BY:-JITENDRATHAKOR(13BCL111)

MEHSANA

MantraThe Gayatri Mantra is a highly revered mantra in Hinduism, second only to the mantra Om.It consists of the prefix :oṃ bhūr bhuvaḥ svaḥॐ भूभभवुस्वः, a formula taken from the Yajurveda,and the verse 3.62.10 of the Rigveda (which is an example of the Gayatri mantra). Since all theother three Vedas contain much material rearranged from the Rig Veda, the Gayatrimantra isfound in all the four Vedas. The deva invoked in this mantra is Savitr, and hence the mantra isalso called Sāvitrī. In Atharva Veda, the Gayatri mantra is different from the regular Gayatrimantra.

By many Hindus, the Gayatri is seen as a Divine awakening of the mind and soul, and within it away to reach the most Supreme form of existence, and the way to Union with Brahman. Understanding, and purely loving the essence of the Gayatri Mantra is seen by many to be one,if not the most powerful ways to attain God.

* In Devanagari:

ॐभूभभवुः स्वः ।तत ्सववतभवरेुण्यं ।भर्गो देवस्यधीमिह ।धधयो यो नः प्रचोदयात ्॥

* In Malayalam:

ഓംഭൂര്ഭുവ: സ്വ:।തത്സ്വിതുര്വരേണ്യം।ഭര്ര ോരേവസ്യധീമഹി।ധിര ോര ോന: പ്രര ോേ ോത്॥

* In IAST

oṃ bhūr bhuvaḥ svaḥ(a) tat savitur vareṇyaṃ(b) bhargo devasya dhīmahi(c) dhiyo yo naḥ pracodayāt

* Pronunciation in normal Latin Alphabet

Om bhoor bhuva swahahtat savi tur varenyambhargo dey vasya dhi mahhidheeyo yoh na pracho dayaht

There is also a long form of the mantra. This can be found in 'Gayatri: The Highest Meditation' by Sadguru Sant Keshavadas or the works of his disciple Thomas Ashley-Farrand (Namadeva).

Word-by-word explanation:-

* omThe sacred sound, see Om.* bhū 'earth'* bhuvas 'atmosphere'* svar 'light, heaven, space'* tat 'that'* savitur of Savitr the god' (genitives of savitr-, 'stimulator, rouser; name of a sun-deity' and deva- 'god' or 'demi-god')* varenyam 'Fit to be worshipped' varenya- 'desirable, excellent'* bhargo 'Glory Effulgence' (radiance, lustre, splendour, glory)* devasya 'of God'* dhīmahi 'may we attain' (1st person plural middle optative of dhā-'set, bring, fix' etc.)* dhiyaḥ naḥ 'our prayers' (accusative plural of dhi- 'thought, meditation, devotion, prayer' and naḥ enclitic personal pronoun)* yaḥ prachodayāt 'who may stimulate' (nominative singular of relative pronoun yad-; causative 3rd person of pra-cud- 'set in motion, drive on, urge, impel')

Other translations, circumlocutions and interpretations:

* Hinduism.About.com

The "Ultimate Reality/Divine light", that adores the three worlds and experiencesThe "Ultimate Reality/Divine light" that illuminates the three worlds and experiences with its divine graceWe contemplate on the "Ultimate Reality/Divine light", and request "It" to enlighten our intellect(Three regions "{Earth}, {space between Earth and heaven} and {heaven}", also impliesthe three experiences "physical, mental and spiritual", also implies three time regions"present past and future" )

•William Quan Judge [2]

"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."

* Kurma Purana, "freely translated" by Swami Vivekananda [3]

"'We meditate on the glory of that Being who has produced this universe; may •He enlighten our minds.' Om is joined to it at the beginning and the end."

* Valerie J. Roebuck (2003):

We meditate on the lovelyGlory of the god SavitrThat he may stimulate our minds

* Kavikratu Tattva Budh [1]

"Almighty Supreme Sun impel us with your divine brilliance so we may attain a noble understanding of reality."

