Chandogya Upanishad 3.12.1-2 Lecture 150 on 26 October 2025
Full Transcript (Not Corrected)
Opening Invocation
ॐ जननीं सारदां देवीं रामकृष्णं जगदगुरुम पादपद्मे तयो: श्रित्वा प्रणमामि मुहुर्मुहु :
Om Jananim Saradam devim Ramakrishnam jagadgurum Padapadme tayoh shritva pranamami muhurmuhuh.
ॐ आप्यायन्तु ममाङ्गानि वाक्प्राणश्चक्षुः
श्रोत्रमथो बलमिन्द्रियाणि च सर्वाणि।
सर्वम् ब्रह्मोपनिषदम् माऽहं ब्रह्म
निराकुर्यां मा मा ब्रह्म
निराकरोद निराकरणमस्त्व निराकरणम् मेऽस्तु।
तदात्मनि निरते य उपनिषत्सु धर्मास्ते
मयि सन्तु ते मयि सन्तु।
ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः॥
oṃ āpyāyantu mamāṅgāni vākprāṇaścakṣuḥ
śrotramatho balamindriyāṇi ca sarvāṇi.
sarvam brahmopaniṣadam mā’haṃ brahma
nirākuryāṃ mā mā brahma
nirākaroda nirākaraṇamastva nirākaraṇam me’stu.
tadātmani nirate ya upaniṣatsu dharmāste
mayi santu te mayi santu.
oṃ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ
Translation
May my limbs, speech, vital force, eyes, ears, as also strength and all the organs become well developed. Everything is the Brahman revealed in the Upanishads. May I not deny Brahman. May not Brahman deny me. Let there be no spurning of me by Brahman. Let there be no rejection of Brahman by me. May all the virtues that are spoken of in the Upanishads repose in me who am engaged in the pursuit of the Self. May they repose in me. Om. Peace. Peace. Peace be unto all.
Introduction to the Gayatri Mantra
From today we will be discussing the Gāyatrī Mantra. This is the most universal, most sacred, most powerful, most needed and much less understood mantra.
Gāyatrī Mantra is the mother of all mantras. As the very name suggests, the very etymological meaning: Gāyantaṃ Trāyate Iti Gāyatrī – He who chants wholeheartedly with understanding of both the mantra as well as the Devatā, he will be saved.
The Meaning of Salvation
In this world, whenever we use these English words "saved," that word has many, many meanings. Wherever there is a trouble, that's a very temporary saving. But the real saving is when a person attains to the self-knowledge.
When a person knows: Kastvam? Koham? Kuta Āyātaḥ? – Who are you? Who am I? Where from have you come? Who are you? Who is me? Where from we have come? If we can know this: Tattvam Cintaya Tat Iha Bhārata – Find out. And it requires many lives of spiritual practice. That is the real meaning.
Sri Ramakrishna's Teaching on Gayatri
And so many millions of people chant this mantra every day. And Sri Ramakrishna, on the very first day when M met Sri Ramakrishna, he was expounding the very nature of Gāyatrī Mantra, condensing it in the most marvelous way. The entire Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, we can say in one way of speaking, is embedded in that teaching of Sri Ramakrishna:
Sandhyā merges in Gāyatrī. Gāyatrī merges in Om.
And into which does Om merge? No, Om doesn't need to merge. It is the only truth. Om is none other than Brahman. Om represents both the Saguṇa Brahma as well as the Nirguṇa Brahma.
And the attainment of Gāyatrī, realization of Gāyatrī is to know: I am Gāyatrī, I am Brahman. But this can be achieved. One can reach God only through God's grace.
Dhiyo Yo Naḥ Pracodayāt – I surrender myself completely that Pracodanā. Let God do what he wants to do with me. Śokali Tomāri Icchā, Icchā Moi Tārā Tume – Everything is thy will, O Mother. That is what we have to realize at every millisecond of our lives.
And that is why any number of times we have to study this Gāyatrī Mantra. And ultimately Gāyatrī merges in Om. And if someone understands what it means and just repeats Om, that's enough. That's what Sri Ramakrishna really meant. You don't need elaborate rituals.
