powerful is the Gayatri from the Yajur Veda. To me it appeared as an invocation to the sun and I could not decipher any hidden meaning in it. I turned to my onetime Hindi teacher (I studied Hindi only for two years before I turned to Urdu) for an explanation. Dr Dashrath Ojha, who retired as professor of Hindi and Sanskrit of Delhi University some years ago, was kind enough to illumine my mind. I share his explanation with you. First the Mantra:
Om
Bhur bhuvah swah
tat savitur varenyam
bhargo devasya dhimahi
dhiyo yo nah prachodayat
Literally, the mantra means:
“Let us mediate on God, His glorious attributes, who is the basis of everything in this universe as its creator, who is fit to be worshipped as omnipresent, omnipotent, omniscient and self-existent conscious being, who removes all ignorance and impurities from the mind and purifies and sharpens our intellect. … May God enlighten our intellects.”
Dr Ojha advises that, in order to comprehend the full meaning of the mantra, the reciter must pause at the ends of each line and let the meaning sink in.
After the incantation Aum, is Bhur bhuvah swah, meaning on earth (bhur), in the sky (bhuvah) and in the heavens above the sun (swah). Tat stands for God, savitur God as the creator and the power that sustains creation; varenyam indicates that God is transcendent; bhargo that He is the light that dispels darkness and purifies impurities; devasya – He is the light behind all lights and the bestower of happiness; dhimahi is exhortation to mediate on Him. dhiyo stands for intellect, nah for ours and prachodayat is the prayer that God may direct our energies towards good deeds, thoughts and conduct.
According to Pandit Ojha, the purpose of reciting the Gayatri Mantra is as follows:
“As this mantra invokes as integrated form of endless and beginningless God, all limitations which are normally found in the worship of a personal God or Goddess is totally absent in its goal. As such it helps to clean our mind of its impurities in totality as and when it expands in tune with the meaning of its repetition. Thus, gradually, this mantra helps us to possess an enlightened intellect. This enables us to know more and more about God in meditation and the mysteries of nature through intellect when it is directed towards objects. This also makes us maintain constant awareness of the very basis of our existence. As this mantra directs the imagination of the mind to a limitless state, it strikes the very root of our basic desires and instincts, not necessarily of this present life, but also many past lives.”
21-27/7/1989
Power of Silence
T here is more to silence than keeping one’s mouth shut. You have to shut out external noises as well as the tumult within you to realize what immense power it can generate. Our ancients, from the times of the Jain Tirthankars and Gautama the Buddha down to Mahatma Gandhi and Vinobha Bhave, observed periods of silence. Those who could, retreated to mountains or forests to get away from the clamour of cities; those who could not, shut themselves in their rooms and meditated.
I have yet to learn how to meditate and still the tumult in my mind. But I am fortunate enough to be able to spend long hours (sometimes days) alone with myself. I can vouch for the difference not speaking and not listening to anyone can make. There are days when I have to attend conferences, cocktail parties, receptions and make a lot of small talk. By the evening I feel done in. The days I spend in my study, reading and writing with the telephone off the hook, I do not feel tired. By the evening I am rejuvenated.
Our culture has become highly verbalized. To understand’ has come to mean ‘to be able to communicate’. It is impossible to communicate without opening your mouth. When a philosopher once asked the Buddha, “Without words, without the wordless, will you tell me the truth?”
The Buddha replied by keeping silent.
The word silence is derived from the
Om
Bhur bhuvah swah
tat savitur varenyam
bhargo devasya dhimahi
dhiyo yo nah prachodayat
Literally, the mantra means:
“Let us mediate on God, His glorious attributes, who is the basis of everything in this universe as its creator, who is fit to be worshipped as omnipresent, omnipotent, omniscient and self-existent conscious being, who removes all ignorance and impurities from the mind and purifies and sharpens our intellect. … May God enlighten our intellects.”
Dr Ojha advises that, in order to comprehend the full meaning of the mantra, the reciter must pause at the ends of each line and let the meaning sink in.
After the incantation Aum, is Bhur bhuvah swah, meaning on earth (bhur), in the sky (bhuvah) and in the heavens above the sun (swah). Tat stands for God, savitur God as the creator and the power that sustains creation; varenyam indicates that God is transcendent; bhargo that He is the light that dispels darkness and purifies impurities; devasya – He is the light behind all lights and the bestower of happiness; dhimahi is exhortation to mediate on Him. dhiyo stands for intellect, nah for ours and prachodayat is the prayer that God may direct our energies towards good deeds, thoughts and conduct.
According to Pandit Ojha, the purpose of reciting the Gayatri Mantra is as follows:
“As this mantra invokes as integrated form of endless and beginningless God, all limitations which are normally found in the worship of a personal God or Goddess is totally absent in its goal. As such it helps to clean our mind of its impurities in totality as and when it expands in tune with the meaning of its repetition. Thus, gradually, this mantra helps us to possess an enlightened intellect. This enables us to know more and more about God in meditation and the mysteries of nature through intellect when it is directed towards objects. This also makes us maintain constant awareness of the very basis of our existence. As this mantra directs the imagination of the mind to a limitless state, it strikes the very root of our basic desires and instincts, not necessarily of this present life, but also many past lives.”
21-27/7/1989
Power of Silence
T here is more to silence than keeping one’s mouth shut. You have to shut out external noises as well as the tumult within you to realize what immense power it can generate. Our ancients, from the times of the Jain Tirthankars and Gautama the Buddha down to Mahatma Gandhi and Vinobha Bhave, observed periods of silence. Those who could, retreated to mountains or forests to get away from the clamour of cities; those who could not, shut themselves in their rooms and meditated.
I have yet to learn how to meditate and still the tumult in my mind. But I am fortunate enough to be able to spend long hours (sometimes days) alone with myself. I can vouch for the difference not speaking and not listening to anyone can make. There are days when I have to attend conferences, cocktail parties, receptions and make a lot of small talk. By the evening I feel done in. The days I spend in my study, reading and writing with the telephone off the hook, I do not feel tired. By the evening I am rejuvenated.
Our culture has become highly verbalized. To understand’ has come to mean ‘to be able to communicate’. It is impossible to communicate without opening your mouth. When a philosopher once asked the Buddha, “Without words, without the wordless, will you tell me the truth?”
The Buddha replied by keeping silent.
The word silence is derived from the
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