Gayatri mantra

[palanikumar]

Pranam

What is the Gayatri mahamantra for Atharvana veda?

palanikumar

[yajvan]

hariḥ oṁ
~~~~~~

namasté



gāyatrī is the femine version of gāyatra - both indicating a hymn.
we know gāyatrī as a meter (chandas) - twenty-four syllables, generally as a triplet of eight syllables per line ; hence one can say a hymn is composed in the gāyatrī meter with these characteristics.
we know the mantraṁ from the ṛg ved:
tát savitúr váreṇyam
bhárgo devásya dhīmahi
dhíyo yó naḥ pracodáyāt
Note too that this occuring in the ṛg veda (3.62.10) does not appear with the mahāvyāhṛti of bhūr bhuvaḥ svaḥ; nor does it begin with oṃ. This has been added for a few reasons, which has been addressed before on HDF.
gāyatrī is addressed to savitṛ or the Sun as generator , we also call it sāvitrī ; the gāyatrī verse is personified as a goddess , the wife of brahmā and mother of the four vedas
It is considered another name of durgā
Kṛṣṇa ( some write kṛṣṇ) informs us in the 10th chapter of the bhāgavad gītā , of the sama chant ( that which is sung) He is gāyatrī. Lets look at this word gāyatrī this way... gāya+ trī :
gāya+na is singing; a praiser
traya is triple; also means chanting; the gāyatrī hymn is 3 lines of 8 syallables or 24 in total, hence the relevence of 3.
And trā is defined as protector, and it is rooted in trai which means to protect , preserve , cherish , defend , rescue from.Is there another view on this gāyatrī ? Consider the post offered by sarabhanga back in 2006 : http://www.hindudharmaforums.com/showpost.php?p=7875&postcount=6 (http://www.hindudharmaforums.com/showpost.php?p=7875&postcount=6)


praṇām

[Jainarayan]

Namaste.

This is a question I have... why does this mantra have 9 syllables in the first line? I broke it up as it sounds to me. Or do I :doh: because I missed something?

Dev-ki-nan-dan-aa-ye vid-ma-he
Vaasudevaaya dhimahi
Tanno Krishna prachodayat

[yajvan]

hariḥ oṁ
~~~~~~

namasté


This is a question I have... why does this mantra have 9 syllables in the first line? I broke it up as it sounds to me. Or do I :doh: because I missed something?

Dev-ki-nan-dan-aa-ye vid-ma-he
Vaasudevaaya dhimahi
Tanno Krishna prachodayat
Let me offer this on the very first word of this mantra. I will leave the count to others.

Looking at the mantra in saṃskṛtam, the first word you have offered 'Devkinandanaye' looks like this :



devakī + nanda + nāya


देवकी = devakī = one who sports or plays; this is a daughter of devaka who was wife of vasu-deva and mother of kṛṣṇa

नन्द = nanda = joy , delight , happiness

ना = nā + य = ya = नाय = nāya = direction, leader , guide.

Yet we can look at it this way ( which I prefer) devakī + nandana +aya


देवकी = devakī = one who sports or plays; this is a daughter of devaka who was wife of vasu-deva and mother of kṛṣṇa

नन्दन = nandana = a son, in which we're inferring devakī's son, kṛṣṇa

अय = aya = favorable fortune

You can see once the first word is assembled we have the the son of devakī , who is favorable or is a joy and delight (nanda) of devakī.


Now some may offer that 'aya' can be looked at as 'āya' and I too would agree. This 'āya' means arrival or approach.
We can look at it in two ways ( as I see it). It is how one can 'approach' the son of devakī ( via the mantra offered)
or it can be the ~arrival~ of the son via devakī the mother. I will leave the proper way to the experts of saṃskṛtam.


Yet note this ...'Devkinandanaye' is a bit off the mark for proper transliteration and may cause one to say one thing and mean another.



praṇām

[Jainarayan]

Namaste yajvan, and thanks. Great explanation.

The syllable count was the real reason for asking. But I see the grammar and transliteration is completely different than I thought. I knew it meant "beloved son of Devaki" but I thought there was a dative case with the āye or āya ending. But it seems that is not possible, and it can't mean "to/for".


hariḥ oṁ
~~~~~~

namasté


Let me offer this on the very first word of this mantra. I will leave the count to others.

Looking at the mantra in saṃskṛtam, the first word you have offered 'Devkinandanaye' looks like this :



devakī + nanda + nāya


देवकी = devakī = one who sports or plays; this is a daughter of devaka who was wife of vasu-deva and mother of kṛṣṇa

नन्द = nanda = joy , delight , happiness

ना = nā + य = ya = नाय = nāya = direction, leader , guide.

Yet we can look at it this way ( which I prefer) devakī + nandana +aya


देवकी = devakī = one who sports or plays; this is a daughter of devaka who was wife of vasu-deva and mother of kṛṣṇa

नन्दन = nandana = a son, in which we're inferring devakī's son, kṛṣṇa

अय = aya = favorable fortune

You can see once the first word is assembled we have the the son of devakī , who is favorable or is a joy and delight (nanda) of devakī.


Now some may offer that 'aya' can be looked at as 'āya' and I too would agree. This 'āya' means arrival or approach.
We can look at it in two ways ( as I see it). It is how one can 'approach' the son of devakī ( via the mantra offered)
or it can be the ~arrival~ of the son via devakī the mother. I will leave the proper way to the experts of saṃskṛtam.

Well, if there is anyone who is more adept at Sanskrit than you, I don't know what the world is coming to. ;)

I think your next statement is a good example of Occam's Razor, "the simplest explanation is usually the correct one":


Yet note this ...'Devkinandanaye' is a bit off the mark for proper transliteration and may cause one to say one thing and mean another.

[Elena]

Satnam
Does exist any difference about the word Gâyatrî and Gâyatra?
Gâyatrî is feminin, okay, but people say sometimes Gâyatra and some say Gâyatrî? Why?
Elena