Isavasya OR Isa Upanisad
Brhadaranyaka Upanisad
Chandogya Upanisad
Taittiriya Upanisad
Aitareya Upanisad
Kausitaki Upanisad
Kena Upanisad
Katha Upanisad
Svetasvatara Upanisad
The Mundaka Upanisad
Prasna Upanisad
Mandukya Upanisad
Maitri Upanisad
 

Gayatri Mantra

We mediate on the lovely Glory of the god Savitr That he may stimulate our minds. Rigveda III.57.10 tat savitur varenyam bhargo devasya dhimahi dhiyo yo nah pracodayat. I include the Gayatri Mantra here because there are many passages in the Upanisads that cannot be understood without it. It is regarded as the most sacred hymn of the Rigveda, and in some sense as containing the essence of the Vedas. For many Hindus it forms the basis of their daily practice. (For some of the ways in which it is used in meditation and worship, see Taimni, 1974.)

Properly speaking, the hymn is called Savitri, the invocation of the solar deity Savitr, whose name means 'the one who arouses or inspire'. Gayatri is the distinctive metre in which it is composed, containing three lines of eight syllables each. (In Vedic Sanskrit, varenyam was pronounced vareniam.) The Savitri is by far the best known verse in that metre.

It appears impossible to create a usable English version which divides the content between the three lines as the Sanskrit does: 'The of Savitr lovely/glory of-the-god we-mediate-on/so that that [God] may inspire our mediations.' I felt it necessary to keep in the translation the 3 x 8 syllable form (Which is important in accounts of the symbolism of the Gayatri, for example BU V.14) and the carrying on of meaning between the first and second lines. Within that framework I could find no way of reproducing the two uses of the root dhi, in the verb dhi, to think/meditate, and the noun dhi, thought/meditation. I hope that 'meditate' and 'mind' have a comparable effect, though the two words are not derived from the same root."