Understanding Sri Ramakrishna as an Incarnation
In fact, Sri Ramakrishna's teachings are not being understood properly, much less followed properly. Ramakrishna is an incarnation of God. He only, God only incarnates himself. He incarnated in so many times, so many ways, so many forms.
But so far as we know, he incarnated as Buddha, as Christ, and as Chaitanya, as Sri Ramakrishna – not to speak of all those gods like Rāma, Kṛṣṇa, Daśāvatāras. Daśāvatāras means ten avatāras. Only ten avatāras? No. Infinite incarnations.
The Nature of Infinity
Time is infinite. Sṛṣṭi is infinite. Ananta. Anādi. Beginningless. Beginningless means infinite. And infinite means there will be no end also. There is no beginning. There is also no end. That is called infinity.
Then a question will come: Then what about liberation? Yes, a person, he can get out individually. But collectively, Pravāha-nitya – in Vedānta uses human brain to the fullest capacity. So they have gone confusing many people who are Vedāntic teachers. So they have imagined eternity in two ways: one is eternally eternal, another is that which is Pravāha-nitya, seemingly eternal.
Example is Saṃsāra. Even our earth – how many millions of years back it was formed. So if it is not formed here, it is formed elsewhere. It is formed everywhere. It is formed in myriad ways. Billions and billions of everything. Our earth is not the only thing. Ananta-koṭi-Brahmāṇḍa. And every Brahmāṇḍa (universe) has its own ruler: Ananta-koṭi-Brahmās. Wherever there is Brahmāṇḍa, that has to be looked after. And the one who looks after it is called Brahmā.
The Limitations of Understanding Infinity
So about infinity, we have no idea because our thoughts are limited. We understand everything through the prism of mind which is nothing other than time, space and causation.
Anyway, what is the point? Point is: how many incarnations have come? So when Sri Ramakrishna declared to Narendranath that the same one who incarnated as Rāma and Kṛṣṇa, the same being again incarnated or reincarnated in the form of Ramakrishna. But we should not misunderstand or limit.
Each avatāra is only from that one source – like an actor. He will be acting maybe in hundreds, thousands of cinemas, dramas. But every time his role will be different. Dress will be different. Speech will be slightly different. Of course, everything in this world is only repetition.
So Nāma, Rūpa which are nothing but pure dressing. That's why we need to be dressed down all the time. And that is what God does in the form of famines, floods, earthquakes, wars and everything that we can imagine in the most negative way.
The Grace of the Divine Mother
Anyway, what is meant? What I want to drive: Who can save any being? Only the grace of the Divine Mother. And that grace of the Divine Mother is called Gāyatrī. Gāyantam – those who take refuge in her.
Whenever we say: I meditate upon you – Bhargo Devasya Dhīmahi – We meditate upon the most marvelous, indescribable splendor of you. O Lord, please descend into our buddhi. Remove our buddhi and you sit there and you guide us. This is called Śaraṇāgati.
Gāyatrī Mantra is one of the best ways of surrendering ourselves to the Divine. And incidentally, the Divine is neither male nor female. Though we choose endearingly to call as my mother or as my father, father in heaven, whatever – that's only individual expression. Brahman is the best word. It is not he or she or it. It is beyond speech.
The Context of This Study
So naturally the question comes: Why are you taking up this subject here? Because in the beginning I described so many upāsanās that are occurring in the Chāndogya very briefly. Then when we completed the most important chapters dealing with Sat, Ānanda and Cit in the 6th, 7th and 8th chapters, we have completed it successfully, I hope.
What is success? To understand crystal clearly and to develop faith in them. And to practice as much as possible. And whether it is Bhagavad Gītā – Bhagavad Gītā is considered as the very essence of all the Vedānta. Vedānta means Upaniṣads. And the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna is the very essence of the Bhagavad Gītā.
And the very first chapter is the summary of the entire Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna. And the meeting between Sri M and Sri Ramakrishna, the very beginning is the very essence.
