On the Gayathri Mantra (Full Text)

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GAyatrI means 'She who protects the singer.' The Mother of the VedAs

means TripAda GAyatrI. SrI GAyatrI being a mantra well known to most

Hindus, it will be dealt with in a detailed manner. It is known as

Dvijatya SAdhanIvidya; i.e., it enables a disciple to be reborn to

spiritual life.

 

It contains 24 letters, each letter representing Agni, VAyu, Varuna,

etc. These letters also represent the 24 TattvAs or entities, such

as the five bhUtas from BhUmi to AkAsa; the five senses, such as

sight, hearing, smell, touch, etc.; the five motor actions, such as

speech, etc.; the five objects of the sensory organs; and the final

four categories of mind, ego, mahat and the Ultimate. These are as

common to the macrocosm as to the microcosm, the jIva.

 

It is said in ViswAnitra Kalpa that to know the Ultimate, there are

14 branches of knowledge -- vidyAs or disciplines – and of these the

most essential is the Veda. Even in the VedAs, SrI GAyatri is the

quintessence.

 

She has two forms: The first one is proclaimed by the first three

VedAs, and is known to all DvijAs. The other one is very secret and

is to be found in four vedas. This one is defined by SrI BhAskaraIya

as SrIvidyA.

 

Thus is will be seen that GAyatrI Mantra has two forms. One is

Tripada GAyatrI of 24 letters. Every disciple is initiated into this

mantra at the time of the Upanayana ceremony. Its objectives are the

four PurusAthAs, viz. Dharma, Artha, KAma and Moksa.

 

The second form – which is the more esoteric and subtle of the two –

is to be initiated and practiced as the disciple becomes more

advanced and competent in her/his discipline. This second form is

the Mantra Tripada GAyatrI with the addition at the end of "paro

rajasi sAvadam." This is called the CaturthapAda or TuryapAda of SrI

GAyatrI Mantra.

 

The presiding deity of SrI Lalita SahasranAmam is the goal of

sAdhana with Sri GAyatrI Mantra – specifically with TuryapAda or any

one of the MahAmantras such as PancadasI, SrI Sodasi and SrI

BAlAatripura Sundari. The full meaning of this GAyatrI Mantra is

given here:

 

"Let us meditate upon (or, become One with) that great effulgence

who has no attributes of any kind except of reality, consciousness

and bliss (Sat-chit-ananda), who is radiating from the heart of the

Sun, and is that power that goads our minds, which are conditioned

by various limitations; who is extolled by the Vedas and other

sacred texts as being competent to free us from sins and

limitations; and who is the cause of the Trinity, birth,

preservation and destruction of the Universe, and who is our

blissful refuge. Let She, the Mother who is beyond all attributes,

save us."

 

One will comprehend the loftiness of the concept contemplated by the

GAyatrI Mantra if only s/he looks into the meaning of the SlokAs of

GAyatrI AvAhana in SandhyAvandana. An English rendering of the same

is:

 

"The single letter OM represents the Ultimate Reality. Power is its

presiding deity. Brahman, the Ultimate Reality itself, is the seer

of this Mantra. Its meter (Chandas) is GAyatrI. It is the

personification of the Ultimate Itself. Its sadhana is only for the

union of the individual self with the Ultimate. Let SrI GAyatrI, the

Mother of the Vedas established by the Vedas, indestructible, the

giver of blessings, let Her come and reveal to me the Ultimate.

Whatever unrighteous deeds are done during the day, they shall be

destroyed during that same day. Whatever unrighteous deeds are done

during the night, they shall be destroyed during that same night.

 

"O, Great Power! You are the embodiment of all letters in the

alphabet, the deity that represents the conjunctions of day and

night (upon which the Sadhak meditates) – Sandhya. You are the power

of knowledge, You are the enemy of all that is evil, You are the

strength and light of the Universe and its infinite existence, and

You are the abode of all Gods. I invoke GAyatrI, Savita, Saraswati,

Laxmi and the Rishis. Of GAyatrI Mantra, VishvAmitra is the Rishi.

GAyatrI os the meter or Chandas. SAvitri, the power inherent in the

Sun, is the deity. Agni is Her face. Vishnu the Preserver is Her

heart. Rubra the Destroyer is Her coiffure. Prithvi the Earth is Her

medium of Creation. She is alive with the five vital breaths (viz.,

prAnA, apAn, vyAna, udAna and samAna. She is white in color, of 24

letters (i.e., the eternal Tattwasa), has three feet (viz. the three

Vedas), and six faces (i.e. in the six cardinal sides). Her purpose

is to take us to the Ultimate."

 

For a more detailed discussion on the significance of GAyatrI and

other mantras, the reader is referred to KAmakaAvilAsa.

 

(From Dr. C. Suryanarayana Murthy, Commentary on Sri Lalita

Sahasranama, 1962.)