Sathya Sai Gayatri The Gayatri is a universal prayer enshrined in the Vedas. It is addressed to the Immanent and Transcendent Divine which has been given the name ‘Savita,’ meaning ‘that from which all this is born.’ The Gayatri may be considered as having three parts – (i) Adoration (ii) Meditation (iii) Prayer. First, the Divine is praised, then It is meditated upon in reverence and finally, an appeal is made to the Divine to awaken and strengthen the intellect, the discriminating faculty of man. The Gayatri is considered as the essence of the Vedas. Veda means knowledge, and this prayer fosters and sharpens the knowledge-yielding faculty. As a matter of fact, the four core-declarations enshrined in the four Vedas are implied in this Gayatri mantra. The Gayatri Mantra is a sacred chant that demonstrates the unity that underlies manifoldness in creation. It is through the recognition of this unity that we can understand the multiplicity. Clay is one and the same thing, though pots of different shapes and sizes can be made from it. Gold is one, though gold ornaments can be multifarious. The Atma is one, though the embodied forms in which it resides may be many. Whatever the colour of the cow, the milk is always white. Om Bhur Bhuvaḥ SuvahaTat-savitur VareñyaṃBhargo Devasya DheemahiDhiyo Yonaḥ Prachodayāt The earliest finding of the seekers was that the Sun was the most important factor in determining the daily life of man and providing the basic requirements for living. Life would be impossible without the Sun for man, beast, bird, or plant. The Sun was regarded as the source of all energy and responsible for birth, growth, and destruction of all things in creation. It was for this reason that Sage Viswamitra glorified the Sun God (Savitr) in the Gayatri mantra.