Mother's Day

My good friend Kiran thoughtfully initiated a small ceremony to celebrate and welcome Mother's Day (just noticed that the words sound similar to maatru deva!) at 12:00 AM today. We had an opportunity to offer our gratitude to all mothers in general, and to two wonderful mothers who were physically present in particular. Havish, Prapoorna and Kiran's (almost) 3-year old, graciously volunteered to blow the candle on Mother's Day cake!

From my personal experience, I strongly believe in the divinity of mothers (divinity is every where, but mothers tend to internalize it a lot better, through their unconditional love, I think). My father recently had overcome a very serious health threat, which doctor's called a miracle. I spoke to the physician and he said that my father's health recovery rate was unbelievable and that it was a pleasant surprise to him. I have a very strong feeling that my mother's prayers and positive vibes have a lot to do with his recovery. I think that transmission of positive energy by mothers have a lot to do with good things happening in children's lives. I am sure that the most of us had similar experiences.

On January 24, 1999*, my uncle, a scholar and a philosopher, took me for a walk in Tirupati, explained to me the power of Gayatri mata, and presented me the book Om Gayatri and Sandhya. Since Gayatri is considered Vedamata, I thought today would be a good day to reflect on Gayatri mantra. Here are some excerpts from an excellent book SUPER Science of Gayatri.

These four kinds of knowledge are off-shoots of that creative consciousness of Brahma which has been described in the ancient scriptures by the name of Gayatri. Thus, Gayatri is mother of four Vedas and it is, therefore, called Vedmata. Just as water manifests in four different forms of ice, vapour (cloud, dew, fog etc.), air (hydrogen,oxygen) and liquid, and fire manifests in the forms of burning, heat, light and movement, so also Gayatri manifests in the form of four Vedas, four kinds of knowledge. Gayatri is the mother and four Vedas her progeny.

It is also a blind belief promoted by retrogressive minds that Gayatri Sadhana is forbidden by shastras for women and low caste people (shoodra). All the children of God have equal rights to his gifts. Everybody uses the light of Sun and moon; air, water, river, tank, food etc. No particular caste can claim to have exclusive right in respect of any of them. God belongs to all, is all, and so His power, Gayatri,also belongs to all and is in all.

If persons living in India alone claim the right in respect of Gayatri what will happen to those Indians who have accepted citizenship of other countries? If Gayatri is regarded only for Hindus a ban will have to be imposed on those scientists who are conducting research in this respect in foreign countries. In fact, in this age of rationalism it is ridiculous to talk such absurdities.

The symbol of Gayatri Mata sitting on a swan means that the Sadhak should live a life of discriminating wisdom, purity and piety-like the royal swan (Rajhans). It is said about the Rajhans (royal swan) that it has the wisdom to discriminate good from the evil, to separate milk from water; to pick up only pearls and leave the pebbles. It never eats worms, insects etc. These are characteristics of a Rajhans. Ordinary swan lives on insects, cannot separate milk and water nor can it pick up pearls from the depths of the ocean.

Women have equal right with men to perform all Sadhanas relating to Gayatri described in this book. It has, however, been observed that housewives who are ever much busy in house-hold chores, who have small children to look after and are unable to maintain cleanliness cannot find time to take up difficult Sadhanas. They have to be provided with a technique of Sadhana which is easy and does not take much time. Those who cannot remember full Gayatri Mantra can make do with chanting the brief Panchakshari Mantra (Om bhoor bhuvaha Swaha).

Finally, here is Gayatri Mantra

ॐ भूर्भुव: स्वः ।
तत् सवितुर्वरेण्यं ।
भर्गो देवस्य धीमहि ।
धियो यो नः प्रचोदयात् ॥

Transliteration

oṃ bhūr bhuvaḥ svaḥ
(a) tát savitúr váreniyaṃ
(b) bhárgo devásya dhīmahi
(c) dhíyo yó naḥ pracodáyāt

Translation

om The sacred sound, see Om.
bhū 'earth'
bhuvas 'atmosphere'
svar 'light, heaven, space'
tat 'that'
savitúr of Savitr the god' (genitives of savitr-, 'stimulator, rouser; name of a sun-deity' and deva- 'god' or 'demi-god')
varenyam 'Fit to be worshipped' varenya- 'desirable, excellent'
bhargo 'Glory Effulgence' (radiance, lustre, splendour, glory)
devasya 'of God'
dhīmahi 'may we attain' (1st person plural middle optative of dhā- 'set, bring, fix' etc.)
dhíyaḥ naḥ 'our prayers' (accusative plural of dhi- 'thought, meditation, devotion, prayer' and naḥ enclitic personal pronoun)
yáḥ pracodáyāt 'who may stimulate' (nominative singular of relative pronoun yad-; causative 3rd person of pra-cud- 'set in motion, drive on, urge, impel')

Meaning

In short it is a prayer to the Almighty Supreme God, the Creator of entire cosmos, the essence of our life existence, who removes all our pains and sufferings and grants happiness beseeching His divine grace to imbibe within us His Divinity and Brilliance which may purify us and guide our righteous wisdom on the right path.

I believe that one of the reasons for the down fall of our country is unwillingness of the learned to share their knowledge freely (probably for power and their job security). I am glad that it is freely available for everyone now.

* I don't attribute this recollection to my memory. I just noticed his signature and date on this book!