Gayatri Mantra explained by Srila Prabhupada
March 27, 2018 in Articles by Damaghosa dasa
Madhya 8.138 purport-…Gāyantaṁ trāyate yasmād gāyatrī tvaṁ tataḥ smṛtā: One who chants the Gāyatrī mantra is gradually delivered from the material clutches. In other words, That which delivers one from material entanglement is called Gāyatrī. An explanation of the Gāyatrī mantra can be found in Madhya-līlā, Chapter Twenty-one, text 125:
kāma-gāyatrī-mantra-rūpa, haya kṛṣṇera svarūpa,
sārdha-cabbiśa akṣara tāra haya
se akṣara ‘candra’ haya, kṛṣṇe kari’ udaya,
trijagat kailā kāmamaya
This mantra is just like a Vedic hymn, but it is the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself. There is no difference between the Kāma-gāyatrī and Kṛṣṇa. Both are composed of twenty-four and a half transcendental syllables (see Cc. Madhya 21.125-29) The mantra depicted in letters is also Kṛṣṇa, and the mantra rises just like the moon. Due to this, there is a perverted reflection of desire in human society and among all kinds of living entities. In the mantra klīṁ kāma-devāya vidmahe puṣpa-bāṇāya dhīmahi tan no ‘naṅgaḥ pracodayāt, Kṛṣṇa is called Kāma-deva, Puṣpa-bāṇa and Anaṅga. Kāma-deva is Madana-mohana, the Deity who establishes our relationship with Kṛṣṇa. Puṣpa-bāṇa (“He who carries an arrow made of flowers”) is Govinda, the Personality of Godhead who accepts our devotional service. And Anaṅga is Gopījana-vallabha, who satisfies all the gopīs and is the ultimate goal of life. This Kāma-gāyatrī (klīṁ kāma-devāya vidmahe puṣpa-bāṇāya dhīmahi tan no ‘naṅgaḥ pracodayāt) simply does not belong to this material world. When one is advanced in spiritual understanding, he can worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead with his spiritually purified senses and fulfill the desires of the Lord.
man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru mām evaiṣyasi satyaṁ te
pratijāne priyo ‘si me
“Always think of Me and become My devotee. Worship Me and offer your homage unto Me. Thus you will come to Me without fail. I promise you this because you are My very dear friend.” (Bg. 18.65)
In the Brahma-saṁhitā it is stated (5.27-29): “Then Gāyatrī, mother of the Vedas, having been manifested by the divine sound of Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s flute, entered the lotus mouth of Brahmā, the self-born, through his eight earholes. Thus the lotus-born Brahmā received the Gāyatrī mantra, which had sprung from the song of Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s flute. In this way he attained twice-born status, having been initiated by the supreme primal preceptor, Godhead Himself. Enlightened by the recollection of that Gāyatrī, which embodies the three Vedas, Brahmā became acquainted with the expanse of the ocean of truth. Then he worshiped Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the essence of all the Vedas, with a hymn.”
