` za<it< devSy ÉvNtu, ` t®ejSpZyNtu

` svaRinh zaeÉa tÇ ivÉatu, ` sTy< tt!.

` tTsdev deva>, ` tTsdev tej>.

` Syad!jgdev tej>, ` #d< tejsav&t< tt!.

` deva igir< AÓEt< jIviNt, ` jgd!gué< vNdaim yStejis devSy vtRte.

` tTsÄejsekSt<, ` tTst!.

` zai" mnuZyan!  dURlÉ< Aip igir< kevl< tejis,

` zaiNt zaiNt zaiNt>.

TRANSLATION:

Om.  Let them realize peace through the Deva.

Om.  Let them see that as light.

Om.  For all here in this world may the splendor there illumine.

Om.  Universal truth is that.

Om.  That alone, oh Devas, is existence.

Om.  That, which is existence, is light alone.

Om.  May the world be only light.

Om.  This envelops that through light.

Om.  The Devas live on the mountain non-dual.

Om.  I salute the teacher of the universe, who exists in the light of the Deva.

Om.  That, which is existence, is light, resting in oneness.  

Om.  That is existence.

Om.  Show the people that the mountain alone is light, though difficult to obtain.

Om.  Peace, Peace, Peace.

                                `  

TRANSLITERATION:

` za<it< devSy ÉvNtu,  ` t®eS pZyNtu.

Om.  s`aantim` devasya bhavantu.  Om.  tat tejas pas`yantu.

Om.  May the people be in the peace of the Lord.  Om.  May they see that as light.

` svaRinh zaeÉa tÇ ivÉatu, ` sTy< tt!.

Om.  sarvaan iha s`obhaa tatra vibhaatu.  Om.  satyam tat.

May the splendor there totally illumine for all people here in this world.  Om.  Satyam  is that.

` tTsdev deva>, ` tTsdev tej>.

Om.  tat sat eva devaah^.  Om. tat sat eva tejah^.

Om.  Oh Devas, that is existence alone.  Om.  That is existence which is only light.

` Syad!jgdev tej>, ` #d< tejsav&t< tt!.

Om.  syaat jagat eva tejah^.  Om.  idam tejasaa aavr^tam tat.

Om.  May the world become light alone.  Om.  For this envelops that through light.

` deva igir< AÓEt< jIviNt, ` jgd!gué< vNdaim yStejis devSy vtRte.

Om.  devaah^ girim` advaitam` jiivanti.  Om.  jagat gurum` vandaami yah^ tejasi devasya vartate.

Om.  The Devas live on the mountain non-dual.  Om.  I salute that world teacher who lives in the light of the Deva.

` tTsÄejsekSw<, ` tTst!.

Om.  tat sat tejas ekastham.  Om.  tat sat.

Om. That which is existence is light, which is resting in oneness.  Om.  That is existence.

` zai" mnuZyan!  dURlÉ< Aip igir< kevl< tejis,

Om. s`aadhi manus`yaan duurlabham` api girim` kevalam` tejasi.

Om.  May the Lord show mankind that the mountain, difficult to obtain, also is in light only. 

` zaiNt zaiNt zaiNt>.

Om s`aanti  s`aanti  s`aantih^.

Om peace, peace, peace.

COMMENTARY:

     As one considers the world about us and the place one occupies in that world, a relationship is formed.  This relationship is based upon how one sees the truth of greater scope than what the thought-world offers, so that the particular people with whom one interacts in the world are subsumed ultimately in a greater world view than what the convincing aspects of thoughts might portend.  This in no way signifies a lesser importance to the daily life one makes with the people with whom one is likely to interact.  In fact, the greater perspective one gains from a contemplative ardor for the universal truth, sTym!  satyam, can only bring a more harmonious and realistic perspective to the social interface one will countenance in the workaday world and in the locale which one inhabits.  

     However, the question remains for a seeker typically seeing this possibility of truth that he or she might attain to a greater self-realization  through a fuller knowledge of satyam; thenceforth, a fuller life can be achieved.  To beg the question, how can the esoteric become the practical?  How can an abstruse series of questions on the non-obvious nature of reality and truth, a truth known as universal somehow, ever bring the fruits of achievement and satisfaction into a life?  Evidence is rendered, of course, in favor of the methodology of yogic science by the example set by those self-realized seers who have seen the way and accomplished the deeds of greater knowledge; that is, there is a distinction between jnaanam, knowledge, and vijnaanam, know-how.  Just like children who follow the ways of their elders, seekers after truth, satyam, will see the way by those who are gifted by its know-how, who are capable of teaching in the fashion also of pradam guru.  Pradam guru means that the teacher (guru) is one who delivers knowledge in a way resolute unto its full meaning (pradam, to fully give or to give on the behalf of), so that the knowledge becomes more than pedantic.  Knowledge conferred by the pradam guru becomes deliverance itself. 

