THE TWELFTH BOOK
Chapter IV
On Gâyatrî Hridaya
1-2. Nârada said :-- O Bhagavân! I have heard from you all about the Kavacha and the Mantra of S’rî Gâyatrî. O Deva Deva! O Thou, the Knower of the present, the past, and the future! Now tell about the Hridaya, the highest, the interior or esoteric Essence of the Gâyatrî, holding which, if one repeats the Gâyatrî, he acquires all the punyam (merits), I am desirous to hear this.
3-8. Nârâyana said :-- O Nârada! This subject on the Hridaya of Gâyatrî is explicitly written in the Atharva Veda. Now I will speak on that, the great secret, in detail. Listen. First, consider the Gâyatrî, the Devî, the Mother of the Vedas as of a Cosmic Form (Virâ trupâ) and meditate all the Devas as residing on Her Body. Now in as much as the Pinda and Brahmânda are similar, consider yourself as of the form of the Devî and meditate within yourself on the Devatâs, thus :-- The Pundits, the Knowers of the Vedas, say this :-- He is not yet fit to worship the Deva and he is not an Adhikârî as yet who has not been able to make himself a Deva; therefore to establish the knowledge of the oneness of the Deva and himself, he is to meditate the Devas within his body, thus :--
O Nârada! Now I will speak on the Hridaya of Gâyatrî, knowing which every man becomes able to become all the Devas. Listen. The Risi of this Gâyatrî Hridaya is Nârâyana; the Chhandas is Gâyatrî; and S’rî Parames'varî Gâyatrî is the Devatâ. Perform the Nyâsa of this as mentioned before and taking your seat in a lonely place, meditate intently on the Devî with your heart and head well collected. Now I am speaking of the Arthanyâsa. Hear. Meditate on the Devatâ Dyau on your head; the twin As'vins on the rows of the teeth; the two Sandhyâs on your upper and lower lips; the Agni, Fire, within your mouth; Sarasvatî, on the tongue; Brihaspati on the neck; the eight Vasus on the two breasts; the Vâyus, on the two arms; the Paryanya Deva on the heart; Âkâs'a, on the belly; Antarîksam (the middle space) on the navel; Indra and Agni, on the loins; Prajâpati, the condensed form, as it were, of Vijñâna, on the hip joints; the Kailâs'a and the Malaya mountains on the two thighs; the Visvedevâs on the two knees; Vis'vâmitra on the shanks; the Sun's northern and southern paths, the Uttarâyana and Daksinâyana
on the anus; the Pitris on the thighs; the Earth on the legs; the Vanaspati on the fingers and toes; the Risis on the hairs of the body; the Muhûrtas on the nails; the planets on the bones; the Ritus (seasons) on the blood and flesh; the Samvatsaras on the Nimisa (twinkling of eye) the Sun and the Moon on the day and night respectively. Thinking thus, repeat “I take refuge of the Divine Holy Gâyatrî, the Chief and most Excellent One, the Thousand eyed and I take refuge wholly unto Her.”
Then repeat “I bow down to Tat savitur varenyam,” “I bow down to the Rising Sun on the East,” “I bow down to the Morning Aditya,” “I bow down to the Gâyatrî, residing in the Morning Sun” and “I bow down to all.” O Nârada! Whoever recites this Gâyatrî Hridaya in the morning finds all the sins committed in the night all destroyed! Whoever recites this in the evening gets his sins of the day all destroyed! Whoever recites this in the evening and in the morning can rest assured to have become free of sins; he gets the fruits of all the Tîrthas; he is acquainted with all the Devas; he is saved if he has spoken anything that ought not to have been spoken; if he has eaten anything that is not fit to be eaten; if he has chewn and sucked anything that ought not to have been chewn and sucked; if he has done anything that ought not to have been done and if he has accepted hundreds and thousands of gifts that ought never to have been accepted.
The sins incurred by eating with the others in a line cannot touch him. If he speaks lies, he will not be touched by the sins thereof; even if a non-Brahmachâri recites this, he will become a Brahmachârî. O Nârada! What more shall I say to you of the results of Gâyatrî Hridaya than this :-- that whoever will study this will acquire the fruits of performing thousand sacrifices and repeating the Gâyatrî sixty thousand times. In fact, he will get Siddhi by this. The Brâhmâna, who daily reads this in the morning will be freed of all the sins and go upwards to the Brahmâ (Loka) and is glorified there. This has been uttered by Bhagavân Nârâyana Himself.
Here ends the Fourth Chapter of the Twelfth Book on Gâyatrî Hridaya in the Mahâpurânam S’rî Mad Devî Bhâgavatam of 18,000 verses by Maharsi Veda Vyâsa.