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Gayatri (gāyatrī) is the feminine form of gāyatra, a Sanskrit word for a song or a hymn. Gayatri is the name of a vedic poetic meter of 24 syllables (three couplets of eight syllables each), or any hymn composed in this meter. In Hinduism, it is one mantra in particular, and a goddess as its personification.


1 Mantra

The Gayatri Mantra (also called Savitri) is the most revered mantra in Hinduism. It consists of the prefix om bhur bhuvah svah, a formula taken from the Yajurveda, and the verse 3.62.10 of the Rig Veda (which is an example of the Gayatri meter).

In illustrations, the goddess often sits on a lotus flower and appears with five heads and five pairs of hands, representing the incarnations of the goddess as Parvati, Saraswati etc.

1.1 Text

See Sanskrit for details of pronunciation.

ॐ भूर्भुवस्वः ।
तत् सवितुर्वरेण्यं ।
भर्गो देवस्य धीमहि ।
धियो यो नः प्रचोदयात् ॥
oṃ bhūr bhuvaḥ svaḥ
(a) tát savitúr váreniyam
(b) bhárgo devásya dhīmahi
(c) dhíyo yó naḥ pracodáyāt

1.2 Translation

Griffith ( 1896):
(a,b) "May we attain that excellent glory of Savitar the God:"
(c) "So May he stimulate our prayers."

word-by-word explanation:

2 Goddess

Originally the personification of the mantra, the goddess Gayatri is considered the veda mata, the mother of all Vedas and the consort of the God Brahma and also the personification of the all-pervading ParabrahmanThis article is about the concept of transcendent reality in Hinduism. See also Brahmin and Brahman (disambiguation). In the Vedantic (and subsequently Yogic) schools of Hinduism, Brahman is the signifying name given to the concept of the unchanging, infi, the ultimate, unchanging reality that lies behind all phenomena.

Gayatri is typically portrayed as seated on a red lotus, signifying wealth. She either apears as having five heads with the ten eyes looking in the eight directions plus the earth and sky and ten arms holding all the weapons of VishnuVishnu is an aspect of God, or Brahman, whom Hindus pray to. He is the second God of the Trimurti (also called the Hindu Trinity), along with Brahma and Shiva. Known as the Preserver he is most famously identified with his avatars, or incarnations of God,, symbolizing all her reincarnations. Or as acompanied by a swanCygnus ''Coscoroba Swans are large water birds of the family Anatidae, which also includes geese and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae. Swans usually mate for life, though "divorce" does sometimes occur, pa, holding a book in one hand and a cure in the other, as the goddess of Education.



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