Gayatri Mantra - Mantra or Prayer?

The Gayatri Mantra occupies a unique place in that it has both the power of mantra and of prarthana (prayer). It is important then in considering the Gayatri Mantra to distinguish the difference between these two deceptively similar words.

A mantra may be articulate or inarticulate, or a combination of them, as with AUM. It has an inherent power, known as "Mantra shakti", which has a positive influence not due to any philosophical meaning behind the mantra, but simply due to its utterance alone.

A prayer on the other hand does have a philosophical meaning behind it, and it is generally through this meaning that the prayer or prarthana has its power. Since this meaning can be easily understood, the method of prarthana is generally the form of worship used by most people.

The Gayatri, or Guru Mantrapossesses both the power of mantra and the power of prarthana, and thus has both an intrinsic power (ie "mantra shakti"), through its mere utterance alone, and also an instrumental power (ie "prarthana shakti"), which is derived from the understanding of its meaning and philosophical significance. Hence, the repeated and correct chanting of the Gayatri Mantra, with proper understanding of its meaning, is believed to be of the greatest good to the individual.