Gayathri - in Sanskrit, means those who sing or chant will be saved.
Manthra means any letter or syllable or word or sentence or their multiples, when repeated several times (in thousands) in the same manner, will develope an uniform sound wave. At that stage that letter or syllable or word or sentence and their multiples will become Manthra.
GAYATHRI MAHA MANTHRA
OOM l BHUR BHUVAS SUVAHA : l
TATH SAVITHUR VARENIYAM I
BHARGO DEVASYA DHEEMAHI l
DHIYO YO NA : PRACHODAYATH ll
Meaning : We meditate on that adorable light of the divine Supreme who should rouse our intellects. When you finish chanting Gayathri Manthra, please conclude by chanting the following. SARVAM SRI KRISHNARPANA MUSTHU ll
OOM SHANTHI : SHANTHI : SHANTHI : ll
Manthras were pronounced by ancient saints. There are about seven crore manthras. Gayathri Manthra is the prime most manthra. Without chanting Gayathri Manthra if some one chants other manthras, he will not get the full benefit.
In Bhagavath Gita, Krishna has said that among Manthras, HE is The Gayathri Manthra (Chapter - 10, Sloka - 35).
Gayathri Manthra is a gist all Vedas. (Veda means knowledge). Hence, chanting Gayathri Manthra is equal to chanting Vedas.
Gayathri Manthra when chanted properly, improves physical health, mental health, memory power, knowledge, courage, will power, brightness etc. Simply - it can bring anything and everything.
Gayathri Manthra has 24 letters - represents 24 divine powers which include the powers of 9 planets in the solar system
Gayathri Manthra is the only manthra that destroys our sins (sins of this birth and previous births). Once the sins are destroyed, good things will start happening in one's life.
Gayathri Manthra is also called Universal Prayer as it means "We meditate .....". "We" represents all human beings on this Universe. Hence, this manthra should be chanted by every one.
