DHYAN FOUNDATION

There would hardly be anyone who has not heard the Gayatri Mantra — Om bhur bhuvah svah, tat savitur varenyam, bhargo devasya dhimahi, dhiyo yo nah prachodayaat. Maybe a few thousand people also understand what it means. But there would be hardly anyone who knows of the rishi — Brahmarshi Vishwamitra — who got this mantra from the Divine. It is such a powerful mantra that Krishna called it the mother of all mantras — mahamantra — and Ram himself protected the yagyas of this great rishi. Hardly anyone would relate this mantra to Vishwamitra, who is mostly remembered for his love affair with Menaka. This is the first mantra of the Rigveda, the first veda, but for some reason, Vyas, who compiled the Vedas, put it later, like so many other mantras given by Vishwamitra. But why? Vishwamitra was a Kshatriya king with vast resources and power. However, after realising that physical powers and siddhis were just a trap of the physical world and tapo bal (the yogic power of penance)...