There is a tradition among the Brahmin and Kshatriya communities to conduct thread ceremony to boys at the age of eight years. This is to initiate the boys to perform tri-kaal Sandhya (Morning, Afternoon and Evening) worship offering arghyam (water to Sun-God), i.e., to pray the Sun-God to activate our inherent intelligence and bestow the power of right thinking and act according to the sanatana dharma, samyak-prajnya (Unity Consciousness). This prayer is said to be the one that all the Gods and Goddesses pray to their most Revered Lord (varenyam), the Star ((Sun, nearest one to us) who is the source of Light, Intelligence, Energy and Force (L I F E). A Star is, indeed, the atomic power generating entity containing all the essential ingredients of the Universe in itself! It(te Neutron-Star) is in fact the beginning and the end of Creation! There are the giant Stars, Dwarfs and the others that are innumerable spread vast in the never-ending Space, the Sky. The astronomers point out that there are Stars (the bright ones) shining at far off distance and the Light rays emanated by them reach us after millions of years! Hence, it is beyond our imagination to get a simplified picture, image, of our Universe!
Now, there are many epics, Vedic Texts, Upanishads that eulogize the Gods and Goddesses that protect us. The Supreme Lord is said to be Sri hari Narayana. He is the symbolic representation of all that exist here. He is indeed the path of our (nara/ mortals facing rebirth) eternal journey (yaana). These epics and other ancient scriptures depict Shakti (power) in different names and forms! First, it is said that the Supreme Lord was resting on the cool body of Seven-hooded Adi Shesha in the Ocean of Milk (sudha sagara), symbolic of elixir, purity, full of vigor, strength, creative power, knowledge and ability to reproduce and transform, etc. etc.
Chaturmukha Brahma is portrayed a the symbol of Creative Power and personified as the Creator. He is provided with four faces to look in four directions (in fact, had five faces and the one looking upward was later removed! Brahma is endowed with power of Knowledge (Saraswati), Resources (aishvarya / Lakshmi), Intelligence (Buddhi) ,Mind (Manas), etc. all the Vedic knowledge is attributed to Brahma. It is stated that Brahma created His Manasa- putra (son as an Imageries?) and imparted the Ekayana Veda, that was later divided into four functional divisions as Rk, Yajus, Saman, and the Atharvan. This is the foundation of Hindu Dharma that eternal (Sanatana).
Thus, all the Gods and Goddesses (Devi Devata) in praise of the supreme Lord Sri Hari Narayana ('ga' meaning 'sing') and pray for activating the power within (the buddhi, the discriminative power) and bestowing the power of right thinking and right action.
There are four pada (metre) in this mantra. The firs one deals with the vyahruti- Realms of our Existence. These are seven loka- Bhu, Bhuvah, Svar, Mahar, Janah, Tapah, and Sat. The jiva that begins as a mortal can climb up these seven levels and reach the Highest, param padam by Yogic practice in transcendental meditation.
The Second pada deals with the Gods and Goddesses called 'Savitur' who are the Lords of Elements, the Vedic Gods. Essentially the same Goddess who appears as Sandhya in the evening, is called Nisha in the night and Usha in the morning. She is the Gayatri, Savitri, and the Durga and kali late in the night. These are Space, Air, Fire, Water, Earth, Under-world. Some are depicted as the Realms of Holy Men, Divine Beings, and some are the realms of smaller creatures. Bhu (the earth) is the realm of land and water suitable for growth of Vegetation and a source of food for animals (bipeds and quadrupeds), Birds, and fit for human habitation.
The last quarter, pada, is one of prayer to activate our 'dhee' or Intelligence so as to live ecofriendly, wisely in cooperation with all other co-inhabitants.
Thus the Gayatree mantra is a very sacred mantra that protects all those who devotedly pray the Sun-God to bestow His grace. Bhaskara, Vibhakara, Aditya, Suryanarayana, sahasra dyuti kirana, are the other names of the Sun-God. One must pray the Surya-Gayatri as follows:
Om Adityaya vidhmahe, shasradyutikiranaya dheemahi tanno surya prachodayaatu ||
Om Bhaskaraya vidhmahe, Vibhakaraya dheemahee, tanno surya prachodayaatu ||