The Essence of All Scripture
How come? Just now I mentioned already. Sri Ramakrishna summarized the essence of every scripture, belonging to even future religions. All rituals they come to an end naturally. They drop off themselves when our mind is fixed on the essence of the rituals, which is called Mantra Chaitanya, herein called by Sri Ramakrishna as Gāyatrī. And Gāyatrī is also an expression. But there is an inexpressible root.
Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa in the Bhagavad Gītā, especially in the 15th chapter, is not talking about a tree. Is talking about this world. And this world is nothing but manifestation of Brahman with name and form. That's all. So the root is nothing but the essence. Root means the essence is nothing but Brahman. That is pure consciousness called Chaitanyam.
So that is the Chaitanyam: Gāyatrī merges in Om. Om, as we saw in the Māṇḍūkya Upaniṣad in the very first mantra, it is nothing but pure Brahman. Whatever was, whatever is, whatever is going to be in future, everything is nothing but Oṃkāra. So that is what we are going to discuss here. That is why the Gāyatrī Mantra has two parts actually.
The Structure of Gayatri Mantra
I am foretelling what I am going to speak in future in detail. So the first part is sādhana. The last part is the result.
What is the sādhana? I choose the very best to meditate upon, and I meditate upon it. And then what would be the result? "I" disappears. Whatever remains is Brahman. And that is pure Śaraṇāgati. And that is the teaching, having said: Gāyatrī merges in Om.
But how to attain to that state? Four times we are made to repeat, willy-nilly, at the time of the vesper, ārātrikam time.
Gayatri as Śabda Brahma
So this Gāyatrī Upāsanā is also described as Śabda Brahma Upāsanā. Brahman can be contemplated upon with name, with form. Brahman can also be contemplated upon as sound – Śabda Brahma.
In fact, there is a philosophy, and that is called Sphoṭa-vāda. Sphoṭa in a sense is nothing but pure sound. And that sound in tantric language is called Parā. Parā – that sound. That Parā is supreme. Manifest: Paśyantī, Madhyamā, Vaikharī.
So when it becomes the unmanifest from indescribable to unmanifest, that is called Paśyantī. And then the mind starts grasping through the prism of time, space and causation. That is called Madhyamā. And finally, what the mind grasps is made to come out of the mouth in the form of vāk or speech. That is what we call the Vaikharī. Vaikharī means very inferior expression of that Para Brahma.
The Sacrament of Learning
And that is why in Hindu tradition, when a child has to go through the saṃskāra, when he has to learn, this is called Akṣara Abhyāsa. So there is a special ceremony for this Akṣara Abhyāsa – one of the wonderful ceremonies, sacraments, out of almost 42 saṃskāras, sacraments.
What is a Sacrament?
What is a sacrament? When a person is trying to become better, what makes the person sacred? Whatever ritual, whatever action, done in a particular way, makes a person sacred. That is called a sacrament – transforming even the most ordinary action into a great spiritual action. That is called a sacrament.
That is why taking bath is a sacrament. Shaving one's head is a sacrament. Marriage is a sacrament. Producing children is a sacrament. And death is one of the great sacraments. Nearly 42 are there.
Of these, when a child is to be initiated into education, it is called Akṣara Abhyāsa. What am I driving at? That very word Akṣara – Akṣara means syllables, letters, every alphabet. But look at the meaning: Akṣara is an epithet of Brahman. That which never undergoes any change, he is called, or that is called Akṣara.
The Goal of Education
Bhagavad Gītā almost ends with this teaching: I am beyond both that which is manifest and that which is also unmanifest. That is why I am called Puruṣa Uttama. Uttama Puruṣa means Brahma. That is all that is there.
So Akṣara must lead to Akṣara. Akṣara must finally culminate in becoming Akṣara. That is the whole purpose of education, which Sri Ramakrishna had demonstrated by refusing to go to ordinary school – only to demonstrate this fact that the goal of human life is to know who he is. That is also called God Realization or Ātma-jñānam, Self-Knowledge or Brahma-darśana, whatever – Brahma-jñāna, whatever name. It doesn't matter. We have to understand that.
