Gayatri: Encyclopedia - Gayatri

Gayatri

Gayatri (gāyatrī) is the feminine form of gāyatra, a Sanskrit word for a song or a hymn. It can be:-

• The name of a Vedic poetic meter of 24 syllables (three lines of eight syllables each), see Vedic meter.
• Any hymn composed in this meter.
• In Hinduism, it is one mantra in particular, and a goddess as its personification. It was written and developed by one of the greatest brahmarishi sages, Vishwamitra.

Gayatri - Mantra

The Gayatri Mantra is the most revered mantra in Hinduism. It consists of the prefix :oṃ bhūr bhuvaḥ svaḥ ॐ भूर्भुवस्वः, a formula taken from the Yajurveda, and the verse 3.62.10 of the Rig Veda (which is an example of the Gayatri meter). 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 or the deity invoked in this mantra is Savitŗ, and hence the mantra is also called as Sāvitrī.

Widely acclaimed in India and by Hindus, the Gāyatrī Mantra's supreme status is further enhanced by Lord Krishna's proclamation in his spiritual discourse, the Bhagavad Gita, that among the mantras he is the Gāyatrī. The Gayitri Mantra is proclaimed in the Gita as a Universal Prayer, irrespective of a person's caste, creed or sex. It is a prayer meant to protect every individual and when uttered with immense devotion and concentration will protect the person. However proper pronounciation is a must and the person is expected to be a strict vegetarian^{[citation needed]}.

Gayatri - Text

See Sanskrit for details of pronunciation.

• In Devanagari:

• In IAST

Gayatri - Translation

Griffith (1896):

Word-by-word explanation (words not in exact order):-

• om The sacred sound, see Om.
• bhū 'earth'
• bhuvas 'atmosphere'
• svar 'light, heaven, space'
• dhīmahi 'may we attain' (1st person plural middle optative of dhā- 'set, bring, fix' etc.)
• tát várenyam bhárgas 'that excellent glory' (accusatives of tad (pronoun), varenya- 'desirable, excellent' and bhargas- 'radiance, lustre, splendour, glory')
• savitúr devásya 'of Savitr the god' (genitives of savitr-, 'stimulator, rouser; name of a sun-deity' and deva- 'god' or 'demi-god')
• yáḥ pracodáyāt 'who may stimulate' (nominative singular of relative pronoun yad-; causative 3rd person of pra-cud- 'set in motion, drive on, urge, impel')
• dhíyaḥ naḥ 'our prayers' (accusative plural of dhi- 'thought, meditation, devotion, prayer' and naḥ enclitic personal pronoun)

Other translations:

• Times Music^{[citation needed]}

• ^{[citation needed]}

Gayatri - Goddess

Originally the personification of the mantra, the goddess Gayatri 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 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 swan, holding a book in one hand and a cure in the other, as the goddess of Education.

Gayatri - External link

• RV 3.62.10 (flaez.ch)
• Gayatri Mantras for JAPA

Gayatri - Organizations

• All World Gayatri Pariwar

See also

Categories: Articles lacking sources | Hindu goddesses | Mantras | Poetic form

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Gayatri", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki