Gayatri - In the eyes of the Upanishads.

Many things are famous in the society. The golden rule is – popularity doesn’t mean authentic or correct. The analytical power is present in animal kingdom, plant kingdom and human beings. There isn’t any monopoly of human beings in this case. The level may differ from category to category. In the case of human beings it is quite developed. It has the capacity to guide and even leads to misguide with the help of pre-occupied notions or overpowering others mind or brainwashing or stopping others to use analytical power. The mind must be free from this. Then only the eyes of wisdom will help to walk on the right path. The analyses can be done for name fame or for knowledge. The first choice covers the ground reality and promotes fake values. The followers of this domain have manipulated every scripture of Vedic literature. In this post we’ll see one of the three meters of Veda – Gayatri. It is not a mantra on its own. A line written on this basis is known as mantra. There are 36 gayatri mantras supported by the Upanishads. In Mahanarayana Upanishad one can see few of them in one place. The rest are scattered in different Upanishads. Some are directly written and some has to be extracted.

Gayatri became an important source of religious politics in India. It was labeled as key of all fortunes. The marketing was done in such a way; it became the last achievement of life. Without this everything was worthless. The books mentioning elaborate technique of performing were written. It was asked to repeat thrice daily. It is known as sandhya upasana. In Vedic literature, there are three Gayatri mantra, of the Sun. The religious politics have converted it, in goddess Gayatri. The idols, printed picture, book describing rituals are available in the market. Gayatri mantras, related with other deities, their vehicle and weapon are also present. Only one was made famous. The females were forbidden to chant this.

The so called reformists allowed females to chant but never placed the facts of the scriptures. Even Adi Shankaracharya never took it as a mantra or stopped females from chanting it. The game played in the name of gayatri mantra motivated in writing 'gayatri upanushad' and promote it in the list of authentic Upanishads. 

Let us see content of the Upanishad  Samaveda. The verses and bhashya of Adi Shankaracharya is given in Sanskrit, meaning is given in English.

Chandogya Upanishad (under SamaVeda, Talavakar Brahmana), 3.12.1-5, describes this as meter. The verses in the Sanskrit :

गायत्री वा इद (gM) सर्वं भूतं यदिदं किं च वाग्वै गायत्री वाग्वा इद (gM) सर्वं भूतं गायति च त्रायते च ॥१॥

भाष्य -  गायत्री वा इत्यवधारणार्थो वैशब्द: ।

इदं सर्वं भूतं प्राणिजातं यत्किंच स्थावरं जङमं वा तत्सर्वं गायत्र्येव । तस्याश्छन्दोमात्राया: सर्वभूतत्वमनुपपन्नमिति गायत्रीकारणं वाचं शब्दरूपामापादयति गायत्रीम्, वाग्वै गायत्रीति ।

गायत्री वै - इस पद में - वै - निश्चयार्थक है । ये समस्त भूत - स्थावरं  जङम -  वे सब गायत्री ही हैं । वह केवल छन्दमात्र है, सर्वभूतरूप होना संभव नहीं है; अत: वाग्वै गायत्री = कारणभूत शब्दरूप वाक् को ही गायत्री कहती है श्रुति ।

वाग्वा इदं सर्वं भूतं - वाक ही समस्त भूतों का गान - शब्द यानि नामोल्लेख करती है, जैसे यह गाय है, आदि; तथा यही रक्षा = इससे मत डर । वाणी के द्वारा भी रक्षा की जाती है ।

या वै सा गायत्रीयं वाव सा येयं पृथिव्यस्या(gM) हीद(gM) सर्वं भूतं प्रतिष्ठितमेतामेव नातिशीयते ॥२॥

प्राणियों से संबन्ध तभी गायत्री = पृथिवी में सब स्थित है ।

या वै सा पृथिवीयं वाव सा यदिदमस्मिन्पुरुषे शरीरमस्मिन्हीमे प्राणा: प्रतिष्ठिता एतदेव नातिशीयन्ते ॥३॥ 

शरीर = इसीमें प्राण स्थित है, शरीर पृथिवी का विकार है । भूत शब्द वाच्य प्राण (वायु)  प्रतिष्ठित है ।

यद्वै तत्पुरूषे शरीरमिदं वाव तद्ददिदमस्मिन्नन्त: पुरूषे हृदयमस्मिन्हीमे प्राणा: प्रतिष्ठिता एतदेव नातिशीयन्ते ॥४॥
  प्राण हृदय में स्थित है । अत: वह गायत्री है ।

ऎषा चतुष्पदा षड्विधा गायत्री तदेतदृचाभ्यनूक्तम् ॥५॥

  उपनिषद के अनुसार  वाक, भूत, पृथिवी, शरीर, ह्रुदय, प्राण - छ प्रकार की गायत्री है । उसके चार पाद यानि चार चरण हैं । इस तरह कुल २४ अक्षर हैं ।                   

1^st verse: every created thing is termed as gayatri. Since, only a meter, things can’t be in his form. That is why; verse uses speech to denote this. It is the speech through which they are known. To denote knowing, verse uses, sings (gayati) in the formal introduction, name is quoted, like - this a goat, go and bring that cow, see the flower, etc. Here, goat, cow and flower resemble, names of different things created. The speech introduces and secures. When somebody says; ‘there is nothing to fear,’ ‘are you afraid of this?’ etc, speech does the work of saving. Nobody can live without this. For these two activities, speech is known as gayatri.

