Title: Brahma Gayatri, Sun God and Origin of Pancharatrika diksha

User: Swami Gaurangapada Date: 2004-12-18 15:13:57

 

Q. Brahma-Gayatri is Sun meditation or Impersonalist meditation. What´s your opinion about this?

 

Ans by Swami Gaurangapada: The word savitur in Brahma Gayatri is not only the Sun God Surya, but it also means Lord Krishna Himself and bhargo means the hladini potency of Lord Krishna who is Shri Radha Herself. Also Savitri in Savitur means the source of all intelligence who is Lord Gauranga Mahaprabhu.

 

The Gaudiya Vaishnava understanding of Brahma Gayatri is as follows:

 

gayatri muralista kirtana dhanam radhapadam dhimahi

 

The Brahma Gayatri which has originated from the flute song of Lord Shri Krishna sings only the exclusive glories of Shri Radhika, both of Whom have combined to form Lord Gauranga.

 

In the Padma Purana, Shristi Khanda, Chp 17, 5th Khanda, Texts 15-37 describe how Shri Gayatri devi the personified form of the Brahma Gayatri Mantra and the wife of Brahma please Lord Krishna by worshiping Him, and the Lord blessed her that she will become a gopi in Vrindavana - gayatri gopikanyaka, a gopi maidservant of Shri Shri Radha Krishna. So the purpose of the Brahma Gayatri is the exclusive worship and surrender to Radha-Krishna and Gauranga.

 

om (seed)

bhuh, bhuvah, svah (maha vyahritis)

tat savitur varenyam (gives us the sambandha gyana or the science of our relationship with Gauranga and Radha-Krishna)

bhargo devasya dhimahi (means abhidheya or surrendering to the practice of pure devotional service to Gauranga and Radha-Krishna)

dhiyo ya nah pracodayat (means prayojana or the achievement ultimate goal of pure for Gauranga and Radha-Krishna)

 

So Brahma Gayatri is a summary of the teachings of Lord Gauranga Mahaprabhu and the Lord Himself.

 

Q. What is the source of Pancaratrika initiation?

 

Ans by Swami Gaurangapada: The original Pancharatrika Diksha is described in Shri Brahma Samhita 5.27:

 

atha venu-ninadasya

trayi-murti-mayi gatih

sphuranti pravivesasu

mukhabjani svayambhuvah

gayatrim gayatas tasmad

adhigatya sarojajah

samskritas cadi-gununa

dvijatam agamat tatah

 

Translation and Purport by Shrila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura Prabhupada:

 

TRANSLATION

Then Gayatri, mother of the Vedas, being made manifest, i.e. imparted, by the divine sound of the flute of Shri Krishna, entered into the lotus mouth of Brahma, born from himself, through his eight ear-holes. The lotus-born Brahma having received the Gayatri, sprung from the flute-song of Shri Krishna, attained the status of the twice-born, having been initiated by the supreme primal preceptor, Godhead Himself.

 

PURPORT

The sound of Krishna’s flute is the transcendental blissful sound; hence the archetype of all Veda, is present in it. The Gayatri is Vedic rhythm. It contains a brief meditation and prayer. Kama-gayatri is the highest of all the Gayatris, because the meditation and prayer contained in it are full of the perfect transcendental sportive activities which are not to be found in any other Gayatri. The Gayatri that is attained as the sequel of the eighteen-lettered mantra is kama-gayatri which runs thus: klim kama-devaya vidmahe pushpa-banaya dhimahi tan no ’nangah pracodayat. In this Gayatri, the realization of the transcendental pastimes of Shri Gopijana-vallabha after perfect meditation and the prayer for the attainment of the transcendental god of love are indicated. In the spiritual world there is no better mode of endeavor for securing the superexcellent rasa-bedewed love. As soon as that Gayatri entered into the ear-holes of Brahma, he became the twice-born and began to chant the Gayatri. Whoever has received the same Gayatri in reality. has attained his spiritual rebirth. The status of a twice-born that is obtained in accordance with one’s worldly nature and lineage, by the fettered souls in this mundane world, is far inferior to that of the twice-born who obtains admission into the transcendental world; because the initiation or acquisition of transcendental birth as a result of spiritual initiation is the highest of glories in as much as the jiva is thereby enabled to attain to the transcendental realm.