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The Hidden Power of Gayatri
The 24 letters of the Gayatri mantra represent 24 lessons of wisdom. They contain the essence of the teachings given in the Vedas, Upanishads, Puranas and Shastras. By internalising these, a person can attain personal and collective peace and happiness.
Gayatri, Gita, Ganga, and Gau (cow) are the four pillars of Indian culture. Of these four, Gayatri occupies the primary position. Whoever has known the mystery of Gayatri, needs to know nothing more.
All scriptures attest to the importance of Gayatri in one voice. All rishis and sages profusely sing the paeans of Mother Gayatri. The copious writings on the importance of Gayatri in different scriptures, if compiled together, will form a tome by itself. Lord Krishna has himself said in the Gita - “G³yatrº chandas³maha®” ( I myself am the Gayatri).
There is no harm in performing other types of upasana (worship) along with Gayatri upasana. The truth is that the worship of any god or goddess is fruitful only when that particular god or goddess is first awakened by Gayatri mantra.
It has been said:- “Yasya kasy³pi mantrasya puraïcarañam³rbhet | vy³h•ti traya sa®yukta g³yatrº cayuta® japet || N•sinh³rka var³h³ñ³® kaul³ t³ntrik³ tath³ | Bin³ japtv³tu g³yatrº tatsarva®niÌphala bhavet ||” Whatever mantra be practised, that should be recited along with the Gayatri mantra. Be it upasana of Narisinha, Surya, Varah, or use of tantric or other rituals, they all remain fruitless without taking the Gayatri along.
Gayatri is the supreme and the best mantra. Whatever can be achieved by any other mantra can also be achieved by the Gayatri. The remarkable thing is that even if japa of Gayatri is not flawless it does not produce any ill effect. There is no other mantra simpler, less time consuming, and quicker resulting than the Gayatri. The 24 letters of Gayatri hide within them many scientific and other kinds of knowledge. The secrets of making many divine weapons, making of gold and other precious metals, invaluable medicines and chemicals, of supernatural powers, of boons and curses, cures of many kinds, of surgical methods, esoteric knowledge, prana vidya, inner vision, unconventional tantric practices, kundalini chakra, dus mahavidya, mahamatrika, roopantaran ( form changing), seeing the invisible, telepathy and the like -- the secret seeds and symbols of so many esoteric arts and sciences are present within the Gayatri. This knowledge had once made us jagatguru and chakravarti (world teacher and world leader), and the land of immense riches.
Today, we have forgotten all this, and consequently have become weak and feeble in all respects. If we are able to revive all these vidyas, inherent in Gayatri, we can regain our lost glory. Gayatri upasana removes the dirt and filth accumulated over the soul, and the pure form of soul reappears. Just as utensils start shining again after they are rubbed and cleaned, the soul too, after Gayatri sadhana, becomes clean, pure and shining with all its divine powers and attributes.
There are many spiritual methods or sadhanas for cleansing of the soul. Each has its own importance and result. Swadhyaya (study of inspiring literature) gives knowledge of sanmarg (right path). Satsang (company of virtuous people) contributes in making of character and sanskara (inherent tendencies). Pilgrimage strengthens spiritual sentiments. Kirtan (musical chanting of God’s name) gives practice of devotion. Charity strengthens theistic tendency. Thus all these means and methods have been propounded by our rishis after much consideration. But among all these, the importance of tapa is the greatest. The intense fire of tapa burns all the filth and deposits, and generates in the soul that immense power which can enable resolution of all the temporal and spiritual problems.
One can acquire myriad kinds of siddhis (spiritual and divine powers) with the help of tapa. That is why, tapa sadhana has been considered as the most potent of instruments. Gayatri upasana is a visible tapascharya (penance). It immediately enhances inner strength and leads to spiritual transformation (aatmik kayakalpa). The moment Gayatri sadhana is started, the sadhaka starts feeling that a new kind of change has started within him. Enhancement of righteous values leads to decrease in negative thoughts, attributes and emotions. Noble attributes like humility, piety, sweetness, honesty, truthfulness, compassion, love, satisfaction, peace, amiability, affection — all start increasing day by day. As a result of this, such a sadhaka endears himself to the people around him who reciprocate by praise, gratitude and respectful behaviour towards him. Besides this, sadgunas (noble attributes) are by themselves so sweet that such sadhakas always feel inner satisfaction and divine happiness.
Gayatri sadhana effects a revolutionary change in the mind of sadhaka. His insight and vivek (power of discrimination) are greatly increased, and thus many ignorance born sufferings are automatically gone. On account of destiny and karmaphala, bad times necessarily keep coming in everyone’s life. An ordinary person remains always apprehensive and feels extreme pain at any kind of loss, separation, disease, hostility and other such setbacks. But a Gayatri sadhaka, fully endowed as he is with attributes of selfconfidence, detachment, forbearance, patience and faith in God easily lives through these trying times. Even in the face of most adverse situation, he is able to find a path of happiness.
In ancient times, the rishis performed great tapa and yoga sadhana, and acquired miraculous powers of anima, mahima, and other siddhis. Their boons and curses were highly effective. Scriptures are full of anecdotes about the powers possessed by the rishis. The tapa and yoga sadhana of these rishis were done on the foundation of Gayatri. The 84 kinds of mahavidyas have all emerged from the Gayatri mahavidya.
Gayatri upasana is a type of spiritual exercise which makes the body healthy, strong and well organised. Even if the desired result is not achieved to full extent, many other benefits accrue. It is like someone practising wrestling daily with a view to defeating a big wrestler; even if he does not win that bout, his exercises and dietary disciplines do not go in vain. He might not have won, but in the process he has gained vital force, energy, strength, disease resistance, longevity, mental sharpness and other such capabilities. Thus what is pre-ordained may not be avoided fully, but upasana gives many beneficial results in other ways.
Our pantheon of rishis includes great names like Vashishtha, Yagyavalkya, Atri, Vishwamitra, Parashar, Bhardwaj, Gautam, Vyasa, Shukdev, Narada, Dadhichi, Valmiki, Chyawan, Shankha, Lomas, Taittareya, Jabali, Shringi, Uddalak, Vaishampayan, Durvasa, Parshuram, Pulastya, Dattatreya, Agastya, Sanatkumar, Kanva, Shaunak and many others. Whoever has read their life histories knows that the foundation stone upon which their greatness, powers and siddhis were built was none other than Gayatri. Like in the ancient period, the path is still the same. Times have changed, not the path.
In the intervening long period of darkness and ignorance during foreign invasions, numerous sects and thoughts emerged which developed their own different paths of sadhana and worship. Still none of these sadhanas, except Gayatri, could prove so potent as to take the sadhaka higher and higher to a condition of complete spiritual attainment (purna siddhavastha). Whoever has attained full siddhi has compulsorily taken recourse to Gayatri. Throughout history, right since the time of Mahabharat, all the siddhas have walked this Gayatri highway. Their sects, holy books and methods might have been different, but none has forsaken the core path of Gayatri. In the modern time too, whoever has uplifted himself spiritually has been lucky to drink at the nectar of Vedmata’s blessings.
Gayatri is the female form of God. Mother is the greatest figure of love and affection in this world. If we worship God in female form, we receive Her immense blessings and affection. Mother worship also promotes feeling of respect and piousness towards women which is greatly needed by the world today.
Gayatri has been called ‘Kamdhenu’ on earth, because she quenches the thirst and hunger of the soul. Gayatri has also been called ‘Sudha’ because she provides the divine elixir which liberates soul from the cycle of birth and death. Gayatri is ‘Parasmani’ whose touch transforms the ‘iron’ of impurity and wickedness into pure gold. Gayatri is ‘Kalpavriksha’ under whose benign shadow a person can fulfil all his desires which are necessary and right. Gayatri is also ‘brahmastra’ because its sadhana and application never go astray.
There are hundreds of examples of persons who were living in penury, were suffering from all kinds of losses and were being crushed under debt, gradually overcame all hardships and rose to a position of envy for others by faithfully doing Gayatri upasana. There are examples of people with moderate education and working on inferior posts rising to high posts. Dimwitted people have become intelligent and even scholarly. Students whom no one expected to pass came out with flying colours. Amazing transformation in nature has been seen in many persons who were of ill temperament, were quarrelsome, or had bad habits.
The miraculous benefits of Gayatri sadhana have been seen in every field of life. Couples who always quarrelled became extremely loving towards each-other, feuding brothers patched up like Bharat milap; peace reigned supreme in families where there was daily bad blood and hostility. Where there was a constant atmosphere of court cases, litigation, murder and dacoity, there was now seen peace and fearlessness. Many a sadhaka has been cured of diseases under Gayatri’s protective umbrella. They have virtually returned from death-bed fighting successfully against TB, heart problems, ovarian problems, depression, cholera, plague, pneumonia and other ailments.
The minds which were once bursting with tension started breathing with rhythm and satisfaction. People suffering from continuous anxiety on account of loss of property, debt, girl’s marriage expenses, demise of loved ones, loss of livelihood, insult, incurable diseases, extreme poverty, fear of enemies, apprehension of a dark future – have received mental peace and comfort by the Mother’s blessings through various channels. Sometimes, it so happened that they got help from unexpected quarters. At other times, one or the other route of rescue suddenly flashed in their mind. On many occasions, they began to feel such self-confidence and strength within them as to easily bear the pain of bad times and come out unscathed.
Like men, women too, can easily do Gayatri upasana. The widows, especially, with the help of Gayatri, are able to achieve self-control and righteousness. From home itself, they can achieve self development and gain liberation. Gayatri sadhana by the unmarried girls helps them find good life-partners, good home and infinite fortune. The married achieve cordial conjugal life, peace and prosperity in home, and welfare of children. The pregnant women are blessed with healthy and intelligent children with long life.
Ideally, Gayatri sadhana should be done with full faith and devotion without any type of specific desire. The omnipresent and omniscient Mother Gayatri is a far better judge than ordinary mortals to know who needs what and when. If, however, for some reason the destined misfortune could not be avoided, the Mother does not let the labours of sadhaka go in vain, and blesses him with many benefits in other ways. The greatest benefit is self-upliftment which is an attribute to be cherished in itself, and to be achieved even by taking upon oneself all the sufferings of the world. A cynic too may do Gayatri upasana for some time just for trial. His disbelief would most certainly turn into belief.
Gayatri japa is an essential daily duty. Shirkers have been called shudra by the scripture writers. A human being is born in flesh and bone from the body of his biological mother, but he gets his spiritual life from Mother Gayatri. It is only after this second life - the spiritual life- that a person is called ‘dwija’ (the twice born). Wherever Gayatri sadhana is done regularly, there is continuous showering of peace and wellness.
Let us sing a hymn (19-1-71) of Atharva Veda which is prayer to Mother Gayatri for granting longevity, strength, power, fame, wealth and divine brilliance:
O® stut³ may³ vard³ vedam³t³ pracodyant³® p³vam³nº dvij³n³®| Âyu¡ pr³na® praj³® païu® kºrti® dravina® brahmavarcasa® mahyam datv³ vrajat brahmaloka®||

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