The Saving Power of Gayatri
And that is what Gāyatrī Mantra: Gāyantaṃ Trāyati. Trāyati means what? You are not having food, so mother gives food. These are all very trivial things. But when the same mother, she makes us as one with her, that is the real Gāyatrī.
So as I mentioned, in the third chapter of this Chāndogya Upaniṣad, section 12, Dvādaśa Khaṇḍa, this upāsanā of Gāyatrī as Brahman and why it is called Brahman, that is beautifully explained.
Understanding Upāsana
And if you still remember Māṇḍūkya Upaniṣad, the twelve mantras, especially the first few mantras, as it were, instead of saying Oṃkāra, Gāyatrī is none other than Oṃkāra. Gāyatrī is Brahman. So we have to meditate.
Meditate – the word meditation, unfortunately has acquired some type of meanings which do not fully justify translating that word upāsanā. It is – upāsanā means what? Upāsanā: a person is approaching a goal, a post, a target. And who is that target? One's own true self.
Transcending the Koshas
For that, one has to transcend – either you call it transcending the three states of experience, respectively gone through the instrumentality of gross body, subtle body and causal body, or even better, in more details, transcending the five coverings: Pañca-kośa-viveka, which we had been, we were still in the process of discussing in the Taittirīya Upaniṣad.
So what remains when all kośas transcended? What is – I also explained to you that when a person moves from the gross to the subtle, the gross, where does it go? It is not left behind. It merges in its cause. Anna merges in Prāṇa. Prāṇa merges in mind. Mind merges in the Vijñāna. Vijñāna merges in Ānanda. And Ānanda finally reveals the truth.
Each subtler, deeper causal state reveals something beyond it. So long as we are identified with the Annamaya, we can never know Prāṇa is the root cause.
The Teachings of Saints
But by living the life according to the Upaniṣadic or Gītā instruction, or I would say the teachings of great saints and sages, whatever be the religion – every religion is produced, is sustained, is propagated by living fruits, whom I call the saints – so, that is the meaning of saving.
Gāyatrī Mātā, Mother Gāyatrī, is going to save this person. Temporarily, of course, Mother is capable of saving. A starving person is provided food. An uneducated person is provided education. A sick person is provided to recover and become healthy. But it won't remain, it won't delete really the real problems. These are all temporary problems.
The Three Types of Problems
I am deliberately using the word temporary because it is cause of temper and worry: temporary problems. But the real problems are there. And our Vedic Ṛṣis identified them as three. That is why we use the word Śānti three times: Ādhyātmika, Ādhibhautika, and Ādhidaivika. We have discussed about these things, so I won't go into those details.
Beginning the Chandogya Study
But just as Māṇḍūkya Upaniṣad starts with Sarvam idam Oṃkāra evājā – Everything is nothing but Oṃkāra – here also, in this twelfth section of the third chapter of the Chāndogya Upaniṣad, this most marvelous Gāyatrī Upāsanā is described.
The Meaning of Upāsana
Now, just a quick reminder. Upāsanā means what? Upa-āsana. Āsana means there is somebody sitting. Who is the? Our real self. And approaching our true self is called upāsanā. Upa means nearer. Through this methodology, deep contemplation, the more we contemplate deeply, the nearer we understand.
Certain things which we presume as separate, as different, they do not really exist. It is like reflections in mirror. Originally, there is only one. And curiously, in Advaita Vedānta, there is one theory – there are three theories are there – but there is one theory which is called Pratibimba-vāda. Every jīva is a reflection of the original Chaitanyam in the mirror of the mind because the mind is endowed with Sattva-guṇa.
Our Study Plan
So, coming back, this is how it starts. So, what I decided to do: we will quickly go through the mantras that we find here in this 12th section of the 3rd chapter of the Chāndogya Upaniṣad. And then I will discuss the two meanings of the mantra – the external meaning, superficial meaning and the spiritual meaning.
