Gayatri Mantram - an Unknown Fact

Many of our friends with upanayanam may give wonderful statements like - “ We are into meditation you see.... and when we get instant result in that, then what is the use of Sandhyavandanam and sprinkling some water?

"This is the Kali yuga" and thats my only answer for this statement.. Iam not ready to tell anything more...

For those who do Sandhyavandanam regularly - please read this... this may be useful....

Iam not detailing the sandhyavandhanam part here and coming directly to Gayatri.

The Gayatri chanting part is the central part of the Sandhyavandanam.

na gAyatryAH parO mantraH na mAtu daivatam param

There is no mantra superior to gAyatri, neither is there a form of God superior to one's mother

Gayatri is a most sacred japam that can activate twenty four spots of the human body in the subtle plane. Thats why it is said that a person need not do any sadhna if he does gayatri.

Gayatri Mantra is extolled by one and all . It is a simple and small mantra but with  huge  benefits

Gayatri is a Maha mantra. But please note....

'mananaat trAyatE iti mantraH' (it protects through meditation).

In other word Gayatri should be contemplated silently thinking inwards. It loses its potency if chanted loud or sung with any raga....  Only time Gayatri is chanted loud is during the Ahuti in the yagna

And it is a sin to 'sing' Gayatri using any ragas! (Singers like Anuradha Paudwal please excuse me... Its Shastra... so you MUST follow it....)

Now... coming to our subject..

Each mantra is has a Rishi (who gave us the mantra), a specific Chandas and the Devata(to whom the mantra is dedicated ). This is symbolically represented by touching the head while chanting the Rishi's Name (placing his feet on our head), touching the nose when we recite the chandas (no life without breath - similarly there is no life to the mantra without Chandas); then touching the heart for Devata's name(meditate the deity in our heart)

The most famous Gayatri mantram as "discovered" or meditated upon my Sage Vishvamitra. Gayathri refers also to a Chandas - meter

The word chandas also means the meter of vedic poetry . There are different typs of Chandas for each sloka or veda mantra

Depending on the number of syllables in each of the paadas, we have different meters :-

anushtup (8 syllables)

brihati (9),

pankti (10),

trishtup (11 )

ushnik (4 paadas of 7 syllable each = 28 syllables) -like that up to even 26 syllables to a paada. (Any meter beyond 26 syllables to a paada, is called dandakam.)

Now coming to our Gayatri... there is a Chandas itself by named Gayatri -  and Our Gayatri Mantra has three paadas of 8 syllables each; the meter itself is known as gayatri since it has 24 syllables;

The chandas is vital and should be respected while reciting vedic mantras. Chandas helps us to ensure the form of the Mantra (by meter count). No alteration to this can be attempted since it would disturb the spiritual significance of the mantra itself!

However, there is a slight change in the Gayatri mantram itself... thats what Iam trying to convey here...

I was really surprised that even eminent scholars were not aware of this change and when I discussed this subject with them only 1-2% of people were aware of this fact and only a handful of them were practicing it correctly...

The well known statement is "ChathurvimsathyaksharA GaayathrI " (There should be 24 aksharams in GaayathrI). The rules of Chandas permit one aksharam less for variations (so 24 minus 1 =23). When it is 23, it is called nicruth GaayathrI.

Remember - the chandas for regular gayatri japa is 'nichrut gayatri' which is one syllable short of 'gayatri' chandas. ie 23 aksharams and Not 24...

'Saavitria Rishi: Viswamitra:, 

nichruth Gayatri chanda: 

Savita Devata, Gayatri jape viniyogah :'

So the main focus is the pronounciation of 'varENyaM' in the part  ".tat savitur varenyam" (tat-sa-vi-tur = 4 plus 3 syllables va-re-nyam). So onthe whole the regular Gayatri Japam is nicruth GaayathrI.with 23 letters

But please note while doing Argya Pradhanam its regular Gayatri Chandas and Not nicruth GaayathrI. ie 24 lettered and and Not 23 lettered.
So.... for gayatri argyam - the mantra has to be pronounced as 'varENiyaM' (4 syllables va-re-ni-yam) and not as varENyaM.

