That is why this great mantra dhīyo yo naḥ pracodayāt prays not for these ephemeral constituents of our imagined glory in this world. It asks for our understanding to be rightly directed. What is meant by rightly directed understanding? It is that understanding which can tune itself to the great light of the universe. It is the spirit within us that seeks communion with the spirit of the cosmos. May the spirit be directed along the lines of its communion with this Universal Spirit so that there is an unending radiance before us. This is the prayer of the Veda, called the Gayatri.
Swami Krishnananda
Yog is the process of moving from the individual consciousness, towards the universal consciousness – that is the “union”.
Not just the Gāyatri mantra, but most of Eastern philosophy in some way or the other, calls for this union. It is now in awe of “God” or the supreme being, for adding a layer of physicality to this consciousness only belittles it. The Brahman, or universal consciousness, is like the ocean, that we form drops of…when you take a bucket of water out of this ocean, and then put it back..which are the drops that you took out, and which ones did you put back? There is no way to find out.
The Gāyatri mantra asks for this very understanding – that our understanding be rightly directed, towards blending in with the universal consciousness, rather than seeking happiness and peace in illusionary objects.
It is said; that out of 10,552 mantras in Rig-Veda Samhita as many as 2,456 are in Gayatri Chhandas. But, the largest numbers of mantras in Rig-Veda are in Trishtup Chhandas. And, the rest are in Jagati Chhandas.
The Gayatri Chhandas is associated with Agni, the first and the foremost of the Vedic deities. The Rigveda commences with Agni Sukta, composed in Gayatri Chhandas. The root of the term Gayatri is ‘gai’ (sabde) which denotes the sense of sound or speech or singing.
Well, that is a lot on the origins of the mantra. I will write some more on this in the days to come, but let’s not miss the point of all of this.
The reason I wrote about the origins of the mantra is to evoke your interest, and for you to know more about what can easily be seen as a “bhajan-special”. A mantra is sacred, and has to be approached with the proper reverence and mindset. You may have been listening to it from the past three-four days, so lets get down to business.
Tomorrow morning, try the 108. All of it. And in the manner as prescribed earlier. Here are the guidelines for your reference.
Mantra Japa – the correct way to do it.
Tell me how you feel afterwards. See you tomorrow!