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'Gayatri' (, ) is the feminine form of ''gāyatra'', a Sanskrit word for a song or a hymn. It may refer to:

★ In Hinduism, it is one mantra in particular, attributed to Vishwamitra, and a goddess as its personification, a representation of the Parabrahman

★ The name of a Vedic poetic meter of 24 syllables (three lines of eight syllables each)

★ Any hymn composed in this meter

Contents

Gayatri Devi the Goddess

Mantra

Text

Translation

See also

Further reading

External links

Gayatri Devi the Goddess

Originally the personification of the mantra, the goddess Gāyatrī is considered the ''veda mata'', the mother of all Vedas and the consort of the God Brahma and also the personification of the all-pervading Parabrahman, the ultimate unchanging reality that lies behind all phenomena. Gayatri Veda Mata is seen by many Hindus to be not just a Goddess, but a portrayal of Brahman himself, in the feminine form. Essentially, the Goddess is seen to combine all the phenomenal attributes of Brahman, including Past, Present and Future as well as the three realms of existence. Goddess Gāyatrī is also worshipped as the Hindu Trimurti combined as one. In Hindu mythology, there is only one creation who can withstand the brilliance of Aditya and that is Gāyatrī. Some also consider her to be the mother of all Gods and the culmination of Lakshmi, Parvati and Sarasvati.
Gāyatrī is typically portrayed as seated on a red lotus, signifying wealth. She appears in either of these forms:

★ Having five heads with the ten eyes looking in the eight directions plus the earth and sky, and ten arms holding all the weapons of Vishnu, symbolizing all her reincarnations.

★ Accompanied by a white swan, holding a book to portray knowledge in one hand and a cure in the other, as the goddess of Education.

Mantra

The Gayatri Mantra is a highly revered mantra in Hinduism, second only to the mantra Om. It consists of the prefix '':'' , 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 the other three Vedas contain much material rearranged from the ''Rig Veda'', the Gayatri mantra is found in all the four Vedas. The deva invoked in this mantra is Savitr, and hence the mantra is also called 'Sāvitrī'.
By many Hindus, the Gayatri is seen as a Divine awakening of the mind and soul, and within it a way 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.

Text

See Sanskrit for details of pronunciation.

★ In Devanagari:
:ॐ भूर्भुव: स्वः ।
:तत् सवितुर्वरेण्यं ।
:भर्गो देवस्य धीमहि ।
:धियो यो नः प्रचोदयात् ॥

★ In IAST
:
:(a)
:(b)
:(c)

Translation

★ Ralph T.H. Griffith (1896):
:(a, b) "May we attain that excellent glory of Savitr the God:"
:(c) "So may he stimulate our prayers."
Word-by-word explanation:-

★ ''om'' The sacred sound, see Om.

★ ''bhū'' 'earth'

★ ''bhuvas'' 'atmosphere'

★ ''svar'' 'light, heaven, space'

★ ''tat'' 'that'

★ ''savitúr'' ''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.)

★ '' 'our prayers' (accusative plural of ''dhi-'' 'thought, meditation, devotion, prayer' and ''naḥ'' enclitic personal pronoun)

★ ''yá prachodáyāt'' '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:

★ 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."

★ 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."

★ A very easy and simple meaning of Gayatri by Sh. 108 Swami Parmanand Ji Maharaj

See also

★ Upanayanam

★ Saraswati

Further reading

★ Acharya, Pt. Shriram Sharma, ''Gayatri Sadhana: The Truth and Distortions'', pdf file, 2000

★ Acharya, Pt. Shriram Sharma, ''The Super Science of Gayatri'', pdf file, 2000

★ "Gayatri Sahasranam", Swami Satyananda Saraswati, Devi Mandir (ISBN 1-877795-57-7)

External links

★ RV 3.62.10 (flaez.ch)

★ A very complete article on the Gayatri Mantra, with notes regarding Sanskrit pronunciation

★ Meaning and explanation of the mantra and related audio files

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