Gayathri Mantras Vibration.

[psnarasimhan]

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Source; Mani.S. Thiruvalla.

 

[sangom]

Source; Mani.S. Thiruvalla.

Much is made out of the gāyatrī mantra. In this forum also we had detailed discussions about the so-called great and miraculous effects of this gāyatrī mantra. As shown in the figure in the OP, and as chanted usuallly by brahmins, it does not even conform to the gāyatrī metre of vedic metres. The addition of Om, bhūḥ bhuvaḥ suvaḥ , etc., reveals the import of Tantrik elements into it as well.

Above all, there seems to have been no custom in the rigvedic times, of 'upadesifying' a boy with this gāyatrī mantra; upanayanam in the rigvedic context meant the parent or guardian of a young boy belonging to any of the three dwija varnas, to a suitable teacher or Guru and leaving that boy with the guru's household for a number of years during which the boy did not even visit his house or village.

A study of the relevant sūkta of the rigveda (III-62) does not reveal any special aspect of this one sloka; it looks as one of 18 verses praising different deities (devas) and asking them to bestow the singer of the sūkta (who appears, from the last sloka of the sūkta, to be Jamadagni and not Visvamitra) with different types of prosperity and wealth.

 

[renuka]

As shown in the figure in the OP, and as chanted usuallly by brahmins, it does not even conform to the gāyatrī metre of vedic metres.

Dear Sangom ji,

The Om Bhur Bhuvah Svah part as we know is not included in the Gayatri Chanda and the Gayatri Chanda starts at Tat Savitur Varenyam onwards..so why do you say that the Gayatri Mantra recited does not conform to the Gayatri metre?

All we need to remember is Gayatri meter portion is:

TAT SAVITUR VARENYAM
BHARGO DEVASYA DHEEMAHI
DHIYO YO NAH PRACHODAYAT”

 

[vikrama]

Dear Sangom ji,

The Om Bhur Bhuvah Svah part as we know is not included in the Gayatri Chanda and the Gayatri Chanda starts at Tat Savitur Varenyam onwards..so why do you say that the Gayatri Mantra recited does not conform to the Gayatri metre?

All we need to remember is Gayatri meter portion is:

TAT SAVITUR VARENYAM
BHARGO DEVASYA DHEEMAHI
DHIYO YO NAH PRACHODAYAT”

Gayatri is a chandas with three padas with each pada having eight syllables.
In the Gayatri mantra the first pada contains only 7 syllables. TAT-SA- VI- TUR- VA- REN- YAM;
The other two padas contain 8 syllables each. Totally there are 23 syllables only. So it is called rcat gayatri chandas.
As Sri Sangom observed, much has been made out of it. Thus there is a story that the valmiki ramayana contains 24000 slokas to represent the 24 aksharas of the gayatri and hence ramayana is nothing but the explanation of gayatri. Neither gayatri nor the ramayana has the said numbers.

 

[renuka]

Gayatri is a chandas with three padas with each pada having eight syllables.
In the Gayatri mantra the first pada contains only 7 syllables. TAT-SA- VI- TUR- VA- REN- YAM;
The other two padas contain 8 syllables each. Totally there are 23 syllables only. So it is called rcat gayatri chandas.
As Sri Sangom observed, much has been made out of it. Thus there is a story that the valmiki ramayana contains 24000 slokas to represent the 24 aksharas of the gayatri and hence ramayana is nothing but the explanation of gayatri. Neither gayatri nor the ramayana has the said numbers.

Dear Vikrama Ji,

From what I read the it is still considered 24 syllables cos the Varenyam is pronounced with the Vedic Accent as Va Re En Yam..and that makes it 24.

I cant remember where I read this.

Dont know if it was right too.

 

[renuka]

Dear Vikrama Ji,

Since you mentioned rcat gayatri chanda..I would like to know is it the same as नृचत्( nRcat) gayatri chanda?

Cos ... Ekadantaya vidmahe vakratundaya dhimahi,
Tanno dantih prachodayat

is considered नृचत् gayatri chanda.

So is the rcat you mentioned the same as नृचत् ?

 

[SANDHYAV]

Time is a great tool in fact the only tangible controller of our lives. i like the bit with adityam, somam, angaram, budham ..... the most. and during the night times the abha sarpa...

 

[sangom]

Dear Vikrama Ji,

Since you mentioned rcat gayatri chanda..I would like to know is it the same as नृचत्( nRcat) gayatri chanda?

Cos ... Ekadantaya vidmahe vakratundaya dhimahi,
Tanno dantih prachodayat

is considered नृचत् gayatri chanda.

So is the rcat you mentioned the same as नृचत् ?