2^nd verse: earth is gayatri, because every creature is situated in this. Through this, survival is possible. Nobody exceeds this.  For existence they don’t go anywhere else.

3^rd verse: body is obtained from those ingredients, which are provided by the earth. The Prana stays in the body. The speech is possible via prana. The presence of air, in the name of prana, is possible through body. Without this, prana don’t have any separate existence. It will remain in the name of air. The meaning of prana is also taken as energy. It is secondary, primary one is air. From wind, energy is derived. That derivation is not possible directly. An infrastructure is needed for that. Here, food and digestive system, provides the required help. This and prana’s combination gives the energy. When the  food is taken in the form of love, caring attitude, consolation or motivation, prana does the same work. Directly we can’t get the energy from it, loss of energy means, intake of food is less. Every sense organ is connected with its own food. Their requirements must be monitored. They have a role in maintaining the level of energy.

4^th verse: heart is also gayatri. If it is taken as biological part, survival of living beings is dependent on this. When taken in spiritualistic sense, it is the inner space which must be neat and clean. If it is loaded with pre - occupied thoughts and decisions, life usually becomes miserable and crises arise in personality, relationship and profession.

5^th verse: gayatri is of six types. There are 6-6 alphabets in 4 parts. All together gayatri has got 24 alphabets. Six types are- created things, speech, earth, body, prana and heart.

In Yajur Veda, it is present in more than one place. Only in last one, bhu, bhuwah and swah is added. It is simply a prayer and mode of thanking or praising the creator. 

In RkVeda, it is used in the sense of praise. The Atharva Veda also supports the same view. 

There isn’t any contradiction in them. In Yajur Veda, it is presented in the form of praising and in Chandogya (Sam Veda), detail of the word is given. One thing is sure. It hasn’t been given status of special mantra. One will praise  after knowing the quality of safety. The praise mustn’t be taken as worshiping. According to scripture, it is connected with introduction and safety. Minimum respect is desirable, for the medium, providing safety. It is necessary for survival. This meaning matches with the six types of gayatri mentioned.
In the Brihadaranyak Upanishad 4 padas or stages are mentioned which says all the names (names of the created things like animals, birds, human, vegetation, rocks, etc), forms, their actions or karmas are three padas and the fourth one turiya is present in all the three. And the fourth pada can be experienced via nidhidhyasan and meditation.  

There isn’t any need to sideline the females, from chanting the line. Since, nothing is mentioned, so called reformist organizations are allowing everyone to chant this. They are not ready to reveal the  facts before the public. In the name of reforms, modern cults allowed them. How many discoveries have been made by chanting it? How many great people of every field chanted it daily? If it was so powerful, how foreigners ruled us for centuries. In ancient times people were more cautious about performing this ritual.  Then also we could not preserve our independence or could save Nalanda. After being so powerful, as claimed, India remained under foreigner’s rule, for centuries. In those days also, people were there, to chant and perform the ritual. There is no need to hide face behind false excuses. If one reads, about the history of great achievers in various fields, none of them followed this. Even people, who gave credit to this, worked hard and tolerated many things, to achieve their goal. A real powerful thing must have the capacity to help directly. The combinations of these three (Tuft or lock of hair, on crown of head known as zikhA and sacred thread are other two) were marketed in the name of priest craft.  One thing is sure; they haven’t played any role for total country. In the Olympics, participants must win by following this. It never happened. If any one claims, he must accept - he never practiced his sport. When we compare with other nations, morality of people has gone down more than others. The personal gains also has several reasons. One or two must not be highlighted.

Even Adi Shankaracharya in his bhashya didn't accept it as a mantra. In his tradition, only one line is taken as mantra and they are promoting it. If the Indians really respect Veda as incarnation of God, they must follow it. They mustn't dictate their terms. 

One may place the facts of puranas who are busy in describing gayatri as they like. In the case of Vedic literature, Puranas are taken as proof if they support Vedic contents or the essence of Veda.  Therefore, there isn't any need to dance like kids on their basis. After all, gayatri is a meter of Veda. Even in Gita, It is taken as a meter.

 

Regarding the claims of seeing gayatri 'mata' is projection of the upbringing style in which a person goes on and on listening and reading the same thing again and again. It is nothing but self hypnotism marketed in various ways. The upanishad written in the name of gayatri is the product of human hand and has nothing to do with the authentic Upanishads.