:

SHANKARABHAASHYA-SAHITA-GAYATRIMANTRAM

THE MEANING OF GAYATRI MANTRA

by ADI SHAMKARA

COMPLETE GAAYATRI MANTRA:

TAT SAVITUR VARENYAM BHARGO DEVASYA DHEEMAHI DHIYO YO NAH PRACHODAYAAT OM BHOOR-BHUVAH SVAHA TAT-SAVITUR-VARENYAM BHARGO DEVASYA DHEEMAHI DHIYO YO NAH PRACHODAYAAT OM BHOOHU OM BHUVAHA OM SVAHA OM MAHAHA OM JANAHA OM TAPAHA OM SATYAM OM TAT SAVITUR VARENYAM BHARGO DEVASYA DHEEMAHI DHIYO YO NAHA PRACHODAYAAT AAPO JYOTI RASOMRTAM BRAHMA BHOOR BHUVAH SVAROM


: : : : : : : :

GAAYATREE PRAANAAYAAMAM

- One should repeat the above mentioned completely thrice at . This is called |
[1 = 48 minutes. is the 2nd last before sunrise. (1 hr 36 min before)]

The above mentioned is the essence of all the Vedas. reveals the existence of the Supreme Self or , in every existing object living or non living, as its very essence. consists of chanting the complete Mantra as given above, loudly, with perfect phonetic intonations. If there is not perfect phonetic expression of sound, the Mantra may not have the required effect. The Mantra is mainly intended for personal usage. Unless one is physically handicapped, the Mantra is to be chanted by the aspirant himself. Listening to the Mantra in a cassette is of no use. The of is to be performed with an effort by the himself. Regular leads one to self knowledge, bestows liberation and Siddhis. - OMKAR is also known as . The chanting of bestows liberation. Those who are spiritually inclined should chant the in an elongated form, combining it with . Others who want to have worldly benefits should chant the in an ordinary way, in a short time. But in the Gaayatri Mantra chanting, since the whole passage is to be repeated three times, the Omkar repetition can be short. MEANING OF THE MANTRA: : That : of the Sun : Supremely Great : The shining one or the lustrous one : of the God or of the shining form : We will meditate : The Discriminating faculty or the Buddhi or The Intelligence. : Who : of us : Inspire or provoke
LET US MEDITATE UPON THE SUPREMELY GREAT LUSTURE OF THAT SUN GOD LET THAT INSPIRE OUR INTELLIGENCE. {SAVITR- Sun in the Advaitic texts does not refer to the glowing incandescent gas in the space which acts as a light-source to our planet. The word Sun in scriptures always suggests the witness state, or the Self

state. As the Star-sun by its very presence makes the earthly dealings go on, the Self by its very presence allows the perceived world to appear. Similarly the term BHOO refers not to the planet Earth but any experience we have as channelized through the mind and senses. BHARGA - Luster or shine does not mean the light or shine as observed to emerge out of light sources or diamonds or gold objects. Awareness shines and the perceived world emerges out. This is the luster of the Self or Brahman. DEVA the word DEVA does not refer to a God or Ishvara. DEVA means that which shines. As the shine of awareness makes the entire world appear in an instant, Brahman or Atman is a Deva, the Supreme Lord who creates the worlds in an instant. DHEE means intellect or the Discriminating faculty as apart from the Mind or MANAS. Mind is just a data-collector of sense perceptions. Intellect or DHEE is the faculty which analyzes all the sense-data collected by the mind and decides what to keep and what to throw away. The memory SMRITI stores the data selected by the Intellect. When Gaayatri Mantra is chanted, it is not to be repeated mechanically like other ordinary chants. It is a mantra which unifies the body, mind and intellect together. The phonetic rules are very important. The breath and sound should be perfect and the chanting method should be learnt at the feet of a knower. The general rules to be followed in the chanting of any Mantra are to rise the sound from the abdominal region; the Mahaa-Praana letters should throw the full air out of the mouth from the abdominal region; the hm-kaara should resonate till it tapers down to silence; even the word Varenyam ends in a prolonged resonance. The mantra should not be gone through as if participating in a race; number of chants does not matter, but each chant should be perfectly gone through with proper intake of breaths and exhalations as guided by the letters of the Mantra. First inhale air fully and fill the whole of lungs and start with the long resonating sound of the Pranava. Bhooh is a Mahaa-praana letter; you should give it one full breathing out process as if cleansing the entire internal region. Bhu low tone but again a short Mahaa Praana letter. vah -again will throw out the air. Om should resonate till the brain almost reaches a silent state. The word PRACHODAYAAT is pronounced with the YAAT as YAA -AAT in an elongated way. Ordinary letters just need to be properly pronounced in low tone. In this manner as you slowly learn to breathe in and out through the mantra, the whole mantra acts as a Praanaayaama exercise. You will notice that each letter is a breath-in and breath-out exercise. At each letter the whole body should vibrate or shake from the inside. It is always better to get instructed through a person well versed in chants. The chanting is not for gathering merits but an easy method invented by Sage Vishvaamitra to realize the Self. As the body is engaged in rendering perfect phonetic intonation, the breathing gets automatically controlled and the mind stops its thought processes; the intellect is absorbed in the meaning of the Mantra and is analyzing the truth of the Self; and suddenly the chanting, meaning, all stop and the experience of the Self dawns. Prolonged practice will help the Sadhak to remain in the Self state for longer period and one will attain the state of Nirvikalpa Samaadhi in course of time. Since Knowledge of the Self accompanies the Samaadhi, it is not equal to the trance state of Hatha Yogis which is a different science altogether. According to Shankara, liberation is attained only through knowledge. The goal of the Gaayatri mantra chanting is not just chanting mechanically or count the number of chants. As the chanting goes on it should end in the silence of the body, mind and intellect. The phonetic power of the mantra creates changes in the brain neurons; the breath control silences the mind; the intellect is absorbed in the meaning of the mantra; the silence of the Self suddenly dawns and one is immersed in the bliss of the Self. So do not get stuck to the external chanting of the Mantra only; but contemplate on the meaning of the Mantra as instructed by Shree Adi Shamkara and attain the Jeevanmukti state. This Mantra is to be chanted not for merit-gain, but for realizing the Self.

