‘Gayatrī mantra’
Suggested translation:
“Earth, sky and heaven.
Excellent above all is the Sun.
Let us contemplate the divine radiance,
which brings us to wisdom.”
Notes:
Rigveda 3.62.10 reads
तत सवितुर्वरेण्यं भर्गो देवस्य धीमहि |
धियो यो नः परचोदयात ||
tát savitúr váreṇ(i)yaṃ
bhárgo devásya dhīmahi
dhíyo yó naḥ pracodáyāt
The ‘Gayatrī mantra’ reads:
ॐ भूर्भुव: स्व:
तत्सवितुर्वरेन्यं ।
भर्गो देवस्य धीमहि,
धीयो यो न: प्रचोदयात् ।।
Oṃ bhūr bhuvaḥ svaḥ
tát savitúr váreṇ(i)yaṃ
bhárgo devásya dhīmahi
dhíyo yó naḥ pracodáyāt
Whereas in principle the gāyatrī metre specifies three lines (pāda) of eight syllables each, the text of the verse as preserved in the Rigveda is one syllable short, the first pāda counting seven instead of eight. Metrical restoration would emend the attested tri-syllabic vareṇyaṃ with a tetra-syllabic vareṇiyaṃ
Oṃ bhūr bhuvaḥ svaḥ is not in the original Ṛg Veda but is found in the Chāndogya Upaniṣad 2.23.2
“Prajāpati incubated the worlds, and when they had been incubated, the triple Veda sprang from them. He incubated the triple Veda, and, when it had been incubated, these syllables “bhūr, bhuvas, svar” sprang from it. (2). He incubated these syllables, and, when they had been incubated, the syllable OṂsprang from them. As all the leaves are bored through by a pin, so all words are bored through by OṂ. The whole world is nothing but OṂ.” (3) (Patrick Olivelle, The Early Upanishads: Annotated Text and Translation. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996, 1998., p. 199.)
It is not of eight syllables and constitutes a fourth line, and so can be considered as an addition to the main mantra.
It is not of eight syllables and constitutes an extra line, and so can be considered as an addition to the main mantra.
The context of Rg Veda 3.62.10 is significant. It calls on the various gods to give boons to mankind. The prayer to Savitr is for wisdom but also for prosperity (v. 11). In vv.10, 11, and 12 the god is addressed in three different ways.[1]
- May he who sees all living things, see, them together at a glance,-
May he, may Pusan be our help.
- May we attain that excellent glory of Savitar the God:
So may he stimulate our prayers.
- With understanding, earnestly, of Savitar the God we crave
Our portion of prosperity.
- Men, singers worship Savitar the God with hymn and holy rites,
Urged by the impulse of their thoughts.
The text and its grammar:
Oṃ Aum
bhūr bhū, mfn; becoming, being, arising, world or universe
therefore: earth
bhuvaḥ masc; atmosphere,
therefore: sky
svaḥ heaven
tat neuter sing.
therefore: that
savitur genitive masc. sing. of savitṛ; stimulator, vivifier, name of a sun-deity therefore: the Sun
vareṇ(i)yaṃ adjective, mfn. to be wished for, excellent, best among (gen.)
therefore: excellent above all
bhargo noun masc. sing; radiance, splendour, effulgence, illumination,
therefore: radiance
devasya genitive of deva (god), ‘of the god’
therefore: divine
dhīmahi optative, ātmanepada of first person plural of dhī
therefore: let us contemplate
dhiyo genitive of dhī f. thought, (esp.) religious thought , reflection , meditation, devotion, prayer, understanding, intelligence, wisdom, knowledge, mind , disposition, intention,
therefore: wisdom
yo masc. sing. 3rd person pronoun,
therefore: who
naḥ of us, our
pracodayāt causative from pracud, to set in motion, drive on, urge, (Caus.
pracodayati) inspire,
therefore: bring
Imparting the Gayatri mantra to young Hindu men is an important part of the traditional upanayana ceremony, which marks the beginning of study of the Vedas. It is an appropriate prayer for wisdom.
In the later 19th century, Hindu reform movements extended the chanting of the Gayatri mantra beyond caste and gender limitations. In 1898, Swami Vivekananda began initiating non-Brahmins with upanayana and the Gayatri mantra.
[1] Translation by Ralph T.H. Griffith, 1896.
john dupuche 