ABOUT RHEA’S FIRST SINGLE: BRIGHT LIGHT (GAYATRI MANTRA MIX)
The Gayatri mantra is considered one of the most important and powerful Vedic mantras. It was first recorded in the ancient Vedic text of the Rig Veda in Sanskrit around 2500-3000 years ago. Historically it has been recited by everyday people of India in their homes, as the sun rises or sets for purposes of purification and divine guidance.
I have a deep connection to this mantra, as it is one I recited before bed with my parents every single night until I left for University at the age of 17. Since then, I have been using it sporadically to heal my ruminating mind. I consciously reconnected with it at a yoga sound ceremony training in Guatemala in early 2019. There it was melodically shared with us, but through a western lens with poor pronunciation, which I did not resonate with. I felt it lost connection to the essence of the mantra.
After studying ancient meditation, tantra, and kriya yoga in the himalayan foothills of Rishikesh late 2019, I was (re)-initiated into the mantra tradition, and we were asked to recite the Gayatri mantra 6x at the end of our daily morning meditation practice. Since then it’s been playing in the background of my own movie.
Mantra in Sansrkit:
oṃ bhūr bhuvaḥ svaḥ
tat savitur vareṇyaṃ
bhargo devasya dhīmahi
dhiyo yo naḥ pracodayāt
One of many translations: We meditate on the Spiritual Splendor of that supreme and Divine reality, source of the physical, astral and celestial spheres of existence. Allow that divine being supreme to illuminate our intellect, so that we can realize the supreme Truth.
I interpret the mantra as a bowing down to the sun, which represents the entirety of existence as we know it and the embodiment of knowledge and light. When we chant this mantra, we awaken to the presence of the sun’s knowledge and light within ourselves, which can cleanse, enlighten, and guide us.
Meaning of Individual Words:
ॐ – OM – The Primitive Sound
भूर् – BHUR – the physical world
भुवः – BHUVA – the mental world
स्वः – SVAHA – the celestial, the spiritual world
तत् – TAT – That, God; Transcendental Paramatma
सवितुर – SAVITUR – the Sun, the Creator, Preserver
वरेण्यं – VARENYAM – more adorable, lovely
भर्गो – BHARGO – shine, effulgence
देवस्य – DEVASYA – resplendent, supreme Lord
धीमहि – DEEMAHI – we meditate on
धियो यो – DHI YO – intelligence, understanding, Intellect
नः – NAH – Nah: our
प्रचोदयात् – PRACHODAYAT – enlighten, guide, inspire
More translations of the Gayatri mantra:
“We meditate on the glory of that Being who has produced this universe; may She enlighten our minds.”
– Swami Vivekananda
“We meditate on the adorable glory of the radiant sun; may She inspire our intelligence.”
– S. Radhakrishnan
“We choose the Supreme Light of the divine Sun; we aspire that it may impel our minds.”
– Sri Aurobindo