I have learned it as नृछिद् (nṛchid) गायत्री or गायत्री broken by Man. The vedic accent of vare enyam does not count in deciding the metre. But one Jesuit Priest of Mumbai had put forward a theory that the गायत्री was originally varEniyam, but I don't think it has been accepted by the vedic scholars.

If you read the whole hymn III-62 of the rigveda, you will find that in the very first rik of that hymn, the rishi says:

O indraa-varuNas! Let those stotras which are used to praise you and are related to you, not become addressed to any other deva of your calibre. Where is the food which you collected for providing to us, your friends? (We are unable to find it, please give it to us.)

In this connection I remember having read an account that this whole hymn is related to an ancient legend of famine-stricken group of rishis who desperately were searching for some food in order to sustain themselves alive. The other riks in the hymn also support the same view and are appeals to different devas like Brihaspati (riks-4,5,6), Pooshan (riks-7,8,9), Savitr (riks-10-the gaayatree, 11, 12), Soma (riks-13,14,15), Mitraavarunas (riks-16, 17,18).

What has most possibly happened is that at a late period in history, this III-62-10 has been adopted and a system of sun-worship started and made as the flagship of Aryans. The worship of Agni became of secondary importance from then onwards.

 

[renuka]

Dear Sangom ji,

Thanks for explanation.

I remember some few years back I asked a Brahmin priest from India (out here) some clarification of the Gayatri Mantra regarding the Chanda cos at that time I was wondering why only 23 syllables and not 24 and I was wondering why..so I asked him and he told me 'I wont tell you..that is my secret..you are a woman..I will never tell you!"

 

[Nacchinarkiniyan]

For the last decade or so the music companies have taken in a big way to make money out of Gayatri mantra. cassettes, CDs and now gadgets which play the mantra continuously and of course ring tones.

Arya Samaj allows both men and women to recite Gayatri mantra. They print it and hang it on walls.

The biggest Hindu organization in India is the Gayatri Parivar. They have popularized it.

Now to the down side.

Have you ever heard Gayatri mantra continuously for 12 hours. There was a ISKCON bookshop on wheels who parked right in front of my house. I did not mind that. In fact I was happy tat he was doing it.

Not many people came to the shop. Then one week later he started playing the Gayatri mantra continually from morning to night. He was selling that gadget also.

I drove us nuts. We could not pray in our house. We cold not do japa.

I had to threaten him to stop it. He quit the place after a couple of months.


When I was young I had taken to doing the japa of Turiya Gayatri.

And then the confusion between Gayatri Devi and Gayatri mantra. Is the Gayatri Devi mentioned in any of the scriptures?

Do you know this meaning of the gayatri mantra

The Mantra

om bhur bhuva sva tat savitur varenyam bhargo devasya dhimahi dhiyo yo na pracodayat om

om - the seed mantra which contains everything within it;



bhur - the physical world;



bhuva - the mental world;


sva - the intellectual world;


tat - that, the three planes of experience;



savituh - the soul;



varenyam - worshipable, venerable;



bhargo - the supersubjective area, the svarupa-sakti;


devasya - who is beautiful and playful, Krsna, Reality the Beautiful;

dhimahi - come meditate;



dhiyah - of meditation, of service; yo - who;


na - us; pracodayat - enthuses our capacity;

We always considered it to be a prayer to Surya.

 

[sangom]

Quite apart from whatever is being discussed, the picture given in the OP is yet another example of how our priesthood could brainwash and mesmerize a whole population even genetically (so to say) that people continue to fall for all such fancy ideas like each akshara of the gaayatree "cleansing" one or another organ or part of the body. It is significant that the brain (contents of the kapaala) have been left untouched

 

[vikrama]

Dear Vikrama Ji,

Since you mentioned rcat gayatri chanda..I would like to know is it the same as नृचत्( nRcat) gayatri chanda?

Cos ... Ekadantaya vidmahe vakratundaya dhimahi,
Tanno dantih prachodayat

is considered नृचत् gayatri chanda.

So is the rcat you mentioned the same as नृचत् ?

Sorry for the typo. It should be nrcat. While doing sankalpam/ (or is it anganyasam?) for the gayatri japam we recite the name of the rishi, chandas and devata. There it occurs as nrcat.
सावित्र्या ऋषिः विश्वामित्रः, नृचत् गायत्री छन्दः, सविता देवता
But I do not know the exact meaning of the word as it is not found in the dictionaries, I have.
From what I have heard, it seems to mean defective. Perhaps Sri Sangom is right in having it as nrchid- broken by man.
Those who created the sankalpam were aware that the gayari mantra is not in strict conformity to the prosodical norm of 24 syllables and that is why they qualified it with the word nrcat.