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Articles: Philosophy | GAYATRI MANTRA - BENEFIT AND SIGNIFICANCE IN HINDUISM
- Amrapaali
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The Gayathri Mantra consists of fourteen words, each of which holds an important meaning.
Gayathri Devi is an incarnation of Saraswati Devi, consort of Lord Brahma, symbolizing the 'Shakthi' (strength) and 'dev' (quality) of Knowledge, Purity and Virtue. Saraswati Devi is held to be the patronness of the Arts, being a poet and musician, as well as skillful composer. In the form of Gayathri Devi, with the blessings of Lord Brahma, she is believed to have given the four Vedas to mankind.
Gayathri Mantra - Source and Origination
The Vedas are widely considered to be the source of all true
knowledge, the word 'Veda' itself meaning 'Knowledge'. Gayathri Devi also gave to mankind the 'Gayathri Mantra', also known as the 'Guru Mantra' and the 'Savitri Mantra', one of the oldest mantras, and generally thought of as being amongst the highest and most powerful mantras of all. This mantra is therefore often referred to as 'the Mother of the Vedas'. It appears in Yajur Veda - Adhyaya (Chapter) 36, Mantra (Verse) 3.
Due to its great power, the Gayathri Mantra had become, over time, the sole property of the Brahmins, who abused their power to maintain a hold of the common people. The great Hindu reformer, Swami (often called Maharishi) Dayanand Saraswati however freed the mantra from the iron clutches of the Brahmins, and thus made it freely available to the entire world. Through this, as well as various other acts, he strove to distance the Hindu community from the false beliefs and superstitions that had crept into it, and brought about a reversion to the true, Vedic faith. The Gayathri Mantra occupies a unique place in that it has both the power of mantra and of prarthana (prayer). It is important then in considering the Gayathri Mantra to distinguish the difference between these two deceptively similar words.
A mantra may be articulate or inarticulate, or a combination of them, as with AUM. It has an inherent power, known as 'Mantra Shakthi', which has a positive influence not due to any hilosophical meaning behind the mantra, but simply due to its utterance alone (of course, 'utterance' may or may not be vocal or heard - it can be silent, expressed only in the mind, or at the deepest level, heard only by the soul itself). As explained, a pure mantra may or may not have any actual meaning or philosophical significance, its power being intrinsic to the mantra itself, and not instrumental to any meaning.
A prarthana on the other hand does have a philosophical meaning
behind it, and it is generally through this meaning that the prarthana has its power. Since the mantra is devoid of any kind of actual meaning, it cannot be conceptualised or visualised. This makes its understanding extremely difficult to the normal human mind, thus rendering its correct enunciation almost impossible to the untrained person. A prarthana however, having a meaning that can be comprehended through purely intellectual means, is far easier to be understood, since rational thought, unlike spiritual meditation, is much more in the reach of the ordinary person. Thus, the method of prarthana is generally the form of worship used today.
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