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jnana777
28 April 2015, 08:38 AM
I have a question about the pronunciation of one of the words in the Gayatri Mantra. On the wikipedia article for the Gayatri Mantra I've heard it pronounced as svah but a google search also shows swaha. So is it svah or swaha or are both acceptable? Also in svah is the "v" actually pronounced as a "w"?

smaranam
11 May 2015, 01:03 AM
I have a question about the pronunciation of one of the words in the Gayatri Mantra. On the wikipedia article for the Gayatri Mantra I've heard it pronounced as svah but a google search also shows swaha. So is it svah or swaha or are both acceptable? Also in svah is the "v" actually pronounced as a "w"?

Namaste
It is svah: i.e. "referring to sva" i.e. "to svarga" -- the three worlds -- bhu (prithvI) , bhuva (astral) , sva[rga]
The first line "om bhur bhuva svah" is not really part of the core Gayatri. It is appended to the One addressed -- tat savitur vareNyam , tat -- that, Whom? To the One, Om, Who makes up the three worlds. So the brightest One Who is represented by OnkAra (Om) and the three worlds, hence they are addressed.


svAhA is chanted while giving ahUtI (oblation) into the yadnya (vedic sacrificial fire) to agnI which ultimately reaches Lord Yadnya i.e. Lord of Yadnya i.e. VishNu
Therefore, svAhA is the consort of agnI. [SvAhA actually wanted to wed Lord KRshNa but He said "Priye, remain as Agni's consort for now, and you shall be Mine later -- Bramha-vaivarta purAN].

smaranam
11 May 2015, 06:32 AM
Namaste
It is svah: i.e. "referring to sva" i.e. "to svarga" -- the three worlds -- bhu (prithvI) , bhuva (astral) , sva[rga]

bhu -- prithvI (earth) --- element earth --- gross
bhuva -- astral -- mind -- subtle
sva -- svarga --- causal
om --- transcendental to material universe -- nirguN principle, AtmA

smaranam
31 May 2015, 09:00 AM
So is it svah or swaha or are both acceptable? Also in svah is the "v" actually pronounced as a "w"?


Namaste,
It is really swah:
You are right, the 'v' in svah is actually pronounced as 'w' as in water and not 'v' as in verify which has some amount of 'h' in it.
Perhaps we will have to re-write all transliteration this way -- but as long as you understand.

[I][COLOR=#000080]I am going to write w now on for this reason.

ah: (in GAyatri) from swAhA chanted during vedic yadnya. I was ignoring the 'v' versus 'w' point of yours.]



om namo bhagawate wAsudewAya

LightofOm
31 May 2015, 09:31 AM
I have a question about the pronunciation of one of the words in the Gayatri Mantra. On the wikipedia article for the Gayatri Mantra I've heard it pronounced as svah but a google search also shows swaha. So is it svah or swaha or are both acceptable? Also in svah is the "v" actually pronounced as a "w"?

Namaskar jnana777,

Both are acceptable, it just depends on how you pronounce words. Most of the time it is actually pronounced as "swaha", but "svah" is okay too. If you notice some people say "Bhagawan" instead of "Bhagavan" or "Wed Wyas" instead of "Ved Vyas". The "w" and the "v" in Sanskrit are sometimes interchangeable because they sound so similar. However, not every Sanskrit word with a "v" should be pronounced like a "w".

harih
08 June 2015, 06:19 AM
Namaste Learned all
I was taught to recite it as “sUvah“. South Indian style.