Sai message for the day

[Guest guest]

The Gayatri mantra is being chanted over many ages here in this holy

land. But, we hear that women are prohibited from chanting Gayatri

and so are non brahmins. Should we chant that mantra at specific

times and not at any time of our choice and convenience? What is the

importance and significance of Gayatri mantra? We shall indeed be

very fortunate to hear from your divine lips about this subject.

 

Everyone must chant the Gayatri. It transcends the barriers of caste,

community, sex, nationality, time and space. It is the one mantra

that all should repeatedly chant. There are three main things in the

Gayatri mantra. First of all, you should know that Bhur Bhuvah Suvah

in the Gayatri are not separate worlds. You think, " Bhur Bhuvah

Suvah " are three different worlds. It is a mistake to think so. They

are within you. `Gayamulu ' means senses. Since Gayatri deals with

sense control, it is called so. The body has senses of perception and

action. This first aspect of Gayatri is called materialisation or

Gayatri.

 

The body can function if only there is life in it. The pulsatory

activity is due to life. Therefore, the life principle vibrates in

the body, which makes it functional or operational. This second

aspect of Gayatri, which is the life force, is called vibration or

Savitri.

 

The third aspect of Gayatri is the primal sound Omkar, which springs

upwards from the navel. Om is a combination of three sounds, `A', `U'

and `M'. `A' is uttered as it starts from the navel. `U' starts from

the throat. `M' comes out of the lips. `Soham ' is chanted in our

breathing process though we are unaware of it. This is called `Japa

Gayatri'.

 

As we breathe in, we make the sound `so' and as we breathe out the

sound `ham' is made. The `soham' mantra is repeated everyday 21,600

times in our respiratory process. In the mantra, `soham', the second

sound in `so', i.e., `o' and the second sound in `ham', `m' together

constitute `om'. This `soham' is repeatedly chanted in all the three

states; waking, dream and deep sleep. The entire alphabet is formed

out of the mother of letters, the primal sound `OM'.

 

To illustrate this, I give you a small example. In the English

alphabet, we have 26 letters from A to Z. All words and sentences are

spoken and written using these letters only, aren't they? You notice

that the harmonium has reeds. As you press the bellows the air gets

in and as you press the reeds, you get musical notes like sa re ga ma

pa dha ni. By means of these seven sounds only, different tunes or

ragas are composed. Are they not? You know the violin. It has strings

on which you can play any tune. So also,`omkar' is the primal,

primordial sound out of which the rest of the sounds originated.

 

When you close both your ears tight, you will listen to the Pranava,

the `Omkar' within you. You go very close to an electric pole and

listen with your ear touching it. You will hear that primal sound

omkar. This is the sound (internal) in silence (external). This is

the divine sound heard in the depth of silence, (nis's'abdamuloni

s'abdabrahmam, in Telugu). You can hear the footsteps of God only in

silence. This third aspect of Gayatri that pertains to this omkar,

the primordial sound, the speech faculty and the chief source is

known as radiation or Saraswati.

 

Therefore, at the body level it is Gayatri, materialisation. As the

life principle, it is Savitri, vibration, and finally as the chief

source of sound, it is Saraswati, radiation. These are the three

aspects of Gayatri mantra .In other words the atmic power, divine

source, is radiation (Saraswati) that enters the body as vibration or

life principle (Savitri), so that this body made of material becomes

functional which is called materialisation (Gayatri).