21. What does the Gayatri Mantra bestow on the person who chants it with faith?
The Gayatri Mantra is the bestower of all that is beneficial to the person who chants it with faith.

22. What are the other results of chanting the Gayatri Mantra?
If the Gayatri Mantra is chanted various kinds of powers will emerge in one. Hence the Gayatri Mantra should not be treated casually.

23. What is Truth?
Truth is that which is valid at all times past, present and future. That Truth is the Gayatri Mantra.

24. What does the Gayatri Mantra imply?
The Gayatri Mantra implies the 4 Maha Vakyas or the Four core declarations enshrined in the Four Vedas.

25. What are the four Maha Vakyas?
The four Maha Vakyas are:
1. PRAJNANAM BRAHMA
Consciousness is Brahman (Aitareya Upanishad of the Rg Veda)
2. AHAM BRAHMA ASMI
I Am Brahman (Brihadaranyaka Upanishad of the Yajur Veda)
3. TAT TVAM ASI
That Thou Art (Chandogya Upanishad of the Sama Veda)
4. AYAM ATMA BRAHMA
This Self is Brahman (Mandukya Upanishad of the Atharva Veda)

26. When should the Gayatri Mantra be chanted?
The Gayatri Mantra should be chanted at dawn, noon and dusk.

27. What are these times also known as?
These times are also known as Sandhya Kaalam, that is to say, the meeting point between night and day, morning and evening, day and night. These times are beneficial for spiritual practices.

28. Do we have to be bound by these periods of time to chant the Gayatri Mantra?
No, we do not have to be bound by these three periods of time to chant the Gayatri Mantra.

29. When can the Gayatri Mantra be chanted?
The Gayatri Mantra can be chanted at any time and everywhere.

30. What should the person chanting the Gayatri Mantra ensure at all times?
The person chanting the Gayatri Mantra should ensure that his heart is pure at all times.
Bhagawan's injunctions are that we should -
(1) not treat the Gayatri Mantra casually (Q 22) and
(2) that our heart should be pure at all times. We should therefore obey and practice implicitly Bhagawan's Teachings. (These are to be found in Summer Showers 1990. Briefly, they are as follows:)
1. Speak Truth. Attach value to your words. Truth is the life of a word.
2. Practise Righteousness. How ? By developing Trikarana Suddhi (Q12).
3. Purity and Harmony of Thought, Word and Deed.
Think no evil - Think what is good
See no evil - See what is good
Hear no evil - Hear what is good
Talk no evil - Talk what is good
Do no evil - Do what is good
4. At all times follow Bhagawan's maxim -
Help ever - Hurt never.
5. Dedicate all your actions to the Lord - without undue concern for the results, and without the false sense of doership ("I am the doer").

31. What is Bhagawan's advice to young people?
Bhagawan's advice to young people is that they should chant the Gayatri Mantra when taking their bath.

32. Why does Bhagawan recommend this?
Bhagawan says that when we take our bath, we are cleansing our bodies. Therefore, we should take this opportunity to cleanse our minds and intellects also at the same time.

33. At what other times does Bhagawan recommend that we chant the Gayatri Mantra?
Bhagawan recommends that we chant the Gayatri Mantra
(1) before every meal
(2) when we wake up from bed
(3) when we go to bed.

34. What should we repeat after chanting the Gayatri Mantra?
We should repeat 'Santhi' three times after we finish chanting the Gayatri Mantra.

35. Why should we repeat 'Santhi' after completing our recitation of the Gayatri Mantra? We should repeat 'Santhi' because it will give 'Santhi', or peace of mind, to the three entities in us - body, mind and soul.

