What does Gayatri mean?
It means "meter"! That's right. The word Gayatri means poetic meter. There is a Gayatri for pretty much each and every deity. The Gaytri meter is 24 syllables arranged in three sets of 8 syllables.
When we talk about "the" Gayatri we are referring to the Savitri Gayatri which is to the power of the Sun. The goal of the Gayatri Mantra is Goddess Savitri who is the animating power, or Shakti, of Savitur the solar God. Savitur is associated with the sun at sunrise who rides a chariot pulled by 7 horses. (Sūrya is the sun descending.)
Goddess Gayatri is also called "Veda-Mata" or the Mother of the Vedas. It is the foundation, the reality, the resonance behind the entire universe. Much of the ancient Rg Veda texts are written in the Gayatri meter.
Just as the night conceals the Sun, our own state of ignorance conceals the brilliance of the inner sun or Self. The Gayatri is meant to transform our inner coldness and the aspects of our being that are frozen, hardened. It is a way to illumine our own intellect with spiritual consciousness instead of being solely motivated and propelled by our own small consciousness.
The Gaytri is a poetic prayer whose power is revealed with repetition.
It means "meter"! That's right. The word Gayatri means poetic meter. There is a Gayatri for pretty much each and every deity. The Gaytri meter is 24 syllables arranged in three sets of 8 syllables.
When we talk about "the" Gayatri we are referring to the Savitri Gayatri which is to the power of the Sun. The goal of the Gayatri Mantra is Goddess Savitri who is the animating power, or Shakti, of Savitur the solar God. Savitur is associated with the sun at sunrise who rides a chariot pulled by 7 horses. (Sūrya is the sun descending.)
Goddess Gayatri is also called "Veda-Mata" or the Mother of the Vedas. It is the foundation, the reality, the resonance behind the entire universe. Much of the ancient Rg Veda texts are written in the Gayatri meter.
Just as the night conceals the Sun, our own state of ignorance conceals the brilliance of the inner sun or Self. The Gayatri is meant to transform our inner coldness and the aspects of our being that are frozen, hardened. It is a way to illumine our own intellect with spiritual consciousness instead of being solely motivated and propelled by our own small consciousness.
The Gaytri is a poetic prayer whose power is revealed with repetition.