[Advaita-l] Gayatri Mantra in Advaita

[Ganesh Chandar]

Pranams. I'm very grateful for your clear and focused guidance. I read the
dialogue with  Śrī Chandraśekhara Bhāratī Mahāsvāminaḥ whose name itself
brings tears to my eyes. I also read the Guru Sivananda's commentary that
you shared. Both are very revealing - how Gayatri (Sandhya) upasana
describes and leads one to the ultimate knowledge. I'm yet to read the
Bhashya and am eager to do so.

I have been a Sandhya upasaka on and off until I was drawn to Vedanta about
1.5 years ago. The Sandhya upasana became the first casualty. I used to
love and look forward to my daily Sandya and Gayatri upasana so eagerly -
felt a wonderful connection with the Deities and Surya Bhagavan when I did
them. However, Vedanta made them less important until recently I heard a
similar comment from someone else. This made me go back to my Upasana
(thankfully). I was looking to integrate this with my study of Vedanta.
This is the background of my question.

Thanks again 🙏

On Fri, Jan 23, 2026 at 10:46 AM Raghav Kumar Dwivedula via Advaita-l <
advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:

> Namaste Ganesh ji
> An informal but very meaningful answer by Śrī Chandraśekhara Bhāratī
> Mahāsvāminaḥ to your question is presented in the book “ Dialogues with the
> Guru” where it is shown that Gayatri mantra can be everything from simple
> upāsanā to nididhyāsanam of nirguṇa brahman.
>
> Om
> Raghav
>
> Quote from-
>
> https://www.vedanta.gr/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/ChandrashekBharati_Dialogues-with-The-Guru_RK-Iyer_ENA5.pdf
>
> -
>
> The Sandhya Worship
>
> A touring Educational Officer once met His Holiness and
>
> said,
>
> "I have occasions of being in constant touch with young
>
> boys, mostly Brahmanas, studying in schools which I have to
>
> inspect. I have found that even the boys who perform their
>
> sandhya do so more as a form than as real worship. I shall be
>
> very grateful if Your Holiness would give me some valuable
>
> hints which I could convey to them."
>
> His Holiness: I am very glad to see that you are not con-
>
> tent with mere official routine of inspection but desire to
>
> utilise the occasion for the betterment of the boys. It will be
>
> well if all educationists, inspecting officers or teachers, real-
>
> ise that they have been entrusted with the very grave re-
>
> sponsibility of training up young men in the most
>
> impressionable period of their lives. In my opinion they are
>
> really to blame if they confine their attention only to the
>
> prescribed text books and neglect the spiritual side of the
>
> young generation.
>
> D: I always keep that end before me and I don't miss any
>
> opportunity of talking to the boys and giving them some use-
>
> ful advice. It is mainly with a view to do that work better
>
> that i request Your Holiness to give some practical sugges-
>
> tions.
>
> HH: Even if the boys to whom you propose to convey such
>
> suggestions may not benefit by them, you will certainly be
>
> benefited.
>
> D: Certainly.
>
> 15Dialogues with The Guru -- Sri Chandrashekhara Bharati Swamigal
>
> HH: You may therefore, for the present, ignore the boys
>
> and ask such questions the answers to which are likely to be
>
> useful to you.
>
> D: The first question which suggests itself to me is with
>
> reference to the sandhya worship. What is the deity or
>
> upasya devata in the sandhya worship?
>
> HH: Before we consider that, please tell me what you un-
>
> derstand ordinarily by the sandhya worship?
>
> D: By sandhya worship we mean the worship of the rising
>
> Sun, the setting Sun or Sun in the mid heavens.
>
> HH: Quite so. Comprehensively speaking, you mean wor-
>
> ship of the Sun?
>
> D: Yes.
>
> HH: You tell me that sandhya is the worship of the Sun and
>
> yet you ask me what is worshipped in the sandhya. Don't you
>
> think it is an unnecessary question?