The Secular and Spiritual Dimensions
Just as every place has two sides – the secular side and the spiritual side. If you remember, when Sri Ramakrishna came to Vārāṇasī, he saw a golden Kāśī. We have to understand and apply this. There is a golden Vṛndāvan. There is a golden Haridwar. There is a golden Uttarkāśī. There is a golden Mathurā. There is a golden Kāñcī. There is a golden Tirupati. For example, golden Dakṣiṇeśwar.
The Example of Dakshineshwar
So, you go to the Dakṣiṇeśwar and you will see so much of, so many shops playing with each other, shouting at you: "Please come and put your shoes here. We will take care of them" – because stealing chappals has become one of the greatest things in India. So, even if you go to the temple, you leave somewhere unprotected and likely if they are worth not very worn out, then somebody will steal them. People in India will steal anything. Even discarded kerosene tins also, they will do that.
So, the business is going on. Shouting is going on. Rituals are going on. Singing is going on. And Pārāyaṇa is going on. This is called secular Dakṣiṇeśwar.
But there is a spiritual Dakṣiṇeśwar – a Divine Mother. Communicate with her. The only way to do that is to raise our state of consciousness.
Sri Ramakrishna, he was doing the pūjā. He did the pūjā. Then many others also have done and many others are doing even now. Many will do in future also. Do you think like Sri Ramakrishna they were having any regard? They consider Mother Kālī as a business proposal. It is a big shop. So, if you give money, they will take you to the front, show you the ārātrikam, allow you to stay there as near to Mother. They will even take you inside the room and they will do so many things. This is all secular Dakṣiṇeśwar.
But spiritual Dakṣiṇeśwar, only a person who wants to communicate, to think of the Divine Mother, only he can experience. Sri Ramakrishna experienced such a thing at Vārāṇasī.
The Spiritual Home
So, even our own house, you may be householders, don't think we are not householders. Anybody who thinks "this is my house" is a householder. So, if I think "this is my āśram and I am the manager, I am running it, without me it will collapse" – just like our thinking, "this body, I am the body, I am the house" – so, that is a householder state.
So, this spiritual India, all over the world – go to St. Francis of Assisi, there you will see a spiritual as well as a secular; they are selling the trinkets, etc. So, we have to dive deep. That we will do that in future.
First Mantra: Everything is Gayatri
So, without further ado, we will go through these mantras one by one, and they are not very difficult really, quite easy actually I would say, in comparison with certain mantras which are really intriguing and difficult also to understand it.
So, the very first mantra, remember, 3rd chapter, section 12:
Gāyatrī vā idam sarvaṃ bhūtaṃ yad idaṃ kiñca Vāg vai Gāyatrī Vāg vā idaṃ sarvaṃ bhūtaṃ gāyati ca trāyati ca
The Gāyatrī is everything. Whatever here exists is nothing but Gāyatrī. Speech is really the Gāyatrī, for because speech sings (gāyati) and protects (trāyati) everything, whatever here exists.
The Universal Song
You know, every creature in this world is singing this song, is what is called Abhyudaya mantras. In Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad, if I say Abhyudaya mantras, you may not remember, but if I tell you the actual mantras, practically everybody knows it:
Asato mā sadgamaya
Let me be mortal. Let me be having the self-knowledge. May I attain Mokṣa and go beyond every type of fear. Having been taught by that great sage Yājñavalkya, Janaka understood everything immediately because he was a qualified student. And Yājñavalkya, the Guru was so pleased. He said:
Abhayaṃ vai prāptosi Janaka – You have attained, O Janaka, fearlessness.
What is fearlessness? You have become Brahma. That is, there is nobody else other than you. And you see, when there is nobody else other than one, who is he going to fear from? Absolutely no.
Understanding Fear
So we have to understand the meaning properly. Otherwise, if I think I am the body, which it is not me really, I will have fear. My hand may be cut off. My eyesight may go away or my stomach may not be able to digest. And finally this body may fall off. What is going to happen to me when this body falls off?
Within that itself, the secret is there. Well, why do you say like that? If you really think you are going to fall off, you are going to disappear after the fall of the body, there is no point in questioning what is going to happen to me after my death. Most significant words.
