Meaning of Gayatri Mantra #2

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Dear friends,

 

--------------- Second Face: BhUr Bhuva Svah:

 

Literally, Bhur means earth, Bhuva means sky or or the

atmospheric plane and Svah means heavans or the celestial plane.

They are known as the three vyAhRtis.

 

"The world that you see is 'Bhu' and the power that causes the

movement is 'Bhuvah' or Praanasakthi (Life Force) which can be

termed as 'Vibration'. It is the force of vibration that activates all the

limbs of the body. When air is pumped into a tire we see this force in

play which causes the tire to bloat. The Life Force or 'Praana' is Bhuvah

.. Because of the 'Prajnana' , which is inside, the Life Force is able to

cause the vibration and activate the limbs. The source of 'Prajna' is

Suvaha , or Radiation. When you analyze in this manner, it will be seen

that "Bhur-Bhuvas-Suvah " represent the forces of Radiation, Vibration and

materialization. THE THREE POTENCIES It is the existence of these

potencies in man that makes human birth very precious." (SSB, 6-May-1995)

 

"We think that Bhuloka is the world that we live in, Bhuvarloka is

swarga and Suvarloka is beyond that. This is not correct. All the

three worlds are in our heart only. The outside world we see is the

material world formed of inert matter."

(ibid.)

 

"The word ' Bhur ' refers to the body. Body is composed of gross

materials such as water, lime, lead, iron, etc. All these materials

may not cost more than one rupee. But, the value of the body is

not one rupee. Its value is immeasurable. ' Bhur ' also stands for

the earth. The earth is made up of matter, which is transient. The

word ' Bhuvah ' in the Mantra stands for vibration. The body is made up of

gross matter, which cannot have any movement without the life force of

vibration. In the absence of this vibration, the body is mere lifeless

matter. What is the source of this vibration? This vibration originates

from radiation ( Suvaha ) which is related with spiritual knowledge. "

(SSB, 28-Apr-1999)

 

"Suvaha refer to Prajnana Shakti , which sustains the life force.

This Prajnana Shakti is known as the Constant Integrated

Awareness. This is also termed as radiation."

(SSB, 10-Feb-2000)

 

(Comments:

Representatively, bhUh as body, bhuva as Life Force, svah as

radiation (from AtmA, the Spirit) may as well correspond to the five

sheaths or panchakoshas, where bhUh refers to Annamaya kosha (sheath made

of food i.e. body), while bhuva may refer to pranamaya kosha (sheath of

Life Force). What Svah refers to, if made this comparison is not fully

clear but logically subtler than the earlier two.)

 

"Loka" literally means world or realm.

 

"... the three vyAhRtis - bhUh, Bhuvah, Svah ... stand for, all the

fourteen Lokas ... BhUh for BhUh and the seven nether Talas,

Bhuvah for itself and Svah for Svah and the remaining upper regions

up to Satya.

 

The Lokas represent states of consciousness. BhUrloka or earth is

the state of normal experience. The Lokas above it are states of

supernormal experience and the Talas below are conditions of sub-

normal experience. Objectively considered matter becomes more

and more dense as one descends from the highest to the lowest

Loka and thence to the Talas; and the veil of matter is more or less

dense, so the state of consciousness varies. The first five Lokas from and

including Earth, are those of the five forms of sensible matter, the sixth

is that of the Mind; and the seventh is the causal state of both Mind and

Matter. Earth and the nether states are the gross body, the Lokas from

Bhuvah to Tapas are the subtle body and Satya is the causal body of the

great Purusha referred to in the Gayatri and worshipped in the Sun-circle

(aaditya mandala). The vyAhRtis indicate that the Great Self which is

indicated in Om pervades all the regions of the universe." (JW, pp.

277-278)

 

"In our normal condition of consciousness, the other world is

completely objective and stable and independant of it. It lies "over

there" in the outer space entirely external to us, having apparently its

existence in itself and of itself. This state of consciousness is

indicated by the first vyAhRti 'BhUh'. This is our normal state. Our mind

is here. It is one thing - aham or I. The object, the Idam or "This", the

Vimarsha shakti is there. It is another." (ibid.)

 

(Comments:

The last excerpt can be summarized as (material) duality.

 

The seven upper realms from BhUh to Satya are BhUh, Bhuvah,

Svah, Mahah, Janah, Tapah and Satyam where these also

represent the seven chakras. The discussion of these are beyond

the scope of this article.)

 

--------------- To be continued...

 

The above were excerpted from the discourses of Sri Sathya Sai

Baba (SSB) and from Sir John Woodroffe's book, "The Garland of

Letters" (3rd Edition 1955) (JW). Anything that is not referenced

are comments.

 

 

 

--

Warmest regards,

Ruben

rubenn

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