The famous gayatri mantra that almost every Hindu knows first appears in the Rig Veda (iii /62/10). In roman letters it is as follows:

Literally hundreds of books and web pages are currently dedicated to explaining the esoteric meaning of this mantra, so there is no need to repeat that discussion. Instead, here is a basic grammatical explanation. Gayatri is actually the name for a Sanskrit poetical meter that contains three lines of eight syllables each making a total of 24 syllables. Consequently, there are many gayatri mantras even though this particular one is the oldest and most well known. In Hinduism all gods and goddesses have a gayatri mantra. There is therefore, a gayatri for Ganesha, one for Shiva, one for Durga, one for Vishnu, one for Lakshmi, and so on. Many people are unaware of this so and when Hindus talk about gayatri mantra they mean thee gayatri mantra shown above, which is addressed to Savitri, the sun. Surprisingly, first line: om bhur bhuvah svah is not actually part of the gayatri mantra. It is a special utterance called vyahriti that has been added to the beginning. Therefore, the three lines of gayatri are:

1. tat-savitur varenyam
2. bhargo devasya dhimahi
3. dhiyo yo nah pracodayat

Here is a word-for-word breakdown

tat–that (God)
savitur–of the sun
varenyam–the best

bhargo (bhargas)–light, illumination
devasya–divine
dhimahi–let us meditate (a verb)

dhiyo (dhiyah)–thought
yo (yah)–which
nah–our
pracodayat–May it push, inspire (a verb)

The deity associated with this gayatri, as we mentioned, is the sun, savitri. (The second word of the mantra.) The more common name for the sun is surya. Generally “surya” is the name for the sun while it is above the horizon while savitri is the sun as it is rising and setting. Here is a simple word association that explains a lot about the Hindu way of seeing the world: “the sun equals light, which equals knowledge, which equals consciousness.” This association applies not only to the gayatri mantra, but also to the design of temples and homes, and to details such as why we circumambulate and offer incense and lamps in a clockwise direction. In essence Hinduism follows the path of light.

The most important word in the gayatri mantra is the word, “tat,” which means “that.” It is a reference to “that One,” God. According to the word association mentioned above, the sun, which is the source of illumination, heat, food and so many other things, can naturally be seen as the “representative” or symbol of God in this world. There are two verbs in the gayatri mantra, dhimahi and prachodayat. The first verb, dhimahi means, “let us meditate.“ So, “let us meditate on the light (bhargo) of the sun which represents God.” This is the basic meaning of the first part of gayatri.

The second verb, prachodayat, literally means , “it should push,” but in more poetic language it can be translated as “let it inspire.” Dhiyah are “thoughts,” so dhiyo yo nah prachodayat means, “may our thoughts be inspired” So the most literal meaning of gayatri is, “Let us meditate on the light of the sun which represents God, and may our thoughts be inspired by that divine light.”

As with most things, the gayatri mantra is also personified as the goddess, Gayatri Devi. She is the wife of Brahma and is pictured with five heads sitting on a lotus. She is the embodiment of the supreme brahman. You will also see other depictions of Gayatri Devi that vary somewhat. Many people assume that she is the object of the gayatri mantra, but this is not so. It is the sun instead.

The gayatri mantra is traditionally whispered into the ear of a young boy in a ceremony called the Thread Ceremony (upanayana), which is one of the rites of passage followed by many Hindus. In addition, the gayatri mantra is repeated during daily prayers performed three times a day while facing the sun, at sunrise, at noon and at sun set. It is also common to recite the gayatri as part of a havan, or to recite it in a collective way in temples or homes.

The Great Utterance

As it was mentioned the first part of the gayatri mantra, om bhur bhuvah svah, is called vyahriti or the “great utterance,” and it  is always repeated along with the mantra. The word om is a auspicious sound made at the beginning of many prayers. The words blur, bhuvah and svah are technical, but one way to think of them is as a “call to creation,” that the light of the sun (the light of God) shines on the earth (bhur), in the sky (bhuvah), and in space (svah), and therefore, “let that light also shine on me.” On another level the vyahriti has to do with subtle practices of meditational yoga.

Blowing a Conch and Ringing Bells,  Chanting Shanti and Reciting of OM

Why do we blow a conch?

In the Bhagavad-gita it is described that at the beginning of the great battle Krishna Bhagavan blew his divine conch and then was followed by Yuddhisthira, Bheema, Arjuna, and so on, who also blew their conches. The sound of the conch is the sound of victory and success. Often a conch is  blown at the beginning of temple aartis and other programs as an auspicious sound to invite victory and success. At the end of a wedding a conch is sometimes blown as the the newly married couple walk down the aisle. In some parts of Southern India, however, a conch is blown at funerals and so would not be appropriate to be blown as auspicious events.

