Gayatri Mantra

I believe I have been practical in most situations. It’s always that we need to understand whatever we do. If we don’t understand there’s no point in doing it. I always hated Sanskrit co it was hard to learn it. So was never attracted to any verses or sloks. My upanayanam ceremony was held when I was like 7 yrs old guess. That’s when I learnt the Gayatri Mantra. My first Sanskrit verses. I remember every line of it (it’s just 4 lines, not a tough job though), but until yesterday I never pondered upon the fact of what those lines actually meant. Even after finishing the blog I wonder will I understand those lines or not.

The lines go like this:
Om bhur bhuvah swah,
Tat savitur varenyam,
Bhargo devasya dheemahi,
Dhiyo yo nah prachodayat.

It is highly revered mantra from the Rig Veda and is attributed to Rishi Vishvamitra. The verses invoke Savitr or Savitri, The Sun God. It is often recited at sunrise or sunset. Learning this mantra is an important part of the upanayanam ceremony, which actually marks the beginning of study of Vedas. But fortunately or unfortunately Gayatri mantra was the first and last verses I learnt.

The meanings of the above lines in English are as follows (Courtesy: The Speaking Tree)

O God!! You are Omnipresent, Omnipotent and Almighty. You are all light. You are all knowledge and bliss. You are the destroyer of fear; You are the creator of this universe; You are the greatest of all. We bow and meditate upon your light. You guide our intellect in the right direction.

Simple, the meaning is so simple. It says the God; here it’s the Sun God as omnipresent, omnipotent and almighty. Meaning the god is everywhere around us, is universal, the supreme power. It means god is not in the photos or stone that we usually pray. Next few lines give god the credit for all that happens in the universe. He is seen as the start and end of every minute thing that happens in this material world. ‘We’ refer to all people who bow as a respect to the mighty god and meditate upon his thoughts. We pray to him to guide and enlighten our mind, brains and emotions in the correct path.
Om bhur bhuvah swah :
Bhur is earth , bhuvah are planets , swah the galaxy , Om is the sound produced by the fast moving planets , and galaxies. Actually Rishi Vishvamitra heard the sound Om while he was meditating. And so the word Om was coined .
Tat savitur varenyam:
Tat meaning God, Savitur meaning Sun, varenyam means worthy of bowing or respect. Here the sun god is praised and people bow and pray to him.

Bhargo devasya dheemahi:
Bhargo means the light, devasya meaning deity and dheemahi means to meditate.here the Rishi asks us to meditate upon the light bestowed by the Sun God.

Dhiyo yo nah prachodayat:

Dhiyo means intellect , yo means who , nah means we all, prachodayat means guide in the right direction. Here we ask the almighty to guide our intellect in the right direction