Discovering the Vedas by Frits Staal

Author:Frits Staal [Staal, Frits]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9788184758832
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
Published: 2013-04-06T04:00:00+00:00

The Gāyatrī Mantra

The Gāyatrī mantra is called after its metre (Five: Rigveda): it consists of three verses of eight syllables which are long ‘—’ or short ‘^’ as in the following scheme:

How close mantras are to ritual is shown by the teaching of the Gāyatrī mantra which takes place during the initiation ