Fwd: Gayatri MantrA- scientific view

Ganesh Deivashikamani ganesh_d at HOTMAIL.COM
Sun May 30 18:19:09 CDT 1999


Dear List Members

One of my friend forwarded me this mail. Even though it has got nothing to
do with the list. I just thought I would share this mail with you people.

Ganesh Deivasikhamani
>
>
>
>>From: Vijay G Hariharan <vharih1 at gl.umbc.edu>
>>In case you haven't read this before...
>>
>>Read, analyse, make your own conclusion.
>>Any questions? direct it to gods in the sky,
>>Not to the terrestrial god vijay!
>>
>>
>>Gayatri MantraA scientific view
>>-Dr Tanmaya
>>
>>Gayatri mantra has been bestowed the greatest importance in Vedic dharma.
>>This
>>mantra has also been termed as Savitri and Ved-Mata, the mother of the
>>Vedas.
>>The literal meaning of the mantra is: O God! You are Omnipresent,
>>Omnipotent and
>>Almighty. You are all Light. You are all Knowledge and Bliss. You are
>>Destroyer
>>of fear, You are Creator of this Universe, You are the Greatest of all. We
>>bow
>>and meditate upon Your light. You guide our intellect in the right
>>direction.
>>The mantra, however, has a great scientific import too, which somehow got
>>lost
>>in the literary tradition. The modern astrophysics and astronomy tell us
>>that
>>our Galaxy called Milky Way or Akash-Ganga contains approximately 100,000
>>million of stars. Each star is like our sun having its own planet system.
>>
>>We know that the moon moves round the earth and the earth moves round the
>>sun
>>along with the moon. All planets round the sun. Each of the above bodies
>>revolves round at its own axis as well. Our sun along with its family
>>takes one
>>  round of the galactic centre in 22.5 crore years. Our All galaxies
>>including
>>ours are moving away at a terrific velocity of 20,000 miles per second.
>>And now
>>  the alternative scientific meaning of the mantra step by step:
>>
>>(A) Om bhur bhuvah swah:
>>Bhur the earth, bhuvah the planets (solar family), swah the Galaxy.
>>
>>We observe that when an ordinary fan with a speed of 900 RPM (rotations
>>per
>>minute) moves, it makes noise. Then, one can imagine, what great noise
>>would be
>>  created when the galaxies move with a speed of 20,000 miles per second.
>>This is
>>  what this portion of the mantra explains that the sound produced due to
>>the
>>fast-moving earth, planets and galaxies is Om. The sound was heard during
>>meditation by Rishi Vishvamitra, who mentioned it to other colleagues. All
>>of
>>them, then unanimously decided to call this sound Om the name of God,
>>because
>>this sound is available in all the three periods of time, hence it is sat
>>(permanent). Therefore, it was the first ever revolutionary idea to
>>identify
>>formless God with a specific title (form) called upadhi. Until that time,
>>everybody recognized God as formless and nobody was prepared to accept
>>this new
>>idea. In the Gita also, it is said, "Omiti ekaksharam brahma", meaning
>>that the
>>name of the Supreme is Om, which contains only one syllable (8/12).
>>
>>This sound Om heard during samadhi was called by all the seers nada-brahma
>>(a
>>very great noise), but not a noise that is normally beyond a specific
>>amplitude
>>  and limits of decibels suited to human hearing. Hence the rishis called
>>this
>>sound Udgith musical sound of the above, i.e., heaven. They also noticed
>>that
>>the infinite mass of galaxies moving with a velocity of 20,000
>>miles/second was
>>  generating a kinetic energy = 1/2 MV2 and this was balancing the total
>>energy
>>consumption of the cosmos.  Hence they named it Pranavah, which means the
>>body
>>(vapu) or store house of energy (prana).
>>
>>(B) Tat savitur varenyam:
>>Tat that (God), savitur the sun (star), varenyam worthy of bowing or
>>respect.
>>Once the form of a person along with the name is known to us, we may
>>locate the
>>  specific person. Hence the two titles (upadhi) provide the solid ground
>>to
>>identify the formless God, Vishvamitra suggested. He told us that we could
>>know
>>  (realize) the unknowable formless God through the known factors, viz.,
>>sound
>>Om and light of suns (stars).
>>
>>A mathematician can solve an equation x2+y2=4; if x=2; then y can be known
>>and
>>so on. An engineer can measure the width of a river even by standing at
>>the
>>river bank just by drawing a triangle. So was the scientific method
>>suggested by
>>  Vishvamitra in the mantra in the next portion as under:-
>>
>>(C) Bhargo devasya dheemahi:
>>Bhargo the light, devasya of the deity, dheemahi we should meditate.  The
>>rishi
>>instructs us to meditate upon the available form (light of suns) to
>>discover the
>>  formless Creator (God). Also he wants us to do japa of the word Om (this
>>is
>>understood in the Mantra). This is how the sage wants us to proceed, but
>>there
>>is a great problem to realise it, as the human mind is so shaky and
>>restless
>>that without the grace of the Supreme (Brahma) it cannot be controlled.
>>Hence
>>Vishvamitra suggests the way to pray Him as under:
>>
>>(D) Dhiyo yo nah prachodayat:
>>Dhiyo intellect, yo who, nah  we all, prachodayat guide to right
>>direction.  O
>>God! Deploy our intellect on the right path.
>>
>>
>>Full scientific interpretation of the Mantra:
>>The earth (bhur), the planets (bhuvah), and the galaxies (swah) are moving
>>at a
>>very great velocity, the sound produced is Om, (the name of formless God.)
>>That
>>God (tat), who manifests Himself in the form of light of suns (savitur) is
>>worthy of bowing/respect (varenyam).  We all, therefore, should meditate
>>(dheemahi) upon the light (bhargo) of that deity (devasya) and also do
>>chanting
>>of Om.  May He (yo) guide in right direction (prachodayat) our (nah)
>>intellect
>>(dhiyo).
>>
>>So we notice that the important points hinted in the mantra are:-
>>(1) The total kinetic energy generated by the movement of galaxies acts as
>>umbrella and balances the total energy consumption of the cosmos. Hence it
>>was
>>named as the Pranavah (body of energy). This is equal to 1/2 mv2 (Mass of
>>galaxies x velocity2).
>>
>>(2) Realizing the great importance of the syllable Om, the other later
>>date
>>religions adopted this word with a slight change in accent, viz., amen and
>>ameen.
>>
>>(3) The God could be realized through the saguna (gross) upasana (method),
>>i.e.,
>>(a) by chanting the name of the supreme as Om and
>>(b) by meditating upon the light emitted by stars (suns).
>>
>
>
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