Posted on: 28 May 2021
हे दत्त! वैश्वानराग्ने!
होतासि हवनीय एव (पल्लवी)
He Datta! Vaiśvānarāgne!
Hotāsi Havanīya Eva (Chorus)
O Datta! O Hunger fire called Vaiśvānarāgni! You are the Hotā or offering priest of ghee-food and at the same time You are also Havanīya, the hunger-fire to which ghee-food is offered.
ऋग्वेदस्य प्रथम मन्त्रम्
यो वेत्ति स खलु यज्ञवेत्ता ।।
ṛgvedasya prathama mantram
yo vetti sa khalu yajñavettā ।।
He who knows the meaning of the first hymn of the first Veda, Ṛgveda, is the scholar of Yajña or sacrifice.
{The first hymn of the Ṛgveda (Agnimīḷe purohitam…hotāram…) says that the Agni or fire called Havanīya is also the Hotā. But, the inert fire itself can’t be Hotā or the person that offers ghee-food to the inert fire itself. Hence, Agni or fire, here, obviously, is not the inert fire. The Agni or fire is the hungry priest himself, who is offering ghee-food to himself possessing hunger fire in stomach called Vaiśvānarāgni. The Gītā also says that God Himself is the hunger fire (Ahaṃ Vaiśvānaro bhūtvā…).}
घृतं घृतान्नं क्षुधा मग्निम् ।
यो वेत्ति स खलु यज्ञवेत्ता ।।
ghṛtaṃ ghṛtānāṃ kṣudhā magnim ।
yo vetti sa khalu yajñavettā ।।
He who knows that ghee means ghee-food and knows that hunger of a hungry person is the fire, is the scholar of Yajña or sacrifice.
{The food containing excess of ghee can be called as ghee by Lakṣaṇā just as we call the possessor of apples as “O apples!”.}
पाक साधनाग्निम् अन्नसूक्तम् ।
यो वेत्ति स खलु यज्ञवेत्ता ।।
pāka sādhanāgnim annasūktam ।
yo vetti sa khalu yajñavettā ।।
He who knows that the inert fire called Bhautikāgni or Laukikāgni and Vaidyutāgni, lit in the sacrifice is instrumental used to cook the food and knows the meaning of the Annasūktam in the Veda, is the scholar of Yajña or sacrifice.
{The Annasūktam says that no trace of food shall be destroyed “Annaṃ na paricakṣīta”. Hence, the precious food ghee or ghee-food shall not be burnt in physical fire. It shall be burnt in hunger-fire called Vaiśvānarāgni or Devatāgni. Bhautikāgni or Laukikāgni is the inert physical fire lit with the help of sticks and Vaidyutāgni is the inert electric fire.}
गायन्त मारक्ष दत्त ! ।
गायत्रि ! तत् छन्द एव ।। (पल्लवी)
gāyanta mārakṣa datta ! ।
gāyatri ! tat chanda eva ।। (Chorus)
O Datta! You protect the singer of prayer on You. O Gāyatrī! You are the name of the meter in which His prayer exists.
{“Tat Savituḥ…” is called as Gāyatrī mantra since this hymn is present in a Vedic meter called Gāyatrī. Hence, the deity Gāyatrī is not mentioned since here it is told that Gāyatrī is the name of the meter and Savitā or Datta is the name of the Deity “Gāyatrī chandaḥ Savitā devatā…”.}
अनूह्यलीनः सोपाधिश्च ।
सविता ब्रह्मा दत्त एव ।।
anūhyalīnaḥ sopādhiśca ।
savitā brahmā datta eva ।।
The unimaginable God merged with energetic being called as mediated God, who is God Brahmā called as Savitā. Savitā means the God, who delivered or created the souls as per root word “ṣūṇ prāṇi prasave”. This means God Brahmā, who is Datta Himself as creator is referred here. The deity Gāyatrī is not referred here.
सर्वमतानां नोह्य साम्यम् ।
का वाऽपि भाषा किमपि मतम् ।।
sarvamatānāṃ nohya sāmyam ।
kā vā'pi bhāṣā kimapi matam ।।
The unimaginable non-mediated God is the basic original God in all religions. The same God gets mediated in different energetic forms mentioned by different religions by different names. Hence, whatever may be the language and whichever may be the religion, the basic unimaginable God is common to all religions.
{This means that any sweet prayer in any language of any religion sung is Gāyatrī. Gāyatrī means the mode of worship of God through sweet songs and does not mean any deity here.}
अलिङ्गकुलमुनि विश्वामित्रम् ।
भगवद्गीतां मन्त्र तत्त्वम् ।।
aliṅgakulamuni viśvāmitram ।
bhagavadgītāṃ mantra tattvam ।।
Viśvāmitra is the Sage of Gāyatrī mantra. Viśvāmitra means ‘Viśva Mitra,’ which means friend to all humanity in this world irrespective of gender, caste, religion, region, culture etc. Any devotional song sung on God is Gāyatrī and this is the essence of Gāyatrī mantra. Gāyatrī is universal and not specific to any religion.
ब्रह्मज्ञानी ब्राह्मणो हि ।
नेता ब्राह्मण एकदत्तः ।। (पल्लवी)
brahmajñānī brāhmaṇo hi ।
netā brāhmaṇa ekadattaḥ ।। (Chorus)
A Brāhmaṇa is the person, who knows about all details of God and leads the society to God by preaching true Spiritual knowledge about God. Hence, the real Brāhmaṇa is only God Datta.
{“Brahma nayati iti Brāhmaṇaḥ” means that Brāhmaṇa is the person who leads the society to God by preaching true Spiritual knowledge of God.}
भगवान् गायति गुणकर्मभिः ।
सृष्टो वर्णो मयैवेति ।।
bhagavān gāyati guṇakarmabhiḥ ।
sṛṣṭo varṇo mayaiveti ।।
(God Kṛṣ̤na sang in the Gītā that He Himself created caste system based on qualities and deeds of the souls.)
{“Cāturvarṇyaṃ mayā sṛṣṭam, guṇakarma vibhāgaśaḥ…” is told in the Gītā.}
जन्मनि वर्णे मनुष्य सृष्टे
कर्ता नाऽहमिति च सुगीतम् ।।
janmani varṇe manuṣya sṛṣṭe
kartā nā'hamiti ca sugītam ।।
(God also sang that the caste system based on birth as created by humanity is not due to Him.)
{God said in the Gītā that He is the creator of the caste system based on qualities and deeds “Tasya kartāramapi mām…”. He also said that He is not the creator of the caste system “Viddhyakartāramavyayam…”. The second type of caste system must be different from the first type of caste system; otherwise, both systems will contradict with each other. The difference is that the second type of caste system is based on birth.}
गुणकर्मजन्म गुणकर्मात्तम् ।
जन्म तु निरर्धकमिति हि सत्यम् ।।
guṇakarmajanma guṇakarmāttam ।
janma tu nirardhakamiti hi satyam ।।
Some argue that the caste system by birth is also correct because based on qualities and deeds only, the soul is born in the corresponding caste. This is foolish argument because by merely saying that caste system is based on qualities and deeds, their argument is also included. By bringing birth into the picture, exceptional cases, which are births of certain souls born in castes not based on qualities and deeds can’t be explained.