Gayatri Mantra: A scientific view

- Dr Tanmaya

Gayatri mantra has been bestowed the greatest importance in Vedic dharma.This mantra has also been termed as Savitri and Ved-Mata the mother of the Vedas. The literal meaning of the mantra is: ! God" #o$ are !mnipresent !mnipotent and Almighty. #o$ are all %ight. #o$ are all &nowledge and 'liss. #o$ are Destroyer of fear #o$ are (reator of this )niverse #o$ are the Greatest of all. *e bow and meditate $pon #o$r light. #o$ g$ide o$r intellect in the right direction. The mantra however has a great scientific import too which Some how got lost in the literary tradition. The modern astrophysics and astronomy tell $s that o$r Gala+y called Mil,y *ay or A,ash-Ganga contains appro+imately -.. ... million of stars. /ach star is li,e o$r s$n having its own planet system. *e ,now that the moon moves ro$nd the earth and the earth moves ro$nd the s$n along with the moon. All planets ro$nd the s$n. /ach of the above bodies revolves ro$nd at its own a+is as well. !$r s$n along with its family ta,es one ro$nd of the galactic centre in 00.1 crore years. All gala+ies incl$ding o$rs are moving away at a terrific velocity of 0. ... miles per second. And now the alternative scientific meaning of the mantra step by step: 2A3 !m bh$r bh$vah swah: 'h$r the earth bh$vah the planets 2solar family3 swah the Gala+y.*e observe that when an ordinary fan with a speed of 4.. 56M 2rotations 6er min$te3 moves it ma,es noise. Then one can imagine what great noise wo$ld be created when the gala+ies move with a speed of 0. ... miles per second. This is what this portion of the mantra e+plains that the so$nd prod$ced d$e to the fast-moving earth planets and gala+ies is !m. The so$nd was heard d$ring meditation by 5ishi Vishvamitra who mentioned it to other colleag$es. All of them then $nanimo$sly decided to call this so$nd !m the name of God beca$se this so$nd is available in all the three periods of time hence it is set 2permanent3. Therefore it was the first ever revol$tionary idea to identify formless God with a specific title 2form3 called $padhi. )ntil that time everybody recogni7ed God as formless and nobody was prepared to accept this new idea. 8n the Gita also it is said 9!miti e,a,sharam brahma9 meaning that the name of the S$preme is !m which contains only one syllable 2:;-03. This so$nd !m heard d$ring samadhi was called by all the seers nada-brahma 2a very great noise3 b$t not a noise that is normally beyond a specific amplit$de and limits of decibels s$ited to h$man hearing. <ence the rishis called this so$nd )dgith m$sical so$nd of the above i.e. heaven.They also noticed that the infinite mass of gala+ies moving with a velocity of 0. ... miles;second was generating a ,inetic energy = -;0 MV0 and this was balancing the total energy cons$mption of the cosmos. <ence they named it 6ranavah which means the body 2vap$3 or store ho$se of energy2prana3. 2'3 Tat savit$r varenyam: Tat that 2God3 savit$r the s$n 2star3

varenyam worthy of

bowing or respect. !nce the form of a person along with the name is ,nown to $s we may locate the specific person. <ence the two titles 2$padhi3 provide the solid gro$nd to identify the formless God Vishvamitra s$ggested. <e told $s that we co$ld ,now 2reali7e3 the $n,nowable formless God thro$gh the ,nown factors vi7. so$nd !m and light of s$ns 2stars3. A mathematician can solve an e>$ation +0?y0=@A if +=0A then y can be ,nown and so on. An engineer can meas$re the width of a river even by standing at the river ban, B$st by drawing a triangle. So was the scientific method s$ggested by Vishvamitra in the mantra in the ne+t portion as $nder:2(3 'hargo devasya dheemahi: 'hargo the light devasya of the deity dheemahi we sho$ld meditate. The rishi instr$cts $s to meditate $pon the available form 2light of s$ns3 to discover the formless (reator 2God3. Also he wants $s to do Bapa of the word !m 2this is $nderstood in the Mantra3. This is how the sage wants $s to proceed b$t there is a great problem to realise it as the h$man mind is so sha,y and restless that witho$t the grace of the S$preme 2'rahma3 it cannot be controlled. <ence Vishvamitra s$ggests the way to pray <im as $nder: 2D3 Dhiyo yo nah prachodayat: Dhiyo 2intellect3 yo 2who3 nah 2we all3 prachodayat 2g$ide to right Direction3. ! God" Deploy o$r intellect on the right path. C$ll scientific interpretation of the Mantra: The earth 2bh$r3 the planets 2bh$vah3 and the gala+ies2swah3 are moving at a very great velocity the so$nd prod$ced is !m 2the name of formless God.3 That God 2tat3 who manifests <imself in the form of light of s$ns 2savit$r3 is worthy of bowing;respect2varenyam3. *e all therefore sho$ld meditate 2dheemahi3 $pon the light 2bhargo3 of that deity 2devasya3 and also do chanting of !m. May <e 2yo3 g$ide in right direction 2prachodayat3 o$r 2nah3intellect dhiyo So we notice that the important points hinted in the mantra are:-3 The total ,inetic energy generated by the movement of gala+ies acts as an $mbrella and balances the total energy cons$mption of the cosmos. <ence it was named as the 6ranavah 2body of energy3. This is e>$al to -;0 mv0 2Mass of gala+ies + velocity03. 03 5ealising the great importance of the syllable !M the other later date religions adopted this word with a slight change in accent vi7. amen and Ameen. D3The God co$ld be realised thro$gh the sag$na 2gross3 $pasana 2method3 i.e. a3 by chanting the name of the s$preme as !M and b3 by meditating $pon the light emitted by stars 2s$ns3.