      With the foregoing as a basis for consolation and reassurance that the realization of satyam can make a better life, the inquiring mind might now inquire after the connection between the relative world of objective reality and the abstract sphere of universal import, that kind of abode one might  imagine for satyam.  The key in understanding this leap of knowledge lies in the understanding that satyam is not separate from the physical realm about us; indeed, it is in-and-through the relative sphere.  There are many ways to prove this point, and all of them rest upon the method of separating out in any inquiry what is real from what is not real.  Thus, the gist of the proof will boil down to the fact that material substance is of a grosser reality than what is in the more ultimate sense; a pot may be made of clay, yet that clay does not in return depend upon the pot nor for its existence nor for its attributes.  The  molecular structure of clay simply is not altered if it used to form the structure of a pot, and clay also will remain the same, clay, if it is used to make a mixture with soil and gravel for a walkway.  Baking the clay constitutes a change in the molecular structure to an extent, but baking clay does not convert the clay into metal or into plastic. The didactic point is that there is a dependence of the pot upon clay for its existence; but on the other hand, there is not a dependence upon clay for a pot--and when the entire relative realm is seen as according to this cogent point of truth, then a gradation of reality has suffused the mind.  The relative world is of a higher order of reality upon which it depends for its existence as from a source; yet, that higher order of reality does not in turn depend upon the relative plane for its existence nor for its attributes directly.  

     Therefore, if one seeks a more elaborate understanding of satyam according to this idea of an order of reality with its concomitant levels of truth, universal and relative, one might be aware that light binds in the physical world, and light has an equally esoteric origin such as one felt perhaps at the beginning of the inquiry after satyam. 

     In a sense, light just is, yet it is invested at all levels in the study of physical matter.  It further has the capability of traveling through space and is as much a messenger in the physical world which we strive to understand.  As one attempts to find the higher truth, sTym!  satyam, it becomes obvious that such a phenomenon as light should be a candidate for a more universal message.  Light, for instance, told us of the existence of the moon.  Through technological expertise, the United States has sent astronauts to the moon and gathered up moon rocks, the actual material substance of that great celestial entity. The moon has reflected light to mankind anonymously for centuries, knowing no dominion except as some remote object with barely a name.  Similarly, t®ejSpZyNtu  tat tejas pas`yantu, may they see that 'that,' in Sanskrit tt!  tat, is light.  In the case of the moon rocks, the inquiry was strangely reversed.  What had been admired and observed for centuries in the sky as an entity with changing features of light was one day brought home to us from the technological dominion established through the American space initiative as physical substance, thereby crossing the line of reality from perceived light into moon rocks.  

     Expand the mind similarly now in our prayer for knowledge of light as the universal preceptor of sTym!  satyam, tejs! tejas.  Regard the earth upon which you walk.  That substance, that rock, is also in another order of reality, light.  If one sees that sTym!  satyam is in and through all of the physical realm, then a medium for knowledge of that ubiquitous attribute of sTym!  satyam, can be had, and it is light.  The very beauty of light makes a splendor, and thus what seems to be here as real, #h iha, in this world, is actually of a source, tÇ tatra, there, of some imagined abode or Heaven.  Yet, even nuclear physicists will study the energy characteristics of matter, and declare that energy and matter are controvertible.  Light is sheer energy.  So if what is most real and universal, sTym!  satyam, is regarded as everywhere, then light is as much the property of that which is hypostatic to both matter and energy.  Yet, this light of which we speak is also of another capability, and that is the capability of the Devas:  deva igir< AÓEt< jIviNt devaah^ girim` advaitam` jiivanti, the Devas live on the mountain non-dual.  The light of God has its own existence, and a seeker after truth who has purified the mind and lifted the heart to God for revelation of truth may at times see the very light of God, as well.  Thus, it is said further in the prayer that the Devas live in such light, and that light constitutes a non-dual attribute described as a mountain.  The great teacher who arrives and learns of puézaeÄm yaeg purus`ottama yoga, an avatar, will live in such light of the Devas and thus teach of the nature of the absolute.  From that teaching of an avatar all is known through the vehicle of light as fundamentally resting in the same non-dual realm as what the most ultimate source would conceptually at least impose:  @kSw< ekastham or resting in oneness.  Thus, the cogent and terse mantra ` tTst!  Om tat sat, om that is existence, can be metaphysically understood as well by the binding features of light, tejs! tejas.  

