Explanation of 1st Four Cantos in English           Canto 1  2  3  4

Canto 2

In the beginning, OM is the form of the Supreme Divine that is unexpressed and unmanifested. From OM, the three figured Godhead Brahma, Vishnu and Maheshwar manifest.

Sound is the Brahman and is manifested as the source of all creation. In the German philosophy it is given the name Das Wort (The creation through utterance), in Sanskrit it is the Aksharbrahman. This is the beginning from where the worlds of Brahma, Vishnu and Maheshwar manifest - Brahma as the creator, Vishnu as the protector and Maheshwar as the destroyer of the Universe.

When the creation began, the Vedas came out from the source of Brahman as a cosmic truth light-called Aditya holding the complete memory of the creation. With the manifestation of creation from the vast light, a great power came as the metre (chhanda) and that had the power of realisation. This was accepted and worshipped by the Rishies.

The Rishies saw the movement of the original verse known as Gayatri, having three feet - each foot with eight letters - known as the Gayatri metre.

Au - is for Brahma [the creator], ou  - for Vishnu [the protector] and m - for Rudra [the destroyer].  The nasal sound, the Anuswara -  – continues to flow even after the completion of the sound that manifests as the creation.

Creations have manifested by the light of Brahman, continued with the power of Vishnu, dissolved by the power of Rudra and again arose through the power of Pingala (who stands on the - Anuswara – which is the continuation of the nasal sound).

First, there is the encircling movement of these three letters [au, ou, and m] twice.  On turning the third time, it will stop on the third letter - m - to create a foot of Gayatri (a metre of eight letters).

These eight letters make one foot, and when repeated three times three feet are created. Gayatri exists on the – OM.  The Rishies say that the conscious force Gayatri is the mother of the Vedas as she is the great power that manifests the Vedas.  Thus three turns of eight letters, creates the enlightened Gayatri chhanda. .

Gayatri is the source of the Vedas.  She is supreme, omnipresent –and she is the great power that manifests all the other rhythms and is known as Maheshwari.

The Rishies, who always meditate on the Gayatri, say that to them the power behind this three feet verse of eight letters appears in three different colours and shapes at different times of the day.

Gayatri is first seen to be ablaze with the dawn - red colour – immersed in the meditation of the creation, giving the rhyme and the rhythm.  Meditating on the universe in the morning, the Goddess Gayatri manifests in red colour having four hands, seated on a goose. She is called Brahmani, the power of Brahma, the creator.

She awakens the universe, while holding in her hands lucid water and grass. She sprays water over the unconscious human being in sleep, leads him to consciousness, making him aware of his own force and power inherent in him and in this way provides movement and rhythm of poetry.

In her second form - she is dazzling in her golden colour, holding the thread of work and rhythm and manifesting with love and unity.  Meditating at noon - she appears in a golden colour with four hands, seated on the Garuda (the eagle, the great bird).  In this form, she is named Vaishnavi being the power of Vishnu. She holds in her hands a conch (shankha), a wheel (chakra), a club (gada) and a lotus (padma).  She nurtures and maintains the universe with a thread of divine love, pure joy (ananda) and power of unity.

In the evening, she looks radiantly beautiful in a pure dusky shade and she manifests as the power of destruction. She has the power to destroy the creation and to plunge the soul into an unconscious state.  Meditating in the evening, she appears to have a smoky sombre colour, with four hands and is seated on the white bull.  In this form, she is the power of Maheshwara and is called Maheshwari.

In her hands, she holds the javelin to destroy the evil forces and the demons - by removing the world’s delusion that makes humanity believe in the reality of worldly objects and in   gratification of sensual pleasures. In this way, she spreads profound peace on earth.

Such are the powers of the Goddess Gayatri. On that Gayatri Devi, who is the giver of purity, through whose power the Vedas are uttered from the mouth of the Brahman – on that Gayatri Devi, I meditate.

With the light of Brahman, the four Vedas came out from his four mouths - and they are named Rig Veda, Sama Veda, Yajur Veda, and Atharva Veda. The Rishies said that the Sama Veda came from the east, the Rig Veda from the north, the Yajur Veda from the west, and Atharva Veda from the south.

The Gayatri exists in all of the four Vedas, enlightening the words of Brahman.  She is also the creatrix of the other six meters  (chhandas) - described as follows.

First is the powerful Gayatri with three feet, each foot consisting of eight letters, having twenty-four letters in all.  The Gods worshipped another form of Gayatri with four feet - each foot having six letters. In this form, the metre was called divine Gayatri.

Worshipped by the Rishies and Gods in these two different forms, a metre came into being, four feet with twenty-eight letters, named Ushnika.  Ushnika has two kinds of movements and shapes - At times, it consists of three feet and other times of four feet.

Another metre consisted of eight letters with four feet, thus thirty-two letters in all.  The Rishies adored this metre and called it the Anushthupa metre.

Further, there is the Vrihati metre of thirty-six letters, having four feet, each foot of nine letters, or having three feet, one foot of twelve letters and other two feet having eight letters each.

There is also the Pankti metre with forty letters, consisting of four feet, each foot of ten letters - called Viraja.

Another is the Trishthupa metre, with forty-four letters, - having four feet, each foot of eleven letters.  Next, one is the Jagati metre with forty-eight letters - four feet, each foot of twelve letters.

From the Anushthupa to the Jagati, all the metres have four feet as they manifested in different combinations.  The Rishies adored these metres  – the first among them being the Anushthupa.  The Anushthupa metre, which is the most powerful manifested new creations, is omnipresent and is the most favoured by the great poets.

Now lets summarize the above.

Before the beginning of creation, Gayatri with six other metres [Ushnika, Anusthupa, Vrihati, Pankti, Tristhupa and Jagati] manifested. The four Vedas came out from the four mouths of Brahman in four different directions. OM, the letter Brahman was ablaze in the eternal blue with omnipotent power, called by the Rishies – the Aditya - Dinamani  (Sun).

                          -- End of Canto 2 --           Canto 1  2  3  4

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