Sai Gayatri - SaiCharan TV

SAAYEESHWARYA VIDHMAHE,
SATHYA DHEVAAYA DHEEMAHI,
THANNAHSSARVAH PRACHODAYAATH

We know this Sai is Supreme Divinity incarnate.
We meditate on this God of Truth.
May this Almighty Personality lead us
on the path of total liberation.

The occasion was Christmas Eve of 24 December 1977. The place was the Sathya Sai Mandir in Brindavan, Whitefield, near Bangalore. The assembled audience consisted of a group of students and faculty members of Sri Sathya Sai College as well as a number of visiting devotees. It was in the glorious presence of Sri Sathya Sai Baba himself that a great vedic scholar Pandit Sri Ghandikota Subrahmanya Shastry was inspired to announce Sri Sathya Sai Gayathri, the mystic formula devoted to Sri Sathya Sai.

This Sathya Sai Gayathri, like other Gayathris, is on par with Veda Mantra or mystic formula. It has 24 letters; it consists of three lines, each with eight letters. Such a composition has unique properties. According to Maharishi Vararuchi, the numerology of all letters adds up to 108. That is why recitation is to be done 108 times; to realize the full effect of Siddhi - which is signified by the 108th number, i.e. Meru or the tassel of a rosary or Japamala. Ashtottara Sata Nama - the 108 name-chanting leads to the realization of God, which is the goal.

Every Gayathri Mantra has a revealing prophet or Rishi and a presiding deity, Adhishthana Devata, who is the subject of the mantra. This mantra is expressed through the inner workings of Sathya Sai through the mouth of Pandit Sri Ghandikota Subrahmanya Shastry in the presence of Sri Sathya Sai Baba. Needless to say that Sai Baba himself is the presiding deity of this mystic formula or Mantra.