It is common to ring bells in temples during puja and aarti. A priest, for example, will ring a bell as puja is performed. This is to signal that a puja is taking place and people should pay attention. Bells are rung during aarti for similar reasons and to create a pleasing musical effect on the mind. Sometimes a bell is positioned at the entrance to a temple so that devotees can ring the bell as they enter the temple. The temple is the house of God and  so it is only polite to make a sound before one enters. Don’t we always knock before entering someone’s home? Besides, ringing bells is fun.

Why do we say shanti at the end of a havan? The word shanti means peace and it is recited not just at the end of havans, but also at other times during most pujas. There is a well known Vedic prayer called Shanti Patha that asks for peace throughout creation that is commonly recited at the end of havans. Here is a translation: “May we find peace in the sky above us and in the highest reaches of heaven. May we find peace on land and in the waters. May all herbs and the food that sustains us bring us physical and spiritual peace. May we find peace in every region of this divine creation. Let us seek ultimate peace in that Supreme God. Let peace reign throughout the world!”

Why do we chant Om?

At its most basic level the word “om” is a solemn affirmation and respectful assent somewhat on par with Amen in the Jewish and Christian traditions. Om is uttered at the beginning and end of sacred prayers. The word first appears in the Upanishads as a mystical sound and the object of deep meditation. There are, of course, many works written on the significance and meaning of this sound. Most commonly it is divided into three parts a, u, m, and meaning is been given to each part. In the Mandukya Upanishad the letter “a” represents waking consciousness, the letter “u” represents dream consciousness, and the letter “m” represents the consciousness of deep sleep, and finally the whole word is said to represent a 4th state of consciousness which is unknowable, unspeakable and “into which the whole world passes.” Another interpretation equates “a” with Vishnu, “u” with Shiva and “m” with Brahma. Yet another interpretation equates Om with the Greek, “logos,” “the word”, found at the beginning of St John’s gospel. Others suggest that the syllable Om should not be analyzed or interpreted at all, that it just is. The simplest understanding is that the sound of Om is the sound of God.

The words bhajana and kirtana both mean “to praise” or “to glorify,” therefore, a bhajan or a kirtan is the praising of a deity through song, music and dance. Hindus from different parts of India will use one term over the other, in much the same way that havan and homa are interchanged by devotees from different regions of India. Apart from praising a deity through song and music, bhajan can also have the added meaning of “spiritual practice.” A devotee, for example, may have a personal bhajan that he or she practices on a daily basis that may include puja, japa, study, meditation, prayer, and so on.

Used in the sense of praise and glorification, bhajana and kirtana involve a group of devotees coming together in a temple, hall or home, with musical instruments to sing the glories of a Deity or, more usually, many Deities. Bhajana and Kirtana are often preceded by a short puja for sanctification and to evoke the Deities who are the object of veneration. At the conclusion of bhajan and kirtan, prasada, food offered to the deity, is always distributed. Without this prasada the program is not complete.

Kirtana also has a variation called sankirtana which is the public praise and glorification of a Deity. Sankirtana parties, groups of devotees, go into the public areas of a city and walk down the streets or sit in the parks singing and chanting the names and a Deity. The Hare Krishna movement is famous for the performance of sankirtana in many Western cities. In India sankirtana is commonly performed by many other groups of devotees as well.

Simply stated, a mantra is a religious utterance composed in Sanskrit verse and taken from the some part of the Vedas. In other words, a mantra is a piece of Vedic poetry. The verses of the Vedas, including both the Shruti Vedas as well as the Smriti Vedas, are mostly written in verse and therefore are considered mantras. The reason the Vedas are primarily composed in verse as opposed to prose is because they were originally meant to be memorized, not written down, and verse is much easier to memorize than prose.

A mantra is also an utterance composed in a special way to effect a certain result. For example, there can be a specific mantra addressed to a certain Deity, which when chanted properly, is thought to evoke the presence and powers of that Deity. The Gayatri mantra is one such example. The Hare Krishna mantra is another example. In these cases the mantras are often chanted over and over again in a process called japa. The repetition of mantras is called mantra-japa and a devotee many take a vow to repeat a certain mantra many times a day. Often during initiation (diksha) a teacher (guru) will give a special mantra to a disciple and ask him to chant it a certain number of times a day on a set of beads called a japa-mala, similar to a rosary.

A mantra can also be used as part of a spell or charm. There are portions of the Vedas that contain such mantras meant to achieve various purposes. Mantras also have a use in meditation to help achieve a certain state of consciousness. One derivation for the word mantra is man+tra. Man means the mind (from manas) and tra means “to cross,” so a mantra is an utterance that ‘crosses the mind.” In meditation the mind is “crossed over” or silenced. Hence the meaning of the term mantra.