The Gayatri Mantra
Oṃ bhūr bhuvaḥ svaḥ
tát savitúr váreṇ(i)yaṃ
bhárgo devásya dhīmahi
dhíyo yó naḥ pracodáyāt
Translation:
AUM manifests everywhere, body, mind and spirit.
We worship that glorious light of illumined wisdom and
we meditate upon the brilliance of that Light of Wisdom living within our soul.
May this light always inspire and illuminate us.
Interpretation:
With this next prayer we explore The Gayatri Mantra. It is thought to be the oldest, continuously recited prayer known to civilization. The Gayatri has its origins in the Rig Veda, the oldest known spiritual teaching and the first of the four primary teachings of Sanatana Dharma, or what is commonly known as Hinduism. Thought to have first been written around 3000 years ago, it may have been chanted for many centuries before that. In this book I'm not going to go into the pronunciation of Sanskrit although it is certainly a worthwhile and rewarding course of study and there are many resources available.
The first word of the mantra is Om or AUM. AUM is the sound of the Universe itself. A - is the absolute essence of all that is, essential Nature. U - is the unlimited manifestation of creation, and M - is the Divine Mother of All Creation. AUM is the Divine essence reverberating and sustaining all that is. Within AUM is the creation, sustaining, and dissolution of life and all that we are. This sound is the song of the Universe and can be heard in our meditations.
The following words, bhūr bhuvaḥ svaḥ, are called the mahavyahriti, or the great words, and refer to consciousness and the three levels of existence. Bhūr is the physical plane or bhu loka. Bhu means earth and includes all that is housed within physical manifestation. Bhuvah is the world of the mind and the thoughts, feelings, and interpretations we use to describe what is occurring in the external world, as well as within our own mind. Svaha is the world of Spirit and where we meet the Divinity that is inherent within us, our True Self.
It is at this level of consciousness that we are no longer aware of the separation created of maya and moha - illusion and confusion, for it is the place where we meet the light within and find that we are One with all of Life. Our consciousness moves from the outer world to the inner, allowing us to find stillness before beginning our period of devotional practice.
Following the mahavyahriti is the actual verse of the Gayatri Mantra. Sanskrit is written in meters, like poetry, and the meter of a gayatri contains 24 syllables. All Hindu deities have their own gayatri mantras but the mantra most well known, and the subject of this discussion of the Gayatri, is a song to Savitri, the Light of Divinity which is reflected in the Sun. In many traditions, including Hinduism, the Sun is understood as the very source and substance of Wisdom. In Vedic Astrology, the Sun - Surya, represents how we present ourselves to the world, and the Sun in the Gayatri is an affirmation of how God manifests for us every day.
Tát savitúr váreṇ (i) yaṃ - we worship that glorious light of illumined wisdom. With this line we are describing that which we are worshiping. To worship is to adore, making a sacrifice of our personal ego while focusing our attention and energy upon our Beloved. Allowing ourselves to approach Divinity in this way we realize that the light isn't something outside of ourselves, but that it is coming from within; that this light is our True Nature and that we are individualized reflections of divine wisdom.
In Hindu thought the Self is often envisioned as a flame shining brightly within the lotus of the heart chakra, one of the seven energy centers within the body. This flame is that part of our being which is a reflection of Savitri, the light we are praying to.
Bhárgo devásya dhīmahi - we meditate upon the brilliance of that Light of Wisdom living within our soul. Just as a drop of Ocean remains purely ocean yet is not the entire ocean, the light within is purely the light of God. We are fully light, a drop of God at play in the world. In this line we are meditating upon our unity with this One Light, knowing that because there is no where that this light is not, so it must live within our own heart as surely as it exists anywhere.
Dhíyo yó naḥ pracodáyāt - may this light always serve to inspire and illuminate us. May we be always guided by the wisdom inherent within that is our birthright and guide. We have only to sit still and meditate upon this light, this Divinity living in our hearts, and we will find our answers to all of the life's questions. In taking this one step towards God and realizing that we are already One with that which we are seeking we discover God taking one hundred steps toward us, filling our minds with hope, faith, and understanding. This discovery inspires us to allow the light within to shine through us, reflecting in our actions, our words, and our aspirations.
AUM manifests everywhere, body, mind and spirit.
We worship that glorious light of illumined wisdom and
we meditate upon the brilliance of that Light of Wisdom living within our soul.
May this light always inspire and illuminate us.