* Gayatri Pariwar

"O God, Thou art the giver of life, the remover of pain and sorrow, the bestower of happiness; O Creator of the Universe, may we receive Thy supreme, sin destroying light; may Thou guide our intellect in the right direction."

Om bhur bhuvah swah:Bhur the earth, bhuvah the planets (solar family), swah the Galaxy. We observe that when an ordinary fan with a speed of 900 RPM (rotations Per minute) moves, it makes noise. Then, one can imagine, what great noise would be created when the galaxies move with a speed of 20,000 miles per second.This is what this portion of the mantra explains that the sound produced due to the fast-moving earth, planets and galaxies is Om. The sound was heard during meditationby Rishi Vishvamitra, who mentioned it too their colleagues. All of them, thenunanimously decided to call this sound Om the name of God, because this soundis available in all the three periods of time, hence it is set (permanent). Therefore, it was the first ever-revolutionary idea to identify formless God with a specific title(form) called upadhi. Until that time, everybody recognized God as formless and nobody was prepared to accept this new idea. In the Gita also, it is said, "Omiti ekaksharam Brahma", meaning that the name of the Supreme is Om, which contains only one syllable (8/12). This sound Om heard during samadhi was called by all the seers nada-Brahma a very great noise), but not a noise that is normallybeyond a specific amplitude and limits of decibels suited to human hearing. Hencethe rishis called this sound Udgith musical sound of the above, i.e., heaven. They also noticed that the infinite mass of galaxies moving with a velocity of 20,000 miles/second was generating a kinetic energy= 1/2MV2 (Newton’s second law) and this was balancing the total energy consumption of the cosmos. Hence they named it Pranavah, which means the body (vapu) or storehouse of energy (prana).

Tat savitur varenyam:

Tat that (God), savitur the sun (star), varenyam worthy of bowing or respect. Once the form of a person along with the name is known to us, we may locate the specific person. Hence the two titles (upadhi)provide the solid ground to identify the formless God, Vishvamitrasuggested. He told us that we could know (realize) the unknowableformless God through the known factors, viz., sound Om and lightof suns (stars).A mathematician can solve an equation x2+y2=4; if x=2; then y canbe known and so on. An engineer can measure the width of a rivereven by standing at the riverbank just by drawing a triangle. So wasthe scientific method suggested by Vishvamitra in the mantra in thenext portion as under.

Bhargo devasya dheemahi:

Bhargo the light, devasya of the deity, dheemahi we should meditate. The Rishi instructs us to meditate upon the available form (light of suns)to discover the formless Creator (God). Also he wants us to do Japamof the word Om (this is understood in the Mantra) . This is how thesage wants us to proceed, but there is a great problem to realize it, asthe human mind is so shaky and restless that without the grace of the Supreme (Brahma) it cannot be controlled. Hence Vishvamitrasuggests the way to pray Him as under.

Dhiyo yo nah prachodayat:

Dhiyo (intellect), yo (who), nah (we all), prachodayat (guide to rightDirection). O God! Deploy our intellect on the right path.

Full scientific interpretation of the Mantra:The earth (bhur), the planets (bhuvah), and the galaxies (swah)are moving at a very great velocity, the sound produced is Om, (the name of formless God.) That God (tat), who manifests Himself in the form of light of suns (savitur) is worthy of bowing / respect(varenyam). We all, therefore, should meditate (dheemahi) upon the light (bhargo) of that deity (devasya) and also do chanting of Om.May He (yo) guide in right direction (prachodayat) our (nah) intellect (dhiyo).

So we notice that the important points hinted in the mantra are:-

1) The total kinetic energy generated by the movement galaxies actsas an umbrella and balances the total energy consumption of the cosmos. Hence it was named as the Pranavah (body of energy). This isequal to 1/2 mv2 (Mass of galaxies x velocity)

2) Realizing the great importance of the syllable OM, the other later date religions adopted this word with a slight change in accent, viz.,amen(in Christianity) and Ameen(in Islam).

3) The God could be realized through the saguna (gross), upasana(method), i.e.,(a) by chanting the name of the supreme as OM and(b) by meditating upon the light emitted by stars (suns).