naaraayaNa gaayatrii

[MANTRALAURA at DELPHI.COM]

namaskaaraM Ravi,

  Gaayatrii metres have 24 syllables - 3 lines
of 8 syllables each. What I have found to be
called the "viShNu gaayatrii" is written
as follows:

  naaraayaNaaya vidmahe
  vaasudevaaya dhiimahi
  tanno viShNuH prachodayaat |

  "We know naaraayaNa;
   we meditate on vaasudeva;
   may viShNu inspire that (knowledge
     and meditation) of ours."

  The above translation is one that I found
in the book entitled, "gaayatrii" by I.K.
Taimni. However, the following are meanings
for the words:

naaraayaNaaya = to be or act like naaraayaNa
vidmahe = vid (to wish to know, to know, to
  understand, to learn, to be conscious of)
  + mahe (honor, revere, exalt, rejoice)
vaasudevaaya = to be or act like vaasudeva
dhiimahi = meditation, religious thought
tanno = that of ours
viShNuH = (used a subject)
prachodayaat = to inspire, to request, to
  make known

  We honor and know naaraayaNa;
  Our meditation is on vaasudeva;
  May viShNu inspire our knowledge and
    meditation.

  Please let me know if this interpretation of
the mantra is acceptable.

OM shaantiH, shaantiH, shaantiH

dhanyavaadaH,
  Mantralaura

>From  Thu Feb 19 12:53:36 1998
Message-Id: <THU.19.FEB.1998.125336.0500.>
Date: Thu, 19 Feb 1998 12:53:36 -0500
Reply-To: chandran at tidalwave.net
To: "Advaita (non-duality) with reverence" <ADVAITA-L at TAMU.EDU>
From: Ram Chandran <chandran at TIDALWAVE.NET>
Organization: Personal
Subject: Brihadaaranyaka Upanishad - Conversation Between Yaajnavalkya and
        Maitreyi
Comments: To: Advaita List <Advaita-L at tamu.edu>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

Advaita in a nutshell: An extract from the conversation between
Yaajnavalkya and Maitreyi about the non-duality of the Atman. (From the
fourth Braahmana of the second chapter of first kaanda)

Maitreyi said, 'Here you have bewildered me, Sir, by saying that when He
is gone there is no more consciouness.'

Yaajnavalkya replied, 'Surely, I am not saying anything betwildering. It
is wisdom enough, my dear. For when there is duality, as it were, then
one smells another, one sees another, one hears another, one speaks to
another, one thinks of another and one understands another. But when
everything has become the SELF then by what and whom should one see, by
what and whom should one hear, by what and to whom should one speak, by
what and of whom should one think, and by what and whom should one
understand? By what should one know that by which all this is known? By
what, my dear, should one know the knower?'

--
Ram Chandran
9374 Peter Roy Ct.
Burke, VA 22015
Ph: 703-912-5790

>From  Fri Feb 20 06:51:15 1998
Message-Id: <FRI.20.FEB.1998.065115.0500.>
Date: Fri, 20 Feb 1998 06:51:15 -0500
Reply-To: chandran at tidalwave.net
To: "Advaita (non-duality) with reverence" <ADVAITA-L at TAMU.EDU>
From: Ram Chandran <chandran at TIDALWAVE.NET>
Organization: Personal
Subject: Advaita in a Nutshell - Brihadaaranyaka Upanishad
Comments: To: Advaita List <Advaita-L at tamu.edu>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

Advaita in a nutshell

Maitreyi said, 'Here you have bewildered me, Sir, by saying that when He
is gone there is no more consciouness.'

Yaajnavalkya replied, 'Surely, I am not saying anything betwildering. It
is wisdom enough, my dear. For when there is duality, as it were, then
one smells another, one sees another, one hears another, one speaks to
another, one thinks of another and one understands another. But when
everything has become the SELF then by what and whom should one see, by
what and whom should one hear, by what and to whom should one speak, by
what and of whom should one think, and by what and whom should one
understand? By what should one know that by which all this is known? By
what, my dear, should one know the knower?'

Source: An extract from the conversation between Yaajnavalkya and
Maitreyi about the non-duality of the Atman. (From the fourth Braahmana
of the second chapter of first kaanda)

--
Ram Chandran
9374 Peter Roy Ct.
Burke, VA 22015
Ph: 703-912-5790