The story goes, that at the beginning of time, shortly after the creation of the universe, there was the first fire ceremony performed by the ancient Rishis (sages). It was during this fire ceremony that the four Vedas were imparted, the 50 Sanskrit alphabet which makes up all Sanskrit Mantras and the Gayatri Mantra. The Gayatri Devi is known as the Mother of the Vedas, the source of Divine Wisdom.
The Gayatri Mantra is the great calling of spiritual light into the practitioner. It petitions the Divine Goddess to impart Her spiritual light into us. It is practised by Hindus and Buddhists alike and one thing they all agree on is a tremendous power that is the Great Gayatri Mantra.
Parabrahma – the impersonal Godhead is transcendental consciousness. His spouse – or the power behind that consciousness is Gayatri. Out of Parabrahma and Gayatri came Brahma, Vishnu and Siva. She is the great Mother to the three Gunas, Sattva (equilibrium) in the form of Vishnu, Rajas (passion and activity) in the form of Brahma and Tamas (destruction) in the form of Siva.
There are 5 aspects to Gayatri. One is Lakshmi (Primordial Abundance) who is in the centre. The other four are Saraswati (Divine knowledge), Bhuh Devi (Earth Goddess), Parvati (The power of Consciousness) and Kali (The dark Goddess of the Void).
When I first started chanting this Mantra, I had already been chanting other Mantras for years, so though I had heard of its power. I thought to myself, “Well, I have already chanted many powerful Mantras, so……”. But nothing prepared me for the power of the Gayatri.
It was about the third day of chanting it, I remember, I was sitting outside with my eyes closed and the sun shining on my face and suddenly I could feel a transformation in my ability to perceive. I can’t explain it fully, except to say, a door opened and suddenly I could go places in my meditations that were not available before.
I was amazed that in three short days of no more than a thousand repetitions, my inner world had been transformed so much. Extraordinary. Then and there I made a commitment to do an ongoing Mantra discipline with the Gayatri. I figured if She can change me so much in three days – what can she do if I keep chanting Her!
There are two forms of the Gayatri, the short form and the long-form. The short form is the most well-known. The long-form is the one I was taught and what I teach.
Here it is:
OM BHUH, OM BHUVAHA , OM SWAHA, OM MAHA, OM JANAHA, OM TAPAHA, OM SATYAM, OM TAT SAVITUR VARENYAM, BHARGO DEVASYA DHIMAHI, DHIYO YONAHA PRACHODAYAT
O SELF-EFFULGENT LIGHT THAT HAS GIVEN BIRTH TO ALL THE LOKAS (SPHERES OF CONSCIOUSNESS) WHO IS WORTHY OF WORSHIP AND APPEARS THROUGH THE ORBIT OF THE SUN, ILLUMINE OUR INTELLECT.
The best time to repeat it at the dawn and sunset and the hours before and after them. There is a special energy at that time that crosses the planet. This Mantra is truly the Queen of all Mantras and all Mantras are said to be contained within it.
This is a liberation Mantra of the highest order.
So try it, see for yourself, practice it and watch it transform your life.
with love,
Aly M. Dunne