     Phonetically the word tejs! tejas is replete with exactly the function of light as it serves in the world for a seeker after truth who has posed an inquiry whereby light works to deliver information through perception. The t takaara is representative by sound of that which is to be determined as most true, most real.  The vowel e is the combination of a + i.  The vowel i means to individuate while personifying and can apply to all three persons, not only the third person, which is first person in English; moreover, this derives from whence the English word "I" is derived.*  When A akaara and # ikaara combine to mean @ ekaara, then agency is signified by such combination.  The A akaara has represented the initiation of that which the # ikaara through its persona would intend, thereby forming an agency, the @ ekaara.  And this agency can be locale, as well, such that the nature of a place speaks of a task likely to be accomplished there or from there.  In the case under consideration here of te te followed byjkar jakaara, the emphasis lent the determination intended by the tkar takaara through the imposition of the @kar ekaara, defines the essence of the power of light in metaphysical inquiry.  Generally we take light for granted as we perceive, consider, reconnoiter and muse upon our lives and upon the truth.  In a concentrated metaphysical inquiry there is no substitute for the meaning of light, and understanding this is deeper as we see how the letters of the word tejs!  tejas match the process of using light as we conduct our tasks of inquiring after sTym!  satyam; to form a concerted agency ideation  through the @kar ekaara amounts to a concise description of the utility, the "mR dharma, the essence, of light. The final letter in the substantive tejs!  tejas, the skar sakaara, points up the rarefied nature of light and how its capabilities are subtle enough to capture the dynamic nature of  the physical realm represented by that final consonant skar sakaara.  Indeed, this skar sakaara is preceded indeed by the jkar  jakaara; that jkar  jakaara is an elaboration of the ckar cakaara.  The jkar jakaara means a more final stage of combination or binding in the physical realm.  (One can easily see the meaning phonetically of ckar cakaara as that which binds or joins if one has a basic knowledge of Sanskrit, and is familiar with the indeclinable c ca, meaning 'and.')

     The jkar jakaara would intend more of the  constitution of such binding as is represented by the ckar cakaara.  Therefore, to analyze the precise meaning of this word for light, tejs!  tejas, from the letter onward, will render a greater meaning also of the nature of light.  Light does indeed bind, connect and unify the equipment with which we perceive the physical world about us, and that should include the mind.  Light consoles the mind.  Sanskrit has many words for light, and some of them are concerned more with its splendor than with its chief utility, or "mR dharma, as is tejs! tejas.  Moreover, light has the power through its ubiquity to level the insatiable need for thoughts, thoughts which are like water in that they travel everywhere, embracing everything.  Light, therefore, is often used as the metaphysical vehicle of truth which can conquer over the unreal nature of the thought-born perceptions while at the same time light makes possible the perception of information which the feeds the mind in its thinking abilities.

*Please note that the first person in Sanskrit is technically the same as the third person in English or in Latin.  Thus, to say pcit pacati, he cooks, is to give an example of the grammatical order of Sanskrit: pcit pacati is an example of the àwm pué; prathama purus^a, the first person singular.  (Some authors do not follow this order.)

 

*Most of the years I spent as a sadhu were affected by socio-political contention over my affiliation with the society on some level, and this was never explained to me.  The accord I held with the fellow devotees and teachers was once most shining and instructive to all of us, and when things turned remarkably around and away from my needed and better inclusion, this of course meant my loss of attendance in classes once again.  I used to feel bereft of the great devotees I had known and cherished so well and concerned that I could not pray with them and learn more of Sanskrit.  I used to think that if I were to die, my last thoughts would be of those devotees whom I loved so deeply and whose memories I cherished profoundly.  For my lack of knowledge of Sanskrit I pined away at times.  One day I was sitting in my car praying for relief from the pain which the exclusion from the gurukulam in Saylorsburg was causing me.  I beseeched the devas to intervene somehow although I sensed that this strange exclusion which I was tolerating could not be immediately ended.  I therefore supplicated  the devas for the opportunity to learn more of Sanskrit prayers, not only for my love of Sanskrit, but also so that I could pray with the devotees. Those devotees were receiving great instruction on Sanskrit and could pray in Sanskrit together freely.  Lo and behold, I was on that very spot conferred Gita Tejasah by the devas.  I present it here as a story to you so that hope for greater justice for me will dawn in the minds of those whose faith will be buttressed by this prayer which had been conferred upon me.  I took this prayer to the altar of the pitham where I was staying at that time in Reeders, PA, and across days I worshipped and reveled in this wondrous prayer, Gita Tejasah.  

Marilynn Stark 

March 14, 2007