Sandhyavandanam -6

After seeing the purvagam of Sandhyavandanam now we are in the uttarangam, which is sometimes called Gayatri Japa. As in purvagam there are ten stages in uttrarangam also. The first four stages are similar for both – achemanam, ganapathy dhyanam, pranayamah, and sankalpa. The fifth is paranayam again, sixth stage is Gayatri Japa, seventh is surya upasthanam, eight is samasti abhivadanam, nineth is dig devatathi vandanam, and finally stage is samarpanam. We have so far covered up to the fifth stage of the uttarangam and we were dealing with Gayatri japah.

            Gayatri is a main component and this japa has some preparations. We were in the Gayatri avahanam in the last class. Before starting the japa we have to invoke the Gayatri devi by chanting aayatu varda devi asksharam … jushasva naha. Although we were invoking Gayatri devi we should not forget that Gayatri, Savitri and Saraswati are different aspects of Sandhya Devi. The first part of this mantra is to invite Gayatri devi and then we glorified her in ojo’si saho’si balamasi bhraajo’si devanaam dhaama naamasi. You are indriya shakti, you are manas shakti, and you are sharirah shakti, and the brightness or effulgence you are. You are the also the abode of gods as well as the effulgence of gods. Naamasi, all names are your names only.

            Vishvamasi visjvaayuhu sarvamasi sarvaayuhu. You are the whole universe. You are the very life and sustaining principle of the whole universe. You are everything in the universe. And you are the sustaining principle of all beings in the universe. And abhi bhoo has two meanings. One is sarva vyapakah and another is one who conquers everyone. That is the one who is ever victorious. By glorifying Gayatri we are implying and asking indirectly that SHE must confer us with all these qualities. That you must give me manas shakti, indriya shakti, sharirah shakti, you must give me ayuhu and you must also give me victory. You are OM also. All these are praises (glories) of Sandhya Devi. Then I say: Gayatri avahayaami, Savitri avahayaami. Saraswati avahayaami. Avahayaami means “I invoke”. “I install”. I install Gayatri not on an idol, not on a picture, not on a purnakumba, but we install HER in our own hrudayam. Since Sandhya Devi has three different aspects we invoke all the three of them and install them in our heart.

            The word “Gayatri” has three different meanings. First is, it is name of a Vedic metre (chandah). The arrangement in which the words are placed in a poem is a metre. Like how many words should be there in a verse, how many letters in a line, how many lines etc? There are so many metres which are mentioned in the Gayatri itself like gayatri, ushnik, anushtup, brihati, pankti, thristup and jagati. The second meaning of the word “Gayatri” is the particular mantra in the gayatri metre. The third meaning is “Gayatri devata” , to be more precise Sandhya Devi, who is invoked through the Gayatri mantra. So the three meanings of Gayatri are chandah, mantra and Devi. When you are saying Gayatri avahayaami you refer to devatah. The root of the word Gayatri translates to that which protects the devotee.

            “Savitri” has two meanings. There is no Savitri metre. This Gayatri mantra is also called as Savitri mantra. Then the second meaning is Savitri devatah who is Sandhya Devi. The root of the word Savitri means that which is connected with the Sun. When we invoke Savitri we invoke HER in the surya mandalam.

            Saraswati has only one meaning; one who is the embodiment of wisdom born out of Vedas. The word “saras” literally means a lake. The Vedas are compared to a lake and Saraswati is a lotus born out of that lake. So she is nothing but wisdom born out of Vedas. Wisdom is embodied as a woman, as Vidya devi, vak devi, vani etc. In simple language Saraswati means “Vidya devatah”. This is also an aspect of Sandhya Devi which we should not lose sight of. Sandhya devi seen as wisdom is Saraswati devi. With this the avahanaam part is over.

            We go to the next part of Gayatri japa which is “nyasaha”. Nayasaha means remembering the rishi, the devata, and chandas. Which means “which rishi discovered the gayatri mantra?” we remember. And also the metre in which it is chanted, and the devata of that mantra too. Savitryaa rushih viswamitraha, nichrut-gayatri chandaha, savita devataa. The Gayatri mantra was discovered by Vishwamitra rishi, we touch the head. We touch the mouth when we chant “nichrut gayatri chandah” – it is chanted in nichrut gayatri metre which we shall later see. And we touch the heart when we say “Savita devata” who is Sandhya Devi in surya mandala. Why are we touching the head, the mouth and the heart? Since the rishi is the adhi guru of the mantra, he must be shirasa darya. We place him on our head as he is the athi-guru of the mantra. The metre is connected with the “rasah” (the tongue and so the mouth is touched) as the metre is connected with the chanting. Since we have to remember the god through the heart or the mind; (mind is in the hrudayam in the heart) we touch the heart. Any mantra will be effective if we chant after remembering these three: rishi, metre, and devata. The mantra starts as “Savitraya rushaya” and here Savitri is used as a mantra and not as a devata. In fact in Vedas the Gayatri mantra is more popularly known as Savitri’ in fact during upanayanam too Savitri is used more than Gayatri.

