Battlestar Galactica Title Song

Here is the BSG title song translation. It is in Sanskrit no less. Technically, this is not a religious prayer, but a spiritual thinking process, designed to invoke a connection with a being of great light, power and wisdom. The purpose of this would be to receive guidance and advice.

Sanskrit words typically consist of three to four lines designed to invoke a connection and give the speaker power and wisdom directly from God. These words were first spoken by gods, and passed down to humans. They not only have a meaning, but also a power within them when spoken correctly. Passages that begin with "Om" signify that the message addresses a mechanical process that governs the Universe known as the laws of Physics.

In modern languages, a sentence has a beginning, middle and an end; however, Sanskrit sentences do not always follow this rule. Spoken and understood in parallel, the language is almost impossible for most human brains. If you can speak two very simple languages such as French and English, you will have noticed how parts of a sentence are sometimes back-to-front. In Sanskrit, almost all of it can be in reverse; hence, translation is tough for anyone. Sanskrit is therefore unlike any ordinary language.

Translation

Om
God

bhur bhuvah svaha
Giver of all life, remover of all pain and suffering, giver of all happiness.

tat savitur varenyam
That being of light, I come to you.

bhargo devasya dhimahi
Remove my sins the light of all that is good and let us focus on this.

dhiyo yo nah prachodayat
Guide my soul on the path of light.

Word for Word Translation

This is an approximate translation as a one to one mapping of Sanskrit to English is almost impossible to achieve.

In the first line, "om bhur bhuvah svaha", is like dialling a number to make a connection with God. To make any call you must have credit or money, as nothing is free in this Universe. The credit is how well you respect and understand ‘all pain’, ‘all happiness’, and ‘all things that support life’. However, more importantly, how much love and compassion you have demonstrated towards your fellow human beings. The compassion would be in the same league as Mother Teresa. This type of credit has a very high acceptance rate by God. :-)

Those that spoke this ancient language had a different way of looking at the Universe. They considered all life as consciousness of the Universe made manifest in material form. Everything that supports life supports this consciousness. Eventually, the ultimate consciousness (God) will manifest on Earth.

Hence, the core belief in Hinduism and Buddhism is to respect things that support life whether it is the Sun, or a cow or a plant. The idea is to have the ultimate consciousness of the Universe made manifest on Earth. Moreover, that can only happen if we stop killing everything around us and start respecting the things around us.

Currently, God is experienced through the forces of nature. Nature does not understand good or evil. Good and evil, man created those, but what is required is the realisation that we are the Universe made manifest in all of its forms. All the civilized religions of the world believe in making Earth a place like Heaven, however they all follow different methods. The two main religions believe in, conquering, and converting, whilst Buddhism and Hinduism, considered as the oldest ones, are non-conquering.

Explanation of some Words

"Bhur" is a collective word referring to everything that supports life such as air, water, sunlight, plants, animals, and the planet.

"Bhuva" means remover of human pain, a collective word for removing all forms of pain.

"Svaha" is a collective word for intense love and compassion in your heart. All forms of happiness.

These words have wide-ranging meaning for obvious reasons; as it is trying to describe that, which has no limitations.

In Sanskrit, "tat" approximates to "that", to describe the intense light of God.

"Savitur" means Sun on the horizon either setting or rising. The Sun radiates a bright golden light same as the light of God. It also symbolises the cycle of birth and death because in the morning, the Sun is reborn and in the evening, it dies. The core belief is in the cycle of birth and death. Their basic article of faith is "samsara" that this is not all that we are; we are more than this body, and there is still a journey after we die. The actions taken in this life, determine the destination.

"Samsara" describes a cycle of birth and death. Our next life depends on how we live in this one. If you did something bad to someone in this life, then in the next cycle there is a symmetrical role change, he or she plays you, and vice versa. This way, each side experiences the exact same situation. In each cycle, the players change, but the 'story' remains the same...

Every action, whether kind or unkind, remains recorded within the fabric of time and space. You then have to relive these moments from the other person's perspective to understand the importance of kindness and compassion. Buddhist monks that understand this generally learn to walk away from trouble, and thereby avoiding the creation of karmic threads, which might bind them in the next life.

"Bhargo" is a type of light from God, which will neutralize sins and remove them. This is sometimes called the cleansing light of God. More importantly, it neutralises an interaction that you may have had that created a cycle for you to relive. It is a very kind light, a loving light, full of understanding and knowledge that is there to help guide you.

Forgiveness is a very important aspect of humanity, to seek and receive forgiveness was very important in 3000 BC, and still is in modern religions and civilised evolved societies. If you did something bad to someone the best thing to do is to seek their forgiveness, which neutralises the "story" and therefore there will not be any need for role reversals in the next cycle. Wise people learn to forgive, because there are some interactions that are awful from either perspective.

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