36. Bhagawan taught the Gayatri Mantra and its importance to Sri Fanibunda. What are the main points in Bhagawan's Teaching?
Bhagawan's Teachings to Sri Fanibunda are given in his book "Vision of the Divine". The main points are -
1. If the Gayatri Mantra is not recited correctly, it has the adverse effect of enveloping the person in darkness. But, if we recite it with Love, God will accept it.
Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba chanting Gayatri Mantra:

1.Without chorus: gayatri.wav (18 seconds, 191 KB, WinPCM)

2. With chorus: gayatri.mp3, (32 seconds, 125 KB, MPEG 1.0 layer 3)

2. Baba advises that each word should be pronounced clearly and distinctly, without undue haste or hurry.

3. Gayatri is at the very basis of the Vedas, and merits the name Veda Mata or The Mother of the Vedas. The Gayatri Mantra is all-pervasive throughout the manifest Cosmos.

4. Gayatri is "That which preserves, protects and rescues the chanter from mortality".

5. The Gayatri Mantra is a Universal Prayer, which asks for a clear Intellect so that the Truth may be reflected therein without distortion.

6. Bhagawan has said that the Gayatri Mantra can be chanted by men and women of all climes and creeds. It calls upon the Glorious Power that pervades the Sun and the Three Worlds to arouse, awaken and strengthen the Intelligence, so that it may lead us through intense Sadhana to success.

7. The heart needs to be cleansed thrice a day - dawn, noon and dusk. Besides these times, Bhagawan has said that the Gayatri Mantra can be repeated anywhere at any time, including night time.

8. The Gayatri Mantra is synonymous with Divinity and has therefore to be approached with humility, reverence, faith and love towards the Mantra.
9. The Vedas are the very breath of God and the Gayatri Mantra is at the very basis of the Vedas.

10. Bhagawan is the Vedapurusha and is therefore the Supreme Authority on the Vedas.

11. Love and reverence for the Mantra and faith in its promised results are far more important than mere mechanical repetition while the mind wanders.

12. This prayer is directed to the Divine Mother -
"O Divine Mother, our hearts are filled with darkness. Please make this darkness distant from us and promote Illumination within us".

13. Full faith in the power and potency of the Gayatri Mantra will be generated only when the seeker has developed the requisite degree of enthusiasm, reverence and love towards this Mantra.

14. The more one chants the Gayatri Mantra, the greater the benefit to the one who chants it.

37. How does man misuse his life?
Man forgets his true nature owing to his attachment to his body. He makes bodily comforts the goal of his life and involves himself in misery. The body is a car and the Atma is the driver. Forgetting one's true role as a driver, one identifies one's Self with the body, which is only a vehicle. (SS 9/95-233,234)

38. What should man's life be?
Man's life should be a continuous series of sacrifices of the lower for the sake of the higher, or of the tiny in favour of the vast.

39. What cannot our two eyes reveal to us?
Our two eyes are focused towards the objective world and its transient attractions. They cannot therefore reveal the magnificence and the majesty of the realm of the Spirit.

40. For what purpose has the Gayatri Mantra been given to us?
The Gayatri Mantra has been given to us as the Third Eye (the Ajna Chakra) - to reveal the inner vision to us. By developing this inner vision, we may realise Brahman.

41. Why should we guard the Gayatri Mantra throughout our lives?
The Gayatri Mantra is a treasure and we must therefore guard it throughout our lives. We must learn to pronounce and chant the Gayatri Mantra correctly and exactly as taught by Bhagawan.

42. What should we never give up?
We should never give up the Gayatri Mantra. That is to say, we must chant the Gayatri Mantra at least a few times every day with a pure heart.

43. What may we give up?
We may give up or ignore any other Mantra, but we should never give up the Gayatri Mantra throughout our lives.

44. What benefits can we derive by chanting the Gayatri Mantra several times a day with a pure heart?
The Gayatri Mantra will protect us from harm wherever we are, whether - in a bus or car, in a railway train or a plane, in a bazaar or on the road.

