Gayatri
The mantra Gayatri or Gáiatri is one of the most revered prayers in Hinduism and also the personification of the Deví (goddess) Gaiatri.
Brahmin priests mentally recite this mantra just before sunrise and at sunset.
Sanskrit name
- gāyatrīin the AITS system (international alphabet for the transliteration of the Sanskrit).
- ANTE LINKERS, in devanagari writing of the Sanskrit.
- Pronunciation:
- /gaiatrí/ in Sanskrit or
- /gáiatri/ in several modern languages of India (such as Bengali, Hindí, Maratí or Palí).
- Etymology: ‘cantada’, based on the Sanskrit word gaia (sing)
Description
Gáiatri is the feminine form of the Sanskrit word gaiatra, which is a hymn or chant. Gáiatri is the name of a type of Vedic poetic meter of 24 syllables (3 groups of 8 syllables each), or any hymn composed with that meter. In Hinduism, the gáiatri is a particular mantra, and it is also its personification in the form of the goddess Gáiatri. It was written and developed by a mythical brahmarshi sage, Viswamitra.
The verses of the Gáiatri mantra are a worship of Savitrí (the god of the Sun, 'stimulator, vivifier') as a generator, for this reason this prayer is also personified as Sāvitrí (daughter of Savitrí) and wife of the creator god Brahmá; she is known as veda matá , the mother of the Vedas .
In her iconography, the goddess is often seated on a red lotus flower (signifying wealth), with five heads and ten eyes (looking squint downwards, upwards, and in all eight directions) and ten arms supporting all Vishnu's weapons (mace, disk, etc.). She represents incarnations of goddesses like Párvati, Sarasuati, etc. Sometimes, as a goddess of education, she has only two arms, with which she holds a book and a lota (metal container). In those cases she is accompanied by a swan.
The Mantra
It is preceded by the prefix om bhur bhuvah svah [ॐ भूर्भुवस्वः], a magical formula taken from verse 10.14.16 of the Rig-veda (the oldest text of Indian literature, from the middle of the 2nd millennium BC), which is an example of the mantra gáiatri.
- In devanagari (the alphabet in which the Sanskrit is written):
- ू ू ू ू ू
- ्の ्。 ्。 ्。 ्。 ्。 ्。
- の 。 द。 。 द。 द 。 。 ध 。 。 ध 。
- ध ध न אन न ה् ् ध ध ध
- In AITS (international alphabet of Sanskrit transliteration):
- o b bhūr bhuvaḥ svaḥ
- tat savitur varenayaṃ
- bhargo devasya dhīmahi
- dhiyo yo naḥ pracodayāt
- In Spanish transliteration:
- om
- bur buváj suáj
- tat savitúr váreniam
- bargo devásia dimaji
- diio naj prachodáiat
- Translation word by word:
- Om: magic word formed by three letters: a, u and mwith various esoteric interpretations. It is an invocation to God;
- Bhū: ‘Earth’,
- bhuva: ‘sky’ (atmosphere)
- swá: ‘Cielo (paraiso)’. Some authors think this term Sanskrit ♪ comes from the same indo-European word where Latin comes from Sun.
- Spanish translation:
- Earth, Heaven and Paradise
- That lovely sun god,
- in his light of god begotten;
- meditating on it, we are excited.
Another translation reads like this:
- On Earth, Space and Heavenly Planets
- That adorable intelligence giver
- in the divine Brahman emanation of His begotten body
- meditating on it, we are excited.
According to the English linguist Griffith (1896):
- May we attain the excellent glory of the god Savitar
- so he can stimulate our prayers.
An English translation:
- Oh, splendid and vivacious Sun, we offer you this prayer.
- Light this longing mind, be our protector,
- that the irradiation of the divine rector guides our destiny,
- the wise salute your magnificence with oblations and words of praise.
A more tendentious translation:
- Oh, Krisná! You are the giver of life, destroyer of pain and sadness,
- gift of happiness and facilitator of paradise.