>
> D: Put so, it may seem an unnecessary question, but my
>
> real question is, what is the Sun that is worshipped?
>
> HH: What do you understand ordinarily by the Sun?
>
> D: We mean the bright celestial orb in the sky.
>
> HH: Then it is that bright celestial orb that is worshipped.
>
> D: But that orb is, according to science, mere inert mat-
>
> ter in a state of high combustion and is certainly not worthy
>
> of being worshipped by intelligent beings like ourselves. It
>
> can neither hear our prayers nor respond to them. I cannot
>
> believe that our ancestors were so ignorant as to address
>
> 16Dialogues with The Guru -- Sri Chandrashekhara Bharati Swamigal
>
> their prayers to a mere burning mass of matter
>
> HH: I quite agree with you. They could never have been so
>
> foolish.
>
> D: What then did they see in the Sun to justify their pray-
>
> ers being addressed to it?
>
> HH: You said just now that addressing of prayers to inert
>
> matter cannot be justified by reason.
>
> D: Yes.
>
> HH: What then must be the nature of the entity to which a
>
> prayer is addressed?
>
> D: The primary condition is that it must not be mere in-
>
> ert matter, but must be endowed with intelligence.
>
> HH: And the second condition?
>
> D: That it must be able to hear our prayers and be power-
>
> ful enough to answer them.
>
> HH: Quite so. If our ancients were not fools and yet ad-
>
> dressed their prayers to the Sun, their conception of the Sun
>
> must have been quite different from that of mere inert mat-
>
> ter, in a state of high combustion.
>
> D: Yes, they must have also postulated of it intelligence,
>
> the capacity to hear us and the ability to help us.
>
> HH: The 'us' including not only all those who are now living
>
> to raise their hands in prayer to the Sun, but also the genera-
>
> tions, past and future, infinite in number though they may
>
> be?
>
> 17Dialogues with The Guru -- Sri Chandrashekhara Bharati Swamigal
>
> D: Of course.
>
> HH: The entity that is worshipped as the Sun is therefore
>
> one whose intelligence or ability knows no limitation of space
>
> or time.
>
> D: It must be so.
>
> HH: You have now got your answer to the question as to
>
> who is worshipped in the sandhya? It is an intelligent Being,
>
> omniscient and omnipotent in the matter of hearing and re-
>
> sponding to its votaries.
>
> D: Your Holiness then means that it is a deva who has his
>
> habitation in the solar orb?
>
> HH: Quite so. He has not only his habitation there, but the
>
> solar orb itself is his physical body.
>
> D: Your Holiness means that the deva enlivens the solar
>
> orb, just as we do our physical bodies?
>
> HH: Just so.
>
> D: If then he is embodied just like us, how does he hap-
>
> pen to have such high intelligence or power as to merit our
>
> obeisance?
>
> HH: He attained that status by virtue of the appropriate
>
> karma and upasana done by him in a previous life.
>
> D: Does Your Holiness mean that he was at one time just
>
> like ourselves and that he attained that status by his en-
>
> deavour?
>
> HH: Yes.
>
> 18Dialogues with The Guru -- Sri Chandrashekhara Bharati Swamigal
>
> D: Then he is no more than a jiva, which I aIso am. Why
>
> should a jiva make prostration before another jiva, howso-
>
> ever superior?
>
> HH: Why should your son or pupil respect you and why
>
> should you show respect to your superior officers? Are not
>
> both of you jivas?
>
> D: No doubt we are. But we respect our superiors as it is
>
> in their power to help us or injure us, if they so desire.
>
> HH: That is a very low kind of respect. Anyhow, taking
>
> even that kind of respect, we must respect Surya devata if it
>
> is in his power to help us or injure us, if he so desires.
>
> D: Of course.
>
> HH: Being a jiva as much as your superior officers, he will
>
> help you if you appeal to him for help or injure you if you ig-
>
> nore or despise him. In your own interest then, you are
>
> bound to worship him and secure his goodwill.
