Goddess Gayatri worshipped as Vedamata
Goddess Gayatri is worshipped as Vedamata by almost all the people. The Goddess Gayatri’s Gayatri Mantra is the most divine and powerful. She is the goddess of all the Vedas, she is worshipped as ‘Vedamata‘.
It is believed in our Sanatana Dharma that the Goddess Gayatri is the manifestation and embodiment of all the three goddesses i.e.
- Goddess Saraswati,
- Goddess Parvati and
- Goddess Lakshmi.
And in many epics and our divine literature, she is honoured as the mother of all the Gods.
According to our Bhrugu Samhita in which it is briefed that the Goddess Gayatri is an Incarnation of Goddess Saraswati who symbolises all knowledge, Art, Music, Skills and Literature, Goddess Parvati who rules Shakti or strength, and courage and the Goddess Lakshmi who possesses wealth, treasure, Victories and Accomplishments in this creation.
So, as Lord Sri Krishna said in both Srimad Bhagavadgita and Srimad Bhagavatam, if you worship Goddess Gayatri, it is like you worshipping all the gods in this creation including himself as he declares he is the Gayatri mantra out of all the Veda mantras of our Sanatana Dharma.
It is like worshipping all the Vedas as she is the Vedamata according to our divine literature. Truly it is very divine and blissful to see the image or the photo of the goddess Gayatri at any time at any place.
Five Pranas or Vayus – Panchatatvas
If you see Gayatri’s photo, you will see that she is always depicted that she is sitting on a lotus. All five faces are equally distributed and depicted as if, all her faces are different and preaching something unique, different and separate. Her five faces represent the basic Five Pranas or Vayus, which are known as Prana, Apana, Vyana, Udana and Samana and also the basic five principle elements i.e. panchatatvas like earth (Prithvi), water (Jala), air (Vayu), fire (Agni) and sky (Aakash).
The Shining and Smiling face of the Goddess Gayatri always makes you more divine, inspiring and sacred, whenever you see, worship or pray to her at any time during any difficulties whatsoever in your life.
Goddess Gayatri is the Universal divine mother who is the mother of all the sacred Mantras, Vedas and Living beings of this creation according to our Sanatana Literature. Normally all the devotees are preached to chant at least 108 Gayatri Mantras thrice in a day or once in a day or at least 16 mantras thrice in a day or 108 mantras once in Brahma muhurtam i.e. in the dawn.
If the Gayatri Mantras are chanted and meditated, it is known as Gayatri Japam and if the same practice is done in the temple or with the fire, by sacrificing the pure Ghee (Cow) in the fire, then it is known as Gayatri Havan or Homan either in-home or in temples.
Gayatri Mantra
In our Vedic Literature, the Gayatri Mantra has been designed and created with Vedic regulations like rhyme, Vedic meter and classical–poetical syllables. Having 24 syllables, if the Gayatri Mantra is chanted with grace, divinity, prominence and bliss, it is proved time and again that all our sins, pains and depressions are nullified and due to this naturally life will become more spiritual, devotional and eternal.
If we look into the Gayatri Mantra and its chanting carefully, only the chanting of Gayatri Mantra will be,
Om bhoorbhuvahsvaha
Om Tat Saviturvarenyam
Bhargodevasyadheemahi
Dheeyoyonahprachodayat
But when we sit for penance (Tapas), we chant Gayatri Mantra but add “Om Namo Naaraayanaaya Namaha” along with Gayatri Mantra which automatically chants 108 Mula (Primary) Mantras of Sriman Narayana i.e. Lord Vishnu.
Meaning of Gayatri Mantra
Om Bhur Bhuvah Svaha
The Gayatri Mantra’s first line i.e. ‘Om Bhur Bhuvah Svaha’ is an invocation praying as ‘Om’ being the supremacy of the God,
- ‘Bhur Bhuvah Svaha’ represents the inherent qualities and nature of God.
- ‘Bhur’ means god’s eternal existence and ‘Bhuvah’ means Ananta or Limitless or the absolute consciousness of the god and
- ‘Swah’ represents God’s bliss, omnipresent and omnipotent potential.
Tat Savitur Varenyam
And ‘Tat Savitur Varenyam’, ‘Tat’ represents selfless God himself and here as Lord Vishnu and ‘Savit’ leads to self-driven, self-motivational, self–engineered potential, which is the built-in nature of mankind.
Further, ‘Varenyam’ signifies acceptance of the highest master of this Universe as the God or a devotional surrenderance.
Bhargo Devasya Dhimahi
‘Bhargo Devasya Dhimahi ‘ means, ‘Bhargo’ is the divine, pure, highly potential, glorious, blissful, light or energy and ‘Devasya’ represents Absolute existence and proof of the god in all living and non-living beings of this creation and ‘Dhimahi’ means, Focusing, meditating or concentrating to reach or communicate with the god.
dhiyoyo nah prachodayat
Ultimately, ‘dhiyoyo nah prachodayat’, ‘Dhiyo’ means, identifying the supreme ability of god’s super wisdom and success and ‘yo’ means that one who and ‘Nah’ means the one who accepts all, ourness, mine and ‘prachodayaat’ means, finally praying the god for Inspiration, Guidance and Protection.
Ultimate Meaning
The ultimate meaning is,
“Oh God, the Protector, the basis of all life,
- Who is self-existent,
- Who is free from all pains and Whose contact frees the soul from all troubles,
- Who pervades the Universe and sustains all, the Creator and Energizer of the whole Universe, the Giver of happiness,
- Who is worthy of acceptance, the most excellent,
- Who is Pure and the Purifier of all, let us embrace that very God, so that He may direct our mental faculties in the right direction”.
This means, “the light of the sun illumines all the three worlds namely ‘Bhu lok’, ‘Bhuvar lok’ and ‘Suvar Lok‘. I meditate upon that highly effulgent light. Let that light kindle and illumine my intellect too”.
Normally the Gayatri Mantra is chanted for four main reasons:
- To Praise and Glorify the God
- To Thank God
- To Ask for Forgiveness from the God and
- To make a Pray or Request from the God
Since our soul is the Light of Life within us, and that acts on our body via the medium of the brain, we ask God to make this contact pure and righteous. The soul is of course inherently pure, being itself Divine. The body is under the complete control of the mind.
The link is the mind, which is affected not only by the soul but also by the outside world. We ask in these four words that God help us to improve our intellect, and guide it towards what is right.
By regularly chanting the Gayatri Mantra, we can achieve better Learning Power, Increase our focus or concentration, make us more divine and spiritual, we can gain prosperity in life, a significant increase in both physical and eternal lives erase past sins, pains and depression and the life gets charged and energised since the first day itself!