- Oh Krisnah, creator of the universe, that we may receive your supreme destructive light of sin and
- that you can guide us and our intellect in the right direction.
Other gáiatris
The Krishnaist group Gaudia Vaisnava (Bengali Vishnuism) is a monotheistic faith within Hinduism. (The Hare Krishna are an offshoot of that creed.)
Gauda (pronounced /gouda/) is a medieval name for Bengal (province of India). Literally it means 'sugar', since at the time when that name was coined Bengal was considered "the country of sugar cane" (now it should be called "the country of rice"). The Sanskrit word vaisnava means 'related to Vishnu', and in this particular case 'vishnuite, worshiper of Vishnu'.
Vaisnavas of Bengal pray not only at dawn and dusk but also at noon. The mantra gáiatri that they recite has ―in addition to the gáiatri of the sun (shown above)― several lines added, dedicated to:
1) the effulgence of the sun understood as the Brahman light emitted by the body of the god Krishna,
2) the guru or spiritual teacher,
3) Lord Chaitania (incarnation of Krishna in the 15th century) and
4) Krishna himself:
Gaiatri of the guru
- Aim gurave namaj.
- Aim gurudevaia vidmaje,
- krisná-anandaia djīmaji,
- so not guroj prachodáiāt.
- Om, to the guru (‘spiritual master’) reverence.
- Om, the guru I know,
- in which for Krisná he feels meticulous happiness,
- That our guru is excited.
Gaiatri of Chaitania
The next line is dedicated to Gaura (the 'Golden': Krisná Chaitania Majaprabhú (Navadwip, Bengal, 1486-1534), considered a golden-skinned incarnation of Krisná. In Sanskrit krisná-chaitania means 'Krishná consciousness' (constant meditation on Krisná).
- Klim
- gauraia namaj.
- Klim chaitaniaia vidmaje,
- viswambharaia djīmaji,
- so no gauraj prachodáiāt.
- Om,
- to the Golden Reverence.
- Om, I know Chaitania,
- in Vishuám-bhara (‘sustainment of the universe’, Chaitania)
- That our Golden One is thrilling.
Gáiatri of Krishna
The next line is dedicated to Krisná (Vrindāvan shepherd turned king). Krisná means 'dark blue', Góvinda (go: 'cow', vinda: 'caretaker'), means 'shepherd' and Gopi-yana-válabha ( gópī: 'cowgirl', jana: 'people, group', vállabha: 'lover') means 'lover of all cowgirls'.
- Klim
- krishnāia, govindāia, gopi-yana-valabhaia suajá.
- Om,
- a Krisná Góvinda, the lover of the cowgirls, I offer Oblates.
Gaiatri of Kamadeva
The following line of the Gáiatri is of rather pagan origin and does not coincide with Hindu orthodoxy, or comes from a past prior to the Vedic era. The current interpretation of this Gáiatri line is probably due to the Six Goswamis of Vrindavan (disciples of Chaitania, in the 16th century), who made the prayer address (stretching its meaning a bit) to Krisna. But actually this last stanza clearly refers to Kamadeva, the god of love (kama: 'sexual desire', deva: 'god'). The Kama-sutra is a text that talks about the god Kama. He is personified as a pre-pubescent boy who shoots pairs of flower arrows that make living beings fall in love, which is why he is called Pushpa Bana ( pushpa : 'flowers', bana : 'arrows'). Possibly this image comes from the Greek Eros, at least from the 8th century BC. c.
Kama was also called Ananga (an: negative particle, 'without'; anga: 'form', 'body'), Incorporeal, because it was left without body to be burned by the gaze of the god Shivá, since ―while he was meditating in his home on Mount Kailash― he wanted to break his concentration to make him fall in love with a woman.
- Klim
- Kamadevaia vidmaje,
- Pushpa-banaia djīmaji,
- so not ’ananga prachodaiat
- Om,
- I know Kamadeva.
- in [that god shooting] arrows of medita flowers,
- That our Incorporeus is thrilling.