“Mantra is not a mere collection of words. It is a compounded set of words pregnant with enormous significance. It emanates from the inner power of man. Filled with such power, the mantra, when it is pronounced properly, brings out the divine power in man. The vibrations produced by the utterance of the mantra, uniting with the cosmic nāda (primal sound) in the universe, become one with the Universal Consciousness. It is these cosmic vibrations, which assumed the form of the Veda (sacred revelations of spiritual knowledge).”
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The Gayatri is a universal prayer enshrined in the Vedas. It is addressed to the Immanent and Transcendent Divine which has been given the name ‘Savita,’ meaning ‘that from which all this is born.’ The Gayatri may be considered as having three parts – (i) Adoration (ii) Meditation (iii) Prayer. First, the Divine is praised, then It is meditated upon in reverence and finally, an appeal is made to the Divine to awaken and strengthen the intellect, the discriminating faculty of man.
The Gayatri is considered as the essence of the Vedas. Veda means knowledge, and this prayer fosters and sharpens the knowledge-yielding faculty. As a matter of fact, the four core-declarations enshrined in the four Vedas are implied in this Gayatri mantra.
Sri Sathya Sai Speaks, vol 13.34: June, 20, 1977
The Gayatri Mantra is a sacred chant that demonstrates the unity that underlies manifoldness in creation. It is through the recognition of this unity that we can understand the multiplicity. Clay is one and the same thing, though pots of different shapes and sizes can be made from it. Gold is one, though gold ornaments can be multifarious. The Atma is one, though the embodied forms in which it resides may be many. Whatever the colour of the cow, the milk is always white.
Sri Sathya Sai Speaks, vol 16.6: March, 17, 1983