So, Gayatri ought to be chanted as 'varENyaM' only during the japa since the chandas explicitly stated during the invocation is 'nic^Rit gAyatrI'.  During the 'arghyapradaanam' one should say varENiyaM.

Thus , the GaayathrI (GaaythrI manthram used for Argyam) has "varENiyam " with an extra aksharam and the total counts up to 24 aksharams .

The other one with " VarENyam " becomes 23 in count and is permitted as Gaayathri Japam


May Gayatri, the Mother of Vedas, bestow on us right understanding, pure intellect, right conduct and right thinking !

Gayathri japam during Sandhya vandhana

Question :
During sandhyavandhanam.. how many times we need to chant the gayathri mantra...how much is the minimum number..
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Answer:
Gayathri is called Vedha Matha- the mother of Vedhas. And Gayathri Japa is a duty of every Dwija. (Dwija is not only a Brahmin but includes even Kshatriyas and Vaishyas - who are initiated with Brahmopadesha and given Upanayanam.

It is one of the foremost duty given to you... Consider the case of your employment... You are given the promised salary for the work you do and do not get any additional or special pay for doing your job.. but you are questioned or even punished when you fail to do it.. The same is the case with Sandhyavandhanam.. By doing it you dont gain any special punya. But by leaving it you incur papa.

Gayathri Japam is a part of Sandhya vandhanam. The significant feature of Sandhyavandanam is the self contemplation or meditation through the Gayatri Mantra.

This is done first and foremost for one's personal Shreyas as well as Lokakshemam.

Simply chanting this Japa is of no use. One's mind should be completely focused towards Gayathri Devi. Minimum of 1008 times, is what our Shastras suggest. And if its not possible, it is suggested for a minimum of 108 times.

And now people need to reduce it even. Not only gayatri, any mantra - the more is the number the more you are benefited.

-------- An interesting episode is to be seen in an Islamic book "Akbar nama", the biography of Emperor Akbar
when Akbar was ruling India . Birbal was his minister .Akbar and Birbal would often travel incognito to collect first hand information about the various happenings within the country.

On one occasion , they noticed a brahmin going begging from house to house. Akbar pointed this out to Birbal. Birbal noticed the beggar and kept quiet. After reaching home he sent word for the brahmin to meet him.

When the brahmin called on Birbal , Birbal said ,

"Oh ! Brahmin - You collect your daily earnings through begging from me every day . In lieu of begging please chant Gayatri Japam during the three sandhya periods 108 times everyday. I shall pay you daily for chanting the mantra"

The brahmin agreed and after collecting the money from Birbal, started chanting Gayatri Mantra. This continued daily. After a few days , he thought , why not increase the chanting to 1008 times, since he had a lot of time. Birbal paid him more for increasing the count. This continued for some days but after few days the brahmin stopped going to Birbal's house for begging .

After a few days, Birbal suddenly remembered this Brahim and thought of inquiring about him. He visited the brahmin and asked him as to why he had stopped coming to his house. He was really surprised to see more and more people visiting the brahmin for his blessings and he had become a well known personality. The brahmin welcomed Birbal and profusely thanked him for putting him on the right path by guiding him at the right time. His daily meditation earnt him the power to acquire knowledge , acquire an attractive personality and soon he transformed into a good expounder of knowledge.

One day Birbal mentioned to Akbar that a saintly person had come to town and Akbar promptly invited the person and honoured him. Birbal then asked Akbar whether he remembered this saintly person but akbar could not recollect. Birbal then reminded Akbar about the brahmin beggar episode . Akbar after hearing this exclaimed "Oh! what a change".

This episode appears in the Akbar Nama and brings out the virtue and greatness of the Gayatri Mantra.
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Coming to your question, the minimum in 108.. But Shastras say during Aapath-kaalam(when one is in danger or extraordinary situation) one can chant a minimum of 10 gayathri. If you chant Gayatri for 10 times in a fully involved manner, she will definitely going to bless you. But you have to decide whether are you always in Aapath Kalam? By doing Gayathri Japa, a dwija will grow and glow in social and spiritual life and reach the final destiny.