispel this darkness, so also the chanting of this Gayatri
dispels
all darkness and ignorance. The rays of this Sun dispels the area of
darkness.
Darkness has no place where the rays of the sun reach out. So also
once your
intellect blossoms forth by virtue of your having been given this
Manthra,
your intellectual rays will dispel the ignorance which has been
persisting
in you, will drive away all darkness and endow you with intelligence.
Compiled from Divine Discourses of
Sri Sathya Sai Baba during Upanayan Ceremony
Translated & Published for Free Distribution by:
SRI SATHYA SAI CENTRE, No: 6, Police Park Terrace, Colombo 05 Sri
Lanka
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