Gayatri Mantra

Introduction

Overview

• Also known as the Savitri Mantra, the Gayatri Mantra is found in the Rig Veda (3.62.10).
• It’s cited in Vedic texts, in the Bhagavad Gita and in the Pali Canon, a Buddhist text.
• It is one of the oldest Sanskrit mantras and is highly revered.
• It is a meditation on spiritual light, a prayer to the realm of truth / sacred source to illuminate / liberate / enlighten our intellect.
• It is considered “supreme in bestowing enlightenment.” (Thomas Ashley-Farrand)
• Rolf Sovik explains that the Gayatri is a sandhya meditation, thus traditionally chanted at dawn and sunset. The Sanskrit word sandhyameans junctures, referring to the junctures of day and night, or the twilight hours. Other sources include noon along with sunrise and sunset as the transition times during which the mantra is traditionally chanted.
• “It is best chanted a minimum of three times each session.” (Roger Gabriel)