Analyzing the First Mantra
Anyway, Gāyatrī vā idam sarvam – Just as Māṇḍūkya mantra says "Om, sarvam, Oṃkāra is the sarvam," instead of Oṃkāra, here Gāyatrī vā idam sarvam. Now we have to understand what is this meaning of the word Gāyatrī.
There it is. What we normally call Brahman, here it is called Śabda Brahman. Why is it Śabda Brahman?
Says Vāk vai Gāyatrī – What is this Gāyatrī? Gāyatrī comes in the form of speech because all knowledge comes only through speech. I see something, immediately I say "that is a tree," and that knowledge of the tree is what we call vāk – expression.
So I can myself utter "that is a tree." This is what is called Madhyamā level – mental level. This is how a thought arises.
So, instead of saying Sarvaṃ khalvidam Brahma – Gāyatrī is everything – Sarvaṃ khalvidam Gāyatrī vā idam sarvam – Everything, anything: my body, your body, my mind, your mind and my nature, your nature – everything is nothing but Brahman.
Yad idaṃ kiñca – Whatever is there – Īśā vāsyam idaṃ sarvaṃ yat kiñca jagatyāṃ jagat
Vāg vai Gāyatrī – But how is this Gāyatrī manifesting in the form of vāk? That's why vāg vai idaṃ sarvaṃ bhūtam – Whatever we experience in this world – my body, my mind and the entire creation – is nothing but speech.
Liberation Through Understanding
So how to get out? Gāyati ca trāyati ca – Once we understand that everything is nothing but Śabda Brahma, that is knowledge in the form of śabda, sound – trāyati ca – what happens? Such a person becomes completely fearless because everything is Gāyatrī. Sarvam Brahma. If one understands God is everything, that's how Swami Vivekananda translated the first verse of the Īśā Vāsyam Upaniṣad in his Jñāna Yoga lectures: "God is everything." I think that is the title, or "Everything is God." I do not remember exactly.
Second Mantra: Gayatri as Earth
And the same idea is taken further:
Yā vai sā Gāyatrī Yam vāva sā Yam pṛthivī Pṛthivī asyāṃ asyā ha hi idaṃ sarvaṃ bhūtaṃ pratiṣṭhitam Etām eva na atiśīyate
That Gāyatrī about which we spoke in the first mantra, how is it mentioning? Here is expansion of what the first mantra is telling: Yat kiñca – Whatever is there, that is Gāyatrī. That is being said.
That same Gāyatrī is now manifesting in the form of the earth. For everything that exists here rests on this earth and does not go beyond.
Everything Springs from Earth
Again, it should not be too difficult to understand. Everything that we perceive, we experience in this universe is the outcome of Pṛthvī or Pṛthvī Devatā or the earth or Anna Devatā. Mountain, Himalayan mountains, the oceans and the forests, the rivers – everything is nothing but springing only from this earth because of the atmosphere of the earth.
There was a time, you must be knowing, when there were no Himalayas. There was a time when there were no rivers, no forests, when there were no deserts – not deserts, deserts what we call Sahara Desert like that. So they say there were great cities there, but in course of time the atmosphere has changed, weather has changed, so rain shifted its attention elsewhere. The rain as if fell in love with somebody and it divorced that particular city or cities and it became a desert land. Everything turned to ashes, sand. And once it starts growing, slowly the desert starts spreading, growing like we grow. And that is how we see our Rājasthān – endless desert creating mirages, etc.
Earth as Annapūrṇa
So that Gāyatrī is nothing but this earth and this entire creation is nothing but – the cause is nothing but the earth. And that earth is also called Bhū-devatā, but it is also called Annapūrṇā. Annam – even for a mountain to grow it requires food, for a desert to grow it requires food, for a river to grow it requires food; everything requires food. For a forest to grow, that also requires food.
And it is a wonderful līlā: where there are forests there cannot be deserts, where there are deserts there cannot be forests, because forests create immense amount of rain by their very nature. So if we want to stem the spread of the deserts, then we will have to follow Chinese in a way – most admirable people. They are turning deserts into very profitable green lands.