>
> D: But I need not court the favour nor fear the displeas-
>
> ure of my superior officer, if I carry out the duties of my of-
>
> fice faithfully.
>
> HH: Quite so.
>
> D: If I preserve that attitude, there is no reason why I
>
> should propitiate my superior officer.
>
> HH: Certainly not.
>
> D: Similarly, if l carry out strictly the duties enjoined on
>
> me by the sastras, I need not propitiate any other jiva, be
>
> he the highest devatā .
>
> 19Dialogues with The Guru -- Sri Chandrashekhara Bharati Swamigal
>
> HH: Quite so.
>
> D: Then, should I not give up the worship of Surya devata?
>
> HH: Certainly you may, unless of course such a worship is
>
> part of the duties enjoined on you by the sastras.
>
> D: How can that be?
>
> HH: It is true that an honest and strict officer in perform-
>
> ing the duties of his office need not mind the pleasure or the
>
> displeasure of his immediate superior. But the mere fact that
>
> he thinks it necessary or obligatory to perform those duties
>
> properly, shows that he has as the ultimate end the pleasure,
>
> or avoidance of the displeasure of a still higher officer who is
>
> superior to him as well as to his immediate superior. Even if
>
> he has no personal acquaintance with that higher officer, he
>
> always has in the background of his mind an undefined
>
> power, call it the King or the Government, when he performs
>
> the duties of his office. And that power has the ability to be-
>
> nefit him by a recognition of his services or to punish him by
>
> taking note of his delinquencies. Further, that power rules
>
> both him and his immediate superior officer. If therefore that
>
> power requires him to behave in a particular manner towards
>
> his superior officer, he cannot afford to disobey that injunc-
>
> tion, for if he disobeys, not only does he incur the displeas-
>
> ure of that officer but also of the higher power.
>
> D: That is so.
>
> HH: Similarly, if a power which rules both you as well as
>
> Surya devata requires you to conduct yourself in a particular
>
> manner towards that deva, you cannot afford to neglect that
>
> injunction, but must conform to it or take the risk of incur-
>
> ring the displeasure of that deva as also of the higher power.
>
> 20Dialogues with The Guru -- Sri Chandrashekhara Bharati Swamigal
>
> D: It is no doubt so. But in that case, in prostrating my-
>
> self before Surya devata, I shall be really worshipping the
>
> higher power even when my worship may seem addressed to
>
> the Surya.
>
> HH: What of that?
>
> D: If I am able to conceive of such a higher power who
>
> rules even the Surya, that power is really the worshipped
>
> entity although to all appearances the worship is addressed
>
> to the Surya only.
>
> HH: Quite so.
>
> HH: But Your Holiness said that it, was Surya devata who
>
> was worshipped?
>
> D: Yes. It is correct so far as persons who are not able to
>
> conceive of a higher power are concerned. To those however
>
> who can conceive of that power, He is the real upasya. That
>
> power is called Hiranyagarbha. He enlivens and ensouls not
>
> only the Surya, but all devatas . He enlivens and inhabits not
>
> only the solar orb but all things. He is the cosmic personality
>
> who is the soul of all things.
>
> D: I suppose just as we have the sense of “I” in our phys-
>
> ical bodies, so does that cosmic personality has the sense of
>
> "I" in the entire cosmos.
>
> HH: He has.
>
> D: If so, the difference between Him and me lies not in
>
> the presence or the absence of the sense of “I” but only in
>
> the degree, the range or the magnitude of that sense. Mine
>
> is restricted, His is extended.
>
> 21Dialogues with The Guru -- Sri Chandrashekhara Bharati Swamigal
>
> HH: It is so.
>
> D: if it is the sense of "I" that is responsible for the
>
> concept of a jiva, he must be as much a jiva as myself.
>
> HH: Quite so. In fact He is called the First Born.
