ya evemaá¹ lokam ati-karÄla-vadanÄndhakÄra-saá¹jñÄjagara-graha-
gilitaá¹ má¹›takam iva vicetanam avalokyÄnukampayÄ parama-kÄruṇika Ä«ká¹£ayaivotthÄpyÄhar ahar anusavanaá¹ Å›reyasi sva-dharmÄkhyÄtmÄva-
sthane pravartayati
yaḥ - who; eva - alone; imam - this; lokam - world; ati-karÄla - very fearful; vadana - the mouth of which; andhakÄra-saá¹jña - known as darkness; ajagara - by the python; graha - seized; gilitam - and swallowed; má¹›takam - dead; iva - as if; vicetanam - unconscious; avalokya - by glancing; anukampayÄ - mercifully; parama-kÄruṇikaḥ - supremely magnanimous; Ä«ká¹£ayÄ - by casting his glance; eva - indeed; utthÄpya - raising them up; ahaḥ ahaḥ - day after day; anu-savanam - at the three sacred junctures of the day; Å›reyasi - in the ultimate benefit; sva-dharma-Äkhya - known as the soul's proper duty; Ätma-avasthÄne - in the inclination toward spiritual life; pravartayati - engages.
The world has been seized and swallowed by the python of darkness in its horrible mouth and has become unconscious, as if dead. But mercifully glancing upon the sleeping people of the world, you raise them up with the gift of sight. Thus you are most magnanimous. At the three sacred junctures of each day, you engage the pious in the path of ultimate good, inducing them to perform religious duties that situate them in their spiritual position.
According to Vedic culture, the three higher classes of society (the intellectual, political and mercantile sections) are formally connected with the spiritual master by initiation and receive the GÄyatrÄ« mantra. This purifying mantra is chanted three times daily — at sunrise, noon and sunset. Auspicious moments for the performance of spiritual duties are calculated according to the sun’s path in the sky, and this systematic scheduling of spiritual duties is here attributed to the sun as the representative of God.
