The Gāyatrī (Sāvitrī) mantra
तत्सवितुर्वरेण्यं भर्गो देवस्य धीमहि ।
धियो यो नः प्रचोदयात् ॥
tatsaviturvareṇyaṃ bhargo devasya dhīmahi |
dhiyo yo naḥ pracodayāt ||
Translation
May we receive that excellent radiance of the god Savitṛ, who shall inspire our thoughts.
Meaning
Ṛgveda 3.62.10, in the hymns of Viśvāmitra's family, is addressed to Savitṛ, the sun as the power that sets everything in motion. It is in the gāyatrī metre (three lines of eight syllables) and became so central that it took the metre's name: "the Gāyatrī"; it is also called the Sāvitrī after its god. It is taught at the sacred-thread initiation and recited at the daily twilight rites.
The grammar is compact: "that excellent radiance (tat vareṇyaṃ bhargaḥ) of god Savitṛ (savitur devasya) we receive or meditate on (dhīmahi); who (yaḥ) shall impel (pracodayāt) our (naḥ) thoughts (dhiyaḥ)". The relative "who" refers back to the god, not to the light.
Two details for the curious. The first line counts only seven syllables as written; in recitation vareṇyam is often stretched to va-re-ṇi-yam to restore eight. And the familiar opening "oṃ bhūr bhuvaḥ svaḥ" is not part of the Ṛgveda verse: it is a ritual prefix added in later practice.
Word by word · 10 words
| Devanagari | IAST | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| तत् | tat | that (acc. sg. n., with bhargaḥ) |
| सवितुः | savituḥ | of Savitṛ, "the Impeller", the god of the sun's life-giving power (gen. sg. m.) |
| वरेण्यम् | vareṇyam | excellent, worth choosing (acc. sg. n.) |
| भर्गः | bhargaḥ | radiance, splendour (acc. sg. n. of bhargas; bhargo before d by sandhi) |
| देवस्य | devasya | of the god (gen. sg. m.) |
| धीमहि | dhīmahi | may we receive / we meditate on (1st pl. middle; historically from √dhā "place, receive", traditionally from √dhyai "meditate") |
| धियः | dhiyaḥ | thoughts, insights, prayers (acc. pl. f. of dhī) |
| यः | yaḥ | who (nom. sg. m., referring to Savitṛ) |
| नः | naḥ | our (gen. pl., unstressed) |
| प्रचोदयात् | pracodayāt | may he urge on, inspire (pra + causative of √cud, 3rd sg. subjunctive) |
Pronunciation
tatsaviturvareṇyaṃ bhargo devasya dhīmahi |
dhiyo yo naḥ pracodayāt ||
- Traditional recitation lengthens vareṇyam to va-re-ṇi-yam so that the first line has eight syllables.
- bhargo: say the r clearly before g; bhar-go, two heavy syllables.
- A final visarga ḥ is a soft "h" breath that echoes the vowel before it: namaḥ sounds like "nama-ha" (lightly).
- ṃ (anusvāra) is a nasal: it sounds like m before p/b/m, n before t/d, ṅ before k/g, and a nasalised vowel before s/ś/h.