>
> D: Then, even if this higher power happens to belong to
>
> the category of Jivas, just like myself, the same objection
>
> which I mentioned against the worship of Surya devata holds
>
> good in his case also.
>
> HH: What then would you like to worship?
>
> D: A transcendent power which is not a jiva.
>
> HH: Have it then that it is such a transcendent power that
>
> is worshipped in the sandhya. We give Him the name of
>
> lswara, the Lord, or the antaryami, the inner ruler.
>
> D: But I have heard it mentioned that the terms 'Lord' and
>
> 'Ruler' are only relative terms which are used in regard to
>
> Him when we want to describe Him in relation to the uni-
>
> verse, which is 'lorded over' or 'ruled' by Him.
>
> HH: Yes, it is so.
>
> D: It cannot be that we can have no conception of him
>
> apart from his relationship of some sort to the universe. His
>
> relationship to the universe can at best be only an ex-
>
> traneous circumstance. In His essence, He must have an in-
>
> dependent existence quite unrelated to anything else.
>
> HH: You are right. We call that unrelated essential exist-
>
> ence Brahman.
>
> D: If it is so, that must be the real object of worship
>
> 22Dialogues with The Guru -- Sri Chandrashekhara Bharati Swamigal
>
> rather than the relative aspect called lshwara.
>
> HH: It is even as you say. It is really the unqualified Brah-
>
> man that is worshipped in the sandhya.
>
> D: I cannot really understand Your Holiness. You first said
>
> that it was the solar orb that was the object of worship, but
>
> when I pointed out that it was only inert matter, you said
>
> that it was Surya devata that was the object of worship;
>
> when again I pointed out that he was only a limited jiva like
>
> myself, you said it was Hiranyagarbha, the cosmic soul, that
>
> was the object of worship: when once again I pointed out
>
> that he was after all a jiva, however cosmic his sense of 'I'
>
> may be, you said that lswara the Lord and Ruler of the uni-
>
> verse was really the object of worship; and lastly when I
>
> said that even he is but a relative aspect of Brahman, you
>
> said that the object of worship was Brahman itself.
>
> HH: I did say so.
>
> D: But I fail to see how all these statements can be recon-
>
> ciled.
>
> HH: Where is the difficulty?
>
> D: The object in a particular worship can be only one.
>
> How can it be the solar orb or the deva enlivening it or Hir-
>
> anyagarbha or Iswara or Brahman at the same time?
>
> HH: I never said that it was the solar orb or the devatā and
>
> so on.
>
> D: Does Your Holiness mean to say then that the object of
>
> worship is the solar orb and the devatā and Hiranyagarbha and
>
> Iswara and Brahman all put together?
>
> 23Dialogues with The Guru -- Sri Chandrashekhara Bharati Swamigal
>
> HH: Nor did I say anything of that sort.
>
> D: How then am I to understand Your Holiness' state-
>
> ments?
>
> HH: When did I tell you that the upasya was Surya?
>
> D: When I mentioned that the physical mass of burning
>
> matter cannot be the object of worship.
>
> HH: Before you mentioned it, I said that it was even that
>
> mass that was the upasya.
>
> D: Yes.
>
> HH: I never mentioned that it was the solar body or the
>
> deva as an alternative. To one who cannot conceive of an en-
>
> livening soul, the upasya is the physical mass; to one, how-
>
> ever, who declines to accept inert matter as an object of
>
> worship, I said the upasya was Surya devata. The upasya is
>
> ever one, but its exact nature varies with the competence of
>
> the worshipping aspirant. The upasya gets further refined
>
> when even the concept of a devatā does not satisfy the enquir-
>
> ing devotee. We say then that it is Hiranyagarbha. When
>
> even such a concept seems meagre or unsatisfactory, we tell
>
> the devotee that he is really worshipping the Supreme Lord
>
> himself When he begins to feel that even the Lord-ness is a
>
> limitation of His essential nature, we tell him that it is the
>
> infinite Brahman itself that is really worshipped. Where is
>
> the difficulty?
>
> D: Does Your Holiness then mean that it is not possible to
>
> definitely say what the object of worship in the sandhya is
>
> except with reference to the mental equipment or intellec-
>
> tual advancement of the worshipper?
>
> 24Dialogues with The Guru -- Sri Chandrashekhara Bharati Swamigal
>
> HH: How can there be an object of worship if we ignore
>
> the worshipper? The nature of the worshipped necessarily de-
>
> pends upon the nature of the worshipper.
>
> D: How?
>
> HH: Take me for example. All of you show me respect. But
>
> the object of respect, though it is, roughly speaking, myself,
>
> does differ with each one of you. Ordinary people respect me
>
> and like to see me surrounded by glittering paraphernalia;
>
> their attention and respect are claimed by those articles
>
> rather than by my personality. Such people will show the
>
> same respect to others who have similar paraphernalia. Their
>
> homage is not therefore really paid to me but only to the
>
> paraphernalia. Some others respect me for the position that I
>
> hold or for the Asrama in which I am. Such people will
>
> equally respect others who are or may come to be in such a
>
> position or in such an Asrama, their homage is therefore not
>
> paid to me but to my position or to the Asrama. And some
>
> others may not care what position I hold or in what Asrama I
>
> am, but give me homage wherever I go and however I may
>
> be; their object of respect is my physical body. A few others
>
> will not mind if my body is dark or ugly or even diseased, but
>
> will nevertheless give me homage if by purity of mind and
>
> character or by the power of my intellect and learning or by
>
> any spiritual merit that I may possess I command their re-
>
> spect. Very few indeed will respect me for the spark of divine
>
> intelligence which inheres in me, as it does in all of you.
>
> D: Of course it is not possible to say that all the devotees
>
> that approach Your Holiness are of the same mental equip-
>
> ment.
>
> HH: Quite so. But, ordinarily all these people, whether
>
> 25Dialogues with The Guru -- Sri Chandrashekhara Bharati Swamigal
>
> they really tender homage to the paraphernalia or to my
>
> status and Asrama or to my body or to my mind or to my in-
>
> tellect or to the divine spark in me, prostrate before me to
>
> show their respect. Can you tell me, apart from any refer-
>
> ence to the several devotees, to whom or to what they pros-
>
> trate?
>
> D: It is no doubt very difficult to answer.
>
> HH: Similarly, with every kind of worship. Externally
>
> viewed, there will be no appreciable difference between the
>
> one who respects me for the paraphernalia and another who
>
> respects me for the divine spark in me. Externally viewed,
>
> there will similarly be no appreciable difference between the
>
> devotee who in his blind faith is content to address his pray-
>
> ers to the luminous Sun and another who turns to it as a vis-
>
> ible symbol of the infinite Brahman. The question as to what
>
> is the upasya in the sandhya worship can therefore be
>
> answered only in this way.
>
> D: I now understand how in the simple worship of the Sun
>
> all possible stages in spiritual perception have been
>
> provided for.
>
> HH: It is not only this, for you will find if you consider the
>
> matter still further, that all the three ways known as karma,
>
> bhakti and Gyana have been given places in the daily wor-
>
> ship, but that is a different matter. Simple as the sandhya
>
> worship seems to be, it is sufficient to help us on to the
>
> highest stages. It is as useful to the highest aspirant as it is to
>
> the beginner. It is a folly, therefore, to belittle its value or to
>
> neglect it in practice.
>
> 26
>
>
> On Fri, 23 Jan 2026 at 8:58 AM, Ganesh Chandar via Advaita-l <
> advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:
>
> > Pranams. (my first message in this form) 🙏
> >
> > How does a student of Advaita interpret the Gayatri Mantra?
> >
> > Thanks
> > Ganesh
> > _______________________________________________
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