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Gayatri Mantra

The Gayatri Mantra is written as follows in Devanagari

! B:ÜB:Øüv:H sv:H t:ts:ev:t:Øv:ürðNy:ö B:g::ðü dðv:sy: D:im:eh eD:y::ð y::ð n:H )c::ðdy:at:Î .
OM bhuurbhuvaH svaH tatsaviturvareNyaM bhargo devasya dhiimahi dhiyo yo naH prachodayaat.h |

Pronunciation - Devanagri

Pronunciation – Roman Transliteration

Meaning of each letter in the mantra

Aum Brahman, Almighty God

bhuuH embodiment of vital spiritual energy (pran)
bhuvaH destroyer of sufferings
swaH embodiment of happiness
tat.h that
savituH bright, luminous like sun
vareNyaM best, choicest
bhargo destroyer of sins
devasya divine
dhiimahi may imbibe
dhiyo intellect
yo who
naH our
prachodayaata may inspire

English translation by Swami Sivananda

We meditate on the glory of the Creator;

Who has created the Universe;
Who is worthy of Worship;
Who is the embodiment of Knowledge and Light;
Who is the remover of all Sin and Ignorance;
May He enlighten our Intellect.

English translation by Maharishi Dayanand Saraswati

'O God, You are the giver of life, the Remover of pain & sorrow, the Bestower of happiness; O Creator
of the Universe, may we receive Your supreme sin-destroying light; may You guide our intellect in the
right direction.'

Meaning

The following meaning of the Gayatri Mantra is obtained from the book "The Great Science and
Philosophy of Gayatri" by Shree Ram Sharma Acharaya, Shanti Kunj Hardwaar.

Rishis have selected the words of various Mantras and arranged them in such a way that they, not only
convey some meaning but their utterance also creates specific power. Gayatri is a Mantra which
inspires righteous wisdom.

Its meaning is that the Almighty God may illuminate our intellect which may lead us to righteous path.
This is most important teaching. All the problems of a person are solved if he/she is endowed with the
gift of righteous wisdom.

Having endowed with far-sighted wisdom, a man is neither entangled in calamity nor does he tread a
wrong path. A wise man finds solution of all outstanding problems. Only those persons find difficulty
who do not know thinking correctly and take wrong steps on account of foolishness. The worship of
Gayatri Mantra removes this deficiency. The teachings of and the powers incorporated in Gayatri
Mantra fulfill this purpose. Righteous wisdom starts emerging no sooner Jaap (recitation) of this
Mantra is performed.

Commentary

The Gayatri Mantra is one of the oldest of the divine hymns from the Rig Veda. Gayatri Mantra is the
essence of all seventy million supreme mantras. Just as all the rivers merge in the oceans, all mantras
unite in the Gayatri mantra. The arrangement of the twenty-four seed syllables in the Gayatri Mantra is
the most wondrous and mysterious. The chanting of this mantra develops nada, a regular subtle
vibration in the nerves of the subtle body. The repetition of this mantra with right understanding of its
sacred meaning has the power to dispel all the negative tendencies in the human mind and thereby
unfold the Supreme Self within. The Gayatri Mantra is chanted early in the morning after bath.