            Now we will go to the proper japa part. It is called either Gayatri mantra or Savitri mantra. Both mean the same. It occurs in all the three Vedas: rig veda, yajur veda and sama deva. The original mantra is from rig veda; other two Vedas have borrowed it from Rig. Om bhoor-bhuvah-suvaha, tat savitur-varenyam, bhargo devasya dheemahi, dhiyo yo nah prachodayaat. The Om-bhoor-bhuvah-suvaha is not part of Gayatri at all. It is just an attachment given; actually not a part of the Gayatri mantra. It is a mantra with 24 letters and 3 padas or lines. Om is pranava mantra and bhoor-bhuvah-suvah is vyakriti mantra and the rest is gayatri mantra. I will now explain the glory of this mantra as mentioned in the scriptures, mahima. Gayatri is glorified as the essence of the Vedas. The pranava has three part: Aa, Ooh, hum. It has akara is rig veda saram, okara is yajur veda sara, and makara is sama veda sara. So is Bhoor which is Rig veda sara, bhuvah Yajur and Suvaha is Sama. Similarly tad svitur varenyam is Rig, bhargo devasya deemahi is Yajur and dhiyo yo nah prachodayaat is Sama veda saram. So all three – pranava, vyakrit and gayatri – are veda triya sarahah. So what we chant contains the whole Veda. Brahma milked from the three Vedas and brought these three: OM, Vyakrit and Gayatri. Just as honey is taken from many flowers, the ghee is taken from milk, and milk is taken from food….in the same way pranava, vyakriti and gayatri are the essence of the Vedas. Brahmaji thought we may not have the time to chant the whole Vedas and so HE simplified them to Gayatri mantra with these three components. Some complained it was too long and so HE simplified to Vyakriti. Then again some people complained saying “bhoor-bhuvah-suvah” is too long. The lord simplified it to just OM. That’s why we have taken the essence in three parts: pranava, vyakriti and gayatri. So gayatri mantra is Veda matha or Veda sarah. Therefore chanting of this mantra is equivalent to the chanting the whole Veda. Even if a person cannot chant the whole of one Veda, he is supposed to know Gayatri mantra to claim he is a Hindu or Vedika. Minus Gayatri all other study is useless, with Gayatri no other study is required. So thing is the glory of Gayatri mantra. There is a story that Brahmaji brought a balancing scale to find out whether the Vedas are greater or Gayatri. All the mantras were kept in one pan and Gayatri in the other, Gayatri was found to be far, far superior. That is the reason that when the brahmachari is initiated in the upanayanam, Gayatri is taught. It is as good as studying the whole Vedas. That’s why Gayatri upadesa is called as Brahma Upadesa.

            Another greatness of Gayatri is in the Vedas the Gayatri mantra is meditated upon as Brahman itself. It is veda upadesa and it is also para brahma upadesa. Second glory is it is Brahman itself.

            Thirdly Gayatri mantra is the best mantra for “Shudha Prapthi” and “Ashudhi Nivrithi”.  It is excellent for purification, it is also excellent for removing all the impurities. Therefore it is often prescribed as a prayachita mantra. Those brahmanas who take shradda bakshanam or danam etc they are supposed to get the paapams of the people also. As we saw earlier, each time you receive anything from a person you are also receiving his/her character doshas also. That is why during marana (death) stage people give a lot of danams (charities). By giving danas the jivas will go a higher loka. So anyone who takes dana, he is taking the sins of the dying or dead person also. There is caution here: sins cannot to be transferred to another person except when specifically mentioned in the scriptures. It is also said that when a person is sick the proxy-sandhyavandanam can be done by another person. Like a father can do SV for his son, or vice versa. Therefore after shraddam brahmanas are supposed to chant 1008 gayatri as prayachitam. For big danamas he should do lacs of gayatri. The idea I am conveying is that Gayatri is a great purifier. There is no greater danam that annam and udagam (food and water), there is no greater vrittam than ekadasi vrittam, and what is relevant here is there is no greater mantra than Gayatri. And there is no greater god than mother.

            Finally Gayatri mantra is also prescribed as a kavacham. A person who chants Gayatri regualarly has an armour of protection with him. Protection against amcharika karma like even black magic. So there is no need for a Gayatri chanter to go looking for other kavachams like Skanda Shasti kavacham or Shiva kavacham or Vishnu kavacham etc. All the other kavachams are required only when Gayatri is not there, if Gayatri is there then no other kavacham is required.

            Now I come to the japa part. Gayatri japa as chanted in Sandhyavandanam is supposed to have five stops. Om full stop. Bhoor-bhuvah-suvaha full stop. Tat Savitur-varenyam full stop. Bhargo devasya dheemahi full stop. Dhiyo yo nah prachodayaat full stop. Gayatri can be chanted in two ways; varenyam can be chanted together as “nyam” or separately as “ni” and “yam”. If you chant as “ni” and “yam” it will have 24 letters. According to metre rules, you are only supposed to count the vowels and not the consonants. Then it is Gayatri Chandah. But when you chant “ni” and “yam” together as “nyam” then there is a loss of one vowel. Now the Gayatri will only have 23 vowels. So one chanting is 24 letters while the second chanting is 23 letters. Since one letter is less the latter is called “nichrut gayatri” chandah. If Gayatri has two options how do you know where to chant and what especially in Sandhyavandanam? From Smrithi we get the answer; we should use the 23 lettered Gayatri for pranayama, during japa, during argyam, and during danam. So in this context of Gayatri japa, one must chant the 23 lettered version of nichrut gayatri chandah. But when Gayatri comes in any homam then chant the 24 letter version. More we shall see in the next class. Hari Om.