I am ashamed to say that we are not learning. Let us sit at their feet and learn: how did you turn this desert into such vast green land, fisheries, growing things, producing electricity and such profitable things? They are doing it, but nothing can be achieved without hard labor. I will sit here, I will learn? No, you have to go there and do it. Hopefully we learn these lessons.
The Progressive Revelation
So that is what slowly this twelfth section is leading us to that highest goal. So first she said everything is – that means the whole universe, the whole creation is nothing but Gāyatrī. And now as if taking a small part, focusing upon it and expanding it, says: you know this earth, just take the earth, and that is nothing but Śabda Brahma, Gāyatrī – nothing but Gāyatrī because everything has a name.
Supposing you don't give a name, then we will not grow. There would be no type of knowledge because you cannot even communicate without speech. Of the utmost importance is this speech, but it should be right type of speech. Then only we will grow. Wrong type of speech, then we will kill each other. That is what is happening everywhere.
Effect Cannot Transcend Cause
So that is what in the second mantra is telling: etām eva na atiśīyate – that is to say, no effect can ever transcend beyond the cause. It cannot be something besides the cause. If you analyze the contents of yogurt, curds, it is nothing but pure milk only. And the milk has come from earth, plants, etc., through the medium of different Divine Mothers manifesting in the form of the goat, in the form of the cow, in the form of the buffalo, in the form of the mare.
You know, Mongols used to mix mare's milk, mare's blood – the most nourishing, I'm sure they had discovered. And that is how they had gained some of their strength, I would have to say.
The Arundhati Method
This is what he meant: slowly you show a huge map and take one small continent and break it up. Find out a small country, break it up, focus upon a small state, focus upon, break it, focus upon a small, tiny portion. And that is how once we understand, even understanding of a single atom will slowly lead, because the atom is not different from its cause.
So that is why it is said: Arundhatī-nyāya – like the simile of the Arundhatī, slowly, slowly show a small thing which is noticeable, and still small thing within that, still smaller thing. But go beyond that. Just see how the Upaniṣads perfected that process of analyzing.
Third Mantra: Gayatri as the Body
In man, that Gāyatrī is also the body, because the prāṇas exist in this body and they do not go beyond. This is the essence of the third mantra which we will discuss in our next class.
So you see the trend: first saying everything is Gāyatrī or Śabda Brahma, then saying this earth is Gāyatrī, then saying this human body is Gāyatrī. And in that human body there is a cave – that is Gāyatrī. And within that cave there is that manifestation of Brahman.
So the same Gāyatrī now slowly revealed in its true glory. And this is a beautiful process.
Closing Prayer
ॐ जननीं सारदां देवीं रामकृष्णं जगदगुरुम पादपद्मे तयो: श्रित्वा प्रणमामि मुहुर्मुहु :
Om Jananim Saradam devim Ramakrishnam jagadgurum Padapadme tayoh shritva pranamami muhurmuhuh.
May Sri Ramakrishna, Holy Mother and Swami Vivekananda bless us all with bhakti. Jai Ramakrishna!
Summary
This discourse explores the profound significance of the Gāyatrī Mantra as presented in the Chāndogya Upaniṣad (Chapter 3, Section 12). The speaker explains how:
- The Gāyatrī Mantra is universal – it represents the most sacred path to salvation through self-knowledge
- Sri Ramakrishna's essential teaching – that Sandhyā merges in Gāyatrī, Gāyatrī merges in Om, and Om is Brahman
- The nature of infinity and incarnation – understanding how Divine incarnations manifest while Brahman remains infinite
- Gāyatrī as Śabda Brahma – the mantra represents Brahman as pure sound and consciousness
- The progressive revelation – the Upaniṣad teaches through a step-by-step method (Arundhatī-nyāya), moving from the universal to the particular:
- First mantra: Everything is Gāyatrī (universal)
- Second mantra: The earth is Gāyatrī (cosmic/material)
- Third mantra: The human body is Gāyatrī (individual/personal)
The discourse emphasizes both secular and spiritual dimensions of sacred places and practices, urging seekers to transcend ritual to reach the essence – the realization that "I am Gāyatrī, I am Brahman."