Triveni Journal
1927 | 11,233,916 words
Triveni is a journal dedicated to ancient Indian culture, history, philosophy, art, spirituality, music and all sorts of literature. Triveni was founded at Madras in 1927 and since that time various authors have donated their creativity in the form of articles, covering many aspects of public life....
GAYATRI MANTRA tc " GAYATRI MANTRA "
In another column I write every week I raised the question why is the Gayatri Mantra
regarded as the Mantra of all mantras, to be repeated 108 times (why 108, I have not been able to find out) every day and what exactly does it mean. I received a flood of mail, books and cassettes on the subject. I asked every Hindu I met to explain it to me word by word. The closest I came to understand it was from Dr. Kanan Jhinghan, retired professor of Hindi of Daulat Ram College. We had two long sessions during which she gave me Hindi equivalents of the Sanskrit words and her translation in Hindi. I have tried to put the same in English and present it to the readers:
Aum Bhur Bhuvah Svah
Tat Savitur Varenyam
Bhargo Devasya Dhimahi
Dhiyo Yoh Nah Prachodayat
Aum, the celestial sound that resounds in our bodies
Over the earth and the cosmos up to the gates of heaven
The effulgence of the rising sun that sets all living things to their allotted tasks to strive to achieve their aims in life.
May the dazzling light which is the gift of the gods
illuminate our beings
Let us contemplate on it
So that our minds gain enlightenment.
(Courtesy: With Malice Towards One & All.)