Gayatri - an essential subject

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A mantra is a Vedic hymn. The gayatri mantra is a very special Vedic hymn, and oozes with auspiciousness and purity. Not everyone is fortunate enough to be able to recite this hymn, and according to scriptures, not everyone should do so. One needs to be spiritually very qualified and pure to be able to recite this hymn; hence, it is given during one's second initiation secretly, through one's spiritual master. Therefore, people who recite this mantra without any spiritual qualification commit a grave sin. Its significance is evident by the fact that it is the beginning of all Vedic mantras.

Srila Prabhupada's books, lectures, conversations and letters offer a comprehensive presentation of this essential subject as seen in the Vaniquotes Gayatri category. An introduction from his books is given below in the following 8 quotes.

Quotes from Srila Prabhupada's books


vanipedia.org 		O lord, you are the three Vedas personified. The seven seas are your abdomen, and the mountains are your bones. All drugs, creepers and vegetables are the hairs on your body, the Vedic mantras like Gāyatrī are the seven layers of your body, and the Vedic religious system is the core of your heart. (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 8.7.28)



vanipedia.org 		As the sun arises, one should chant the Vedic mantra beginning with the Gāyatrī. The sun is the symbolic representation of the eyes of the Supreme Lord. Mahārāja Bharata lamented that although the sun was going to set, due to the poor animal's absence, he could not find anything auspicious. Bharata Mahārāja considered himself most unfortunate, for due to the animal's absence, there was nothing auspicious for him in the presence of the sun. (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 5.8.19)



vanipedia.org 		Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is identical with the Vedic hymn known as the Kāma-gāyatrī, which is composed of twenty-four and a half syllables. Those syllables are compared to moons that arise in Kṛṣṇa. Thus all three worlds are filled with desire. (Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 21.125)



vanipedia.org 		In the spiritual world such sex pleasure appears to the enjoyer to be more and more relishable with each new feature. In the material world, however, sex enjoyment becomes distasteful after a few minutes only, and it is never permanent. Because Kṛṣṇa appears very much sexually inclined, He is called the new Cupid in the spiritual world. There is no material inebriety in such desire, however. Gāyantaṁ trāyate yasmād gāyatrī tvaṁ tataḥ smṛtā: one who chants the Gāyatrī mantra is gradually delivered from the material clutches. In other words, that which delivers one from material entanglement is called Gāyatrī. (Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 8.138)



vanipedia.org 		The opulences of the universal form of the Lord are described herein. It is said that His mouth is the generating center of all kinds of voices, and its controlling deity is the fire demigod. And His skin and other six layers of bodily construction are the representative generating centers of the seven kinds of Vedic hymns, like the Gāyatrī. Gāyatrī is the beginning of all Vedic mantras, and it is explained in the first volume of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 2.6.1)



vanipedia.org 		When the sound vibration of Kṛṣṇa's flute is expressed through the mouth of Brahmā, it becomes gāyatrī. Thus by being influenced by the sound vibration of Kṛṣṇa's flute, Brahmā, the supreme creature and first living entity of this material world, was initiated as a brāhmaṇa. (Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 31)



vanipedia.org 		The art of literary expression, uṣṇik, was generated from the hairs on the body of the almighty Prajāpati. The principal Vedic hymn, gāyatrī, was generated from the skin, triṣṭup from the flesh, anuṣṭup from the veins, and jagatī from the bones of the lord of the living entities. (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 3.12.45)



vanipedia.org 		The Vedic hymn known as Kāma-gāyatrī describes the face of Kṛṣṇa as the king of all moons. In metaphorical language, there are many different full moons, but they are all one in Kṛṣṇa. There is the full moon of His face, the full moons of His cheeks, the full moon of the sandalwood-pulp spot on His forehead, which is a half-moon, and the beautiful full moons of His fingernails and toenails. In this way there are twenty-four and a half moons, and Kṛṣṇa is the central figure of all of them. (Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 10)


Gayatri - explore more within this category.

Vanipedia has now over 903 introductory articles compiled from Srila Prabhupada's books under the series titled Essential Subjects. All these articles can be seen in the Table of Content on the right side of this article and also here in this Umbrella Category. Browse through them to relish the breadth and depth of Srila Prabhupada's teachings - There is a subject for everyone.


   
 

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