Anandrushi Abhinandan Granth

Author(s): Vijaymuni Shastri, Devendramuni
Publisher: Maharashtra Sthanakwasi Jain Sangh Puna

Page 760

The Vedic Gayatri Mantra & Its Metamorphosis in the Jainism
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CIAORIAL
Vedic seer Viśvāmitra, originally the son of king Gāthin (Gādhi) Kuśika of Kānyakubja.10 The text of the formulae is as follows:
Ornibhūr/bhuvah svah tat savitur varen yar bhargo devasya dhimahi/dhiyo yo nah pracodayät//
Herein God Savitar's power is invoked in order to stimulate one's thought-power. The God's power of stimulation is tranferred to the spiritual world, and he becomes the inspirer and quickener of thought ; as Savitar awakens the world to do its work, so he awakens the spirit of man : the morning glow is an emblem of the inward illumination which the earnest worshipper or student desires for himself at the beginning of the day, or in the post-Vedic period at the beginning of the Vedic study. 11 (II) THE VEDIC INTERPRETATION
(A) One of the earliest authentic Upanishdic extolment of the Gāyatri has been preserved by the Vedic tradition in the Chāndogya Upanişad,12 where the nomenclature "Gāyatri' is derived from the two roots Ugai and trai, meaning literally, 'that which, singing, protects'.13 The meaning of the formulae as a whole stands thus :
OM! The earthly, atmospheric and celestial spheres (bhur bhuvaḥ svah)! Let us contemplate the wondrous solar spirit of the Divine Creator (tat savitur devasya varenyam bhargo dhimahi)! May he direct our minds (yo naḥ dhiyaḥ pracodayāt) !14
(B) The Gāyatri-vyākaraṇa of Yogi Yajñavalkya explains it in the following way: "Tat, means that. Tat is apparently here treated as in the objective case, agreeing with varenyam, etc., but others holding that the vyāhrtiBhūr bhuvah svah--forms part of, and should be linked with, the rest of the Gāyatri treat that as part of a genitive compound connected with the previous vyāhști (in which case it is teşām). The word yat, “which" is to be understood (it may, however, be said that yat is there in yo nah). Savituḥ is the possessive case of Savits, derived from the root Vsu, "to bring forth". Savits is, therefore, the Bringer-forth of all that exists. The Sun (Sürya) is the cause of all that exists, and of the state in which it exists. Bringing forth and creating all things, it is called Savitr......By Bhargah is meant the Aditya-devatā, dwelling in the region of the Sun (Surya-inandala) in all His might and glory. He is to the Sun what our spirit (Ātmā) is to our body. Though He is in the region of the Sun, in the outer or material sphere, He also dwells in our inner selves. He is the light of the light in the solar circle, and is the light of the lives of all beings....... In short, that Being whom the Sādhaka realizes in the region of his heart is the Aditya in the heavenly firmament. The two are one. The word is derived in two ways: (1) From the root Bhrj, “to ripen, mature, destroy, reveal, shine." In this derivation Surya is He who matures and transforms all things. He Himself shines and reveals all things by His light. And it is He who at the final Dissolution (Pralaya) will in His form of destructive Fire (Kālāgni) destroy all things. (2) From bha "dividing all things into different classes"; ra "colour, for He produces the colour of all created objects"; ga "constantly
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