45. What have the Westerners discovered about the Gayatri Mantra?
The Westerners have discovered that when the Gayatri Mantra is chanted with the correct accent as laid down in the Vedas; the atmosphere around is visibly illumined by the vibrations produced by the Gayatri Mantra.
Bhagawan tells us: "The Sound of a Mantra is as valuable as its Meaning". (We should therefore learn to chant the Gayatri Mantra correctly as taught by Bhagawan.)

46. What spiritual benefits will we derive by chanting the Gayatri Mantra?
The effulgence of Brahma - Brahmaprakasa, will descend on us, illumine our intellect and light our spiritual path when we chant the Gayatri Mantra correctly as taught by Bhagawan.
While chanting the Gayatri Mantra, we may be well advised to follow the Instruction that Lord Krishna gave to Arjuna in the Bhagavad Gita V - 27 "Shutting out all sense perceptions, and fixing the gaze between the eye-brows..."

47. How often should we chant the Gayatri Mantra?
Bhagawan has said that we should chant the Gayatri Mantra as often as possible.
See also Q 36 Item 14 - "The more one chants the Gayatri Mantra, the greater the benefit to the one who chants it."
We should chant the Gayatri Mantra at least 108 times (One Mala) every morning. This will take only 15 minutes.
Those who take up to the chanting of the Gayatri Mantra as a Sadhana by itself may chant 3 or, preferably, 5 Malas every morning and an equal or lesser number of Malas in the evening. Chanting 10 Malas (2 1/2 hours) every Sunday morning and on holidays is not beyond the capacity of the earnest Sadhaka. Gayatri purascharana consists in chanting 10 Malas each morning for 24 or 40 days without a break.
To absorb the Mantric power, purity of life and an abstemious diet are essential.

48. What is the result if we chant the Gayatri Mantra while taking a bath or before taking our food?
If we chant the Gayatri Mantra while taking a bath, our bath gets sanctified. If we chant it before taking our food, our food becomes an offering to the Divine. We should develop heartfelt devotion to God. (SS 9/95-238)

49. Who is Gayatri?
Gayatri is Annapurna, the Divine Mother, the Divine Force that animates all Life.

50. Gayatri is described as five-faced. What are they?
The five Faces of Gayatri are:
1. "Om", the Pranava is the 1st Face. The Pranava Principle represents the eight different forms of wealth (Ashta Aiswarya).
2. "Bhur Bhuva Svaha" is the 2nd Face.
3. "Tat Savitur Varenyam" is the 3rd Face.
4. "Bhargo Devasya Dheemahi" is the 4th Face.
5. "Dhi Yo YoNah Prachodayat" is the 5th Face.
All these five aspects of the Gayatri Mantra are within each one of us. (SS 9/95-235) See also Q 12

51. Why should we take up the Gayatri Mantra and chant it unceasingly?
We should take up the Gayatri Mantra and chant it unceasingly, because -
(1) The Gayatri Mantra will protect us from harm wherever we are, whether - in a bus or car, in a railway train or in a plane, in a bazaar or on the road.
(2) Brahmaprakasa (the effulgence of Brahman) will descend on us and illumine our spiritual path when we chant the Gayatri Mantra.

52. How does the Gayatri Mantra protect us?
The Gayatri Mantra protects us because Gayatri is Annapurna, the Mother, the Force that animates all Life. We do not therefore have to wail for food or for shelter when we are under the protection of Annapurna, the Divine Mother.
(We should therefore chant the Gayatri Mantra as often as possible. The more we chant the Gayatri Mantra, the greater the benefit to us.)

53. Do we need any protection other than what we can get by chanting the Gayatri Mantra?
No. Bhagawan tells us that the Gayatri Mantra is enough to protect the person who chants it. (SS 9/95-237)

54. Why is the Gayatri Mantra enough to protect the person who chants it?
The Gayatri Mantra is enough to protect the person who chants it because, as Bhagavan tells us, the Gayatri Mantra embodies all the Divine Potencies.

55. What are the benefits that students will derive by chanting the Gayatri Mantra?
 

SRI SATHYA SAI BABA