Aum Bhur Bhuvah Swah Tat Savitur Varenyam
Bhargo Devasya Dhimahi Dhiyo Yo Nah Prachodayat
SUMMARY OF THE MANTRA
Oh God! Thou art the Giver of Life, Remover of pain and sorrow, The Bestower of happiness, Oh! Creator of the Universe, May we receive thy supreme sin-destroying light, May Thou guide our intellect in the right direction.
Word for Word Meaning of the Mantra
Aum = Brahma; bhoor = embodiment of vital spiritual energy (pran); bhuwah = destroyer of sufferings; swaha = embodiment of happiness; tat = that; savitur = bright like sun; varenyam = best choicest; bhargo = destroyer of sins; devasya = divine; dheemahi = may imbibe; dhiyo = intellect; yo = who; Naha = our; prachodayat = may inspire;
CHANTING OF GAYATRI MANTRA
When an individual is first born from the mother's womb, this is the natural type of birth. This is the natural state. This is the first birth as such. After you have been given the Gayatri Mantra, the dawn of a second birth emerges in your life. What is this Gayatri Mantra? It is the very quintessence of the Vedas. Verily it is the mother of the Vedas. The meaning of the syllable "Ga" is Jiva. Gayatri is that which protects and fosters all life forms. You must realise therefore that on being given this Gayatri Manthra, you have been given a second birth.
TIME FOR CHANTING
It has been laid down that this Gayatri Mantra has to be chanted three times every day: during the sandhyas of early morning, afternoon and evening. Sandhya means the conjunction of two stages of time. Pratah Sandhya is the time when transition from the night to the day takes place. Likewise evening sandhya is the time when the day slides into the night. Madhyanna Sandhya is the time when the morning and afternoon are connected.
Man is the embodiment of three Gunas. These three attributes are not confined to man as such; even time has these attributes. Time also has Sathwa, Raja and Tamo Gunas. What do we mean by time having Satwa guna? All these three attributes have 24 hours to go by in a day. Each of these three Gunas takes up 8 hours by itself i.e. , Satwa has 8 hours, Rajasik has 8 hours and Tamsik has 8 hours. What are these 8 hours of Satwik time? When you designate the period from 4 a m to 8 a m the intervening 4 hours are Satwik. In like manner, the time between 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. is also Satwik. These two stretches of 4 hours apiece are Satwik hours. The time from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.is Rajasik. It is during this time that all life forms keep doing whatever has to be done by them. Not only men, but also animals and the like do what is expected of them during these 8 hours. The factory worker, the farmer, the agriculturist and anybody that one can think of has to work during these 8 hours of Rajasik time. So we find that every individual has an experience of this Rajasik time
Then we have the time from 8 p.m. to 4 a.m. during the night. This is the Tamsik time. That it is indeed Tamsik we know from our experience. The chief quality that is associated with this time is sleep. Sleep is being equated to Tamsik in this analysis.
It is during the Satwik time viz., from 4 a m .to 8 a m and from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. that we should undertake our sacred and noble duties. This will sanctify our life. We should understand and appreciate how time has been divided for various activities and only then can we realise the true nature of our existence. This Gayatri Mantra has to be taken up for chanting at any time during the period of from 4 a.m. to 8 a.m., and then at any time between 4 p.m. and 8 p.m.
lt is absolutely necessary that you chant this Gayatri Mantra either in the early hours of the morning or in the evening hours. During the mid-day also it can be taken up for chanting, but for certain purposes. When you look upon it as a Sadhana, it is the morning and evening hours, which are sacred for chanting.
You should chant this Mantra at least three times in the morning hours and three times in the evening time. When you do this, you can certainly free yourselves from the fruits of your Karma. It is said that a day's chanting takes care of all the ill effects of the day's Karma.
End Result
Before the Sun rises, everything is enveloped in darkness. Even as the rays of the Sun dispel this darkness, so also the chanting of this Gayatri dispels all darkness and ignorance. The rays of this Sun dispel the area of darkness. Darkness has no place where the rays of the sun reach out. So also once your intellect blossoms forth by virtue of your having been given this Mantra, your intellectual rays will dispel the ignorance, which has been persisting in you, will drive away all darkness and endow you with intelligence.