It is not important how many times you chant, but how soon you stop chanting and get absorbed in the Self.}

, and , Though the Mantra appears to refer to the Sun, shining above the earth, it is actually intended towards the and teaches us the identity of the , and the . is the Sun, the shining one. He shines as our own self. He is the witness consciousness in us. Self is not a light or ghost but the very thing you call as I. And this I - which everyone knows as himself or herself is - . The SUN, which is , which is your self or your I feeling is the shining one. is the very awareness you have. You are aware of objects outside. So the objects exist. Your body is there because you are aware of it. You are the light by which you see other lights like Sun, Moon etc. You are the awareness light. This awareness is called , This awareness is This awareness is YOU.
ADI SHAMKARA SAYS:

is the essence of Vedas. Vedas proclaim the oneness of , and , So also aims at this oneness only. He who is the Supreme Sun, He who shines as the self of all individuals should be contemplated upon. Let him inspire our thinking to understand this great truth.

EXPLANATION OF THE MANTRA: That is -SUN. That is - the shining one. He is the light by which we see other lights. That is Greatest, because he is well known to everybody as their very self, as their I. That is The lustrous one, because He destroys the ignorance in everybody. We meditate on THAT , who is referred to by the words

, , , . Let THAT give us the power to mediate on Him as our own self. Let THAT inspire our thoughts to comprehend the truth of the oneness of , and , ,: These three words form the essence of Vedas. is the common word in this statement and the is also a common word in both. In the , the word is given a detailed explanation. in refers to , , , . , means the pure existence or the Awareness in you. You are the , because of which all other things like your body, mind etc. exist. , means the oneness of , and , , means THAT IS EXISTENCE. also means:
THAT PARABRAHMAN, THAT LUSTROUS SHINING SUN -EXISTS -AS YOU - THAT THOU ART / - I AM BRAHMAN

Let that supreme self inspire our intellects to meditate upon the truth, I am the supreme self.
OM

MEANING OF : - EXISTENCE : - CONSCIOUSNESS : - BLISS : - GREAT : - CAUSE : - LUSTRE - UNAFFECTED All these words mentioned in the refer to the . - ALL PERVADING OR EXTENDING OR SPREADING OUT - SHINING LIGHT - ESSENCE - NECTAR is everything that exists. is everywhere. pervades everything that exists. is the SELF. is the ATMAN.

is the Essence of everything. is immortal. is eternal. is free from Death.

Let us contemplate like this, when we chant the complete I am the Supreme Para Brahman. I am the witness of the actions of my body, mind and intellect. These are the instruments given to me for experiencing the world. I need no other support for my existence. I am THAT which is referred to in the GAAYATRI MANTRA, as SAVITUR, BHARGA, DEVA and VARENYAM. I am BHOOH, BHUVAH, SVAHA, MAHA, JANAHA, TAPAHA, SATYAM. I am AAPA, I am JYOTI. I am RASA. I am AMRITAM. I am BRAHMAN. I am EVERYTHING. I am SAT-CHID-AANANDA. I am Existence. I am Awareness. I am Bliss. I AM THAT
ADI SHAMKARA SAYS:

is All pervading is Self shining is Different from Everything is the Self is Eternal is Existence, Consciousness, Bliss is denoted by the . The other name of is .
I AM THAT BRAHMAN -I AM THAT BRAHMAN- I AM THAT BRAHMAN

This is the meaning of according to ,

 || I salute the compassionate abode of the Vedas, Smritis and Puranas known as Shankara Bhagavatpada, who bestows auspiciousness to one and all.

OFFERED AT THE LOTUS FEET OF ADI SHANKARA By Tejaswini