Pick a flower on earth and you move the farthest star. -Paul Dirac, theoretical physicist (1902-1984)

While my daughter was cleaning up for her move to the west coast; she pulled out a letter from Rutgers dated Aug 30, 1989, 25 years ago. In it they had responded to my enquiry for the location and translation of our beloved ‘Gayatri Mantra’ the university responded with the following and I quote.

”It occurs in the Rig Veda samitha, mandala (book) 3 hymn 62, stanza 10. As a written text it dates to 1,000 BC; as an oral tradition it must be two or three thousand years older.  The mantra reads

Tat savitur varenyam bhargo devasya dhimahi

Diyo yo nah prachodayaat

It seems to have been the most popular hymn even in the ancient world. There are several referencxes to it in the Brahmanas and the Upanishads, as well as in the laws of Manu. The literal translation of ths text reads as:  tat = “this; savitur = sun god; varenyam = “to be desired, long for); bhargo = :radiance, glory); devasya = “of the heavens, god)  dhimahi = “We direct our mind”

Dhiyo = “thoughts, devotion, knowledge); yo= “who”; prachodayat = “May inspire”

“We direct our mind to the sun god, radiance of the heavens, who may inspires our thoughts””

The natural forces were often referred to as gods like the sun, wind, soma, but in all the writings there remained one supreme reality; and we were just the soul (ataman) on a journey through this life in this body and mind, which would eventually merge back into God (parmatman). Our journey is part of the natural order of things and as we seek our own path we must have individual passion and inspiration. For this we have to direct our mind, discipline it and be inspired by the great wonders of our universe.  We must seek to acquire the knowledge; that will allow us to shine with the brilliance of the sun, in our own life, for the others around us.

It is clear from this passage that it is only by inspiring our thoughts into higher realms of reality, that we can become an inspiration in our deeds as well. I will thank my daughter for this gift after 25 years; as everything is according to a grand plan, and we discover things, when we are ready to understand them. I will now fix my mind to this mantra and see where it leads me, and those around me on this path of knowledge. So I will take my time to pick my flowers and move the farthest stars and won’t you join me on this journey?