“The sensibility it evokes is more important than the literal meaning,” says Brooks. Brooks encourages taking a heart-centered approach to the mantra. The mantra gives thanks to both the life-giving sun and the Divine. The mantra is a request to the sun: May we meditate upon your form and be illumined by who you are? (Consider that the sun offers its gift of illumination and energy to all beings, without judgment and without attachment to the outcome of the gift.)

“The mantra is a gift back to the sun, an offering of gratitude to refuel the sun’s gracious offering.”

“My teacher used to say the sun gives but never receives,” he says. See also Should Yoga Teachers Use Sanskrit? Why and How To Use the Gayatri MantraĬhanting the mantra serves three purposes, Brooks explains. The hours before sunrise and noon are also thought to be ideal times to practice. Traditionally observed during sandhya -the juncture s right before sunrise and sunset-the chant is said to help you attain enlightenment. It calls upon the infinite light of consciousness to guide our actions and beliefs. Just as the sun illuminates the land, this mantra is said to fill the faithful chanter with all the potential energy in the cosmos. “The Vedic mind doesn’t separate the physical presence of the sun from its spiritual or symbolic meaning,” he says. According to Brooks, the sun in the mantra represents both the physical sun and the Divine in all things. The mantra, written in gayatri meter-a verse with 24 syllables that is said to contain all the knowledge and revelations of the Vedas-is a hymn to Savitar, the sun god. “It doesn’t get more ancient, more sacred, than this,” says Brooks. It is mentioned in the Upanishads as an important ritual and in the Bhagavad Gita as the poem of the Divine.Īccording to Douglas Brooks, PhD, a professor of religion at the University of Rochester and a teacher in the Rajanaka yoga tradition, the Gayatri is the most sacred phrase uttered in the Vedas. It first appeared in the Rig Veda, an early Vedic text written between 18 BCE. The Gayatri mantra, one of the oldest and best known mantra s, is said to ensure happiness for anyone who chants it faithfully, holds it in their heart, and follows their calling. Read The Upanishads: A New Translation by Vernon Katz and Thomas Egenes History and Meaning of the Gayatri Mantra May we contemplate the brilliance of that light The Gayatri Mantra in Sanskrit:ĭhiyo yo nah prachodayat. Below, we break down the usage and history of the Gayatri mantra, an ancient chant for gratitude.

The repetitive chant or sound can focus your mind, elevate your consciousness through specific vibrations or frequencies, and calm your nervous system. Mantras can enhance your practice in myriad ways. Get access to everything we publish when you

Gayatri mantra audio