216 - Complete instruction relating to Gāyatri

Agni said:

1-4. After having performed the twilight worship thus, oneshould recite Gāyatri. It is known to be Gayatri because it savęs disciples, wives and lives. It is known as the Savitri because it illumines the Sun. It is (known as) Sarasvati because it is the form of specch. It is known to be the bharga, the lustre, because it is the effulgence of supreme brahman. (The root) bhā denotesshining. It is also known that bhrasj denotes cooking. It ripens the herbs etc. (The root) bhrājr would denoteshining. (The word) Bharga would be (denoting)shining. (In this sense) it has been used in the scriptures many times.

5-6. (It is said to be) most excellent because it has an exalted position than all the splendours. It is the one always desired by those who wish to attain heaven. As (the word) vrunoti means covering, (it signifies) an eternal, absolutely pure conscious, absolutely real and great god that is beyond (the states of) waking, dreaming and deep sleep.

7-10. I am that brahman, the supreme effulgence. I contemplate on that for the emancipation. That effulgence is lord Vishņu that is the cause of origin of the universe. Some read Siva, some read a form of goddess, some Sun and some such as those learned in the scriptures and those propitiating fire, the fire (god). Lord Vishņu of the form of fire etc. is praised in the scriptures as the brahman. That most exalted place of lord Vishnu is known to be that of lord Savità (Sun). That lord Hari, the self effulgent produces the (libations of) clarified butter.

(The same god) as the god of rain, the god of wind and the Sun would nourish (everything) by means of cold, heat etc.

11. Libations cast into the fire reach the Sun. Rains are produced from the Sun. Food grains (grow) from rain and then the people.

12-13. (The word) dhimahi (may be) from the root dha (to hold). (It means) "May we retain in our minds”. The word naḥ (means) 'our' May that Bharga who is in the intellects of all beings prompt the intellects of those who enjoy in all their acts and results seen and unseen. He is of the form of Vishnu, Sun and Fire.

14. Being prompted by the lord one may reach heaven or the pit (of mundane existence). Everything is an abode of the lord. Lord Hari is verily (the worlds) such as the mahat.

15-16. "I am that lord who sports with the paradise and the like. That lord the universal being known as Bharga inside the Sunshould be contemplated by those desiring for emancipation for the destruction of birth and death and the three kinds of griefs. This universal beingshould be beheld in the orb of the Sun.

17. You are that Supreme Being, the conscious brahman which is the exalted position of lord Vishnu. I am Bharga, the most exalted fourth place of lord Sun. I am the body and the like, the state of waking and that upto that brahman. I deem myself as the brahman. I am that absolute spirit in the Sun. I am the infinite. Om. I am that one who always directs the knowledge in auspicious acts and the like.

Summary of chapter 216 of the Agni Purāṇa is as follows:

This chapter presents the worship of Sūrya, the visible divinity who sustains all life. The Gāyatrī mantra and its derivation from the Ṛgveda are explained, along with the proper sandhyā-vandana procedure for the three daily twilights. Agni describes the twelve Āditya forms corresponding to the twelve months and their individual mantras. The aṣṭa-dravya arghya — water, sesame, red flowers, red sandal, kuśa grass, akṣata, and dūrvā — offered at sunrise is prescribed as the foremost act of Sūrya worship.