Dr. Pranav Pandya

Gayatri Parijans around the globe will be celebrating June 06, 2006 as Gayatri Jayanti Parva – the holy day of descent of Gayatri Mahashakti for the creation of this world. This day is also celebrated as Ganga Dussehra – the torrential descent of the holy Ganga on Earth. In Gayatri Mahamantra is condensed the Ritambhara Pragya – the Supreme Knowledge – Wisdom of the Divine Spirit.

While celebrating this Parva, let each of us understand and appreciate that we are living at a time of unprecedented challenges and opportunities; time of unique spiritual significance when Ritambhara Pragya is covertly emerging in human consciousness and will transform our hatred and strife-torn world of chaos, confusion and conflict into one of harmony, peace, light and love. We will see with wonder the descent and manifestation of the Tenth Avatar – Pragyavatar – with twenty-four attributes of Divinity. Of course it will be an impersonal Avatar in the global human consciousness, with personal manifestations in rarely evolved human souls here and there. Our Gurudev has been one such soul – in fact the Prophet of the New Avatar. Earlier in our Pauranic chain of Avatars, Sri Ram (with twelve divine attributes) was the seventh; Sri Krishna (with sixteen divine attributes) the eighth; and Bhagwan Buddha (with twenty divine attributes) the ninth.

At this epoch-changing juncture, our Gurusatta expects us to make ourselves fit instruments for the work of the Pragyavatar through intense and single – pointed Sadhana of self-purification and self-transcendence; so that we are able to contribute our mite towards the fulfillment of the Avatar’s mission – creation of Heaven on Earth. It is through the synchronistic working of Divine Grace and human effort that this momentous transformation can take place. We as souls are sparks of the Divine and not mere playthings and puppets in the hands of soulless planetary configurations. We have to BELIEVE and have FAITH in our Divine Origin. To a large extent, man is the maker of his own destiny. The Divine Teacher of Gita stresses this fact as follows:

Satwanuroopa sarvasya shraddha bhavati Bharat |
Shraddhamayoayam purusho yo yachraddhah sa eva sah ||

(Gita 17/3)

Meaning: The faith in each man takes the shape given to it by his staff of being. The soul in man is made of faith; and whatever is that faith in him, that is he.

The twenty four attributes of the new Avatar are symbolized by twenty four alphabets of Gayatri Mahamantra. Similarly, the three steps of the Mahamantra signify the tree main paths of sanatan spiritual sadhana – ‘Om bhoorbhuvah swah’ signifies adoration of the Supreme Spirit (Bhakti Yoga); ‘Tat saviturvarenyam bhargo devasya dhimahi’ signifies the urge and seeking of Effulgent Truth, Supreme Knowledge and Wisdom (Gyan Yoga); and ‘Dhiyo yonah prochodayat’ – exhortation for concentrated sadhana of purification and sublimation of our intellect and other instruments and yoking them into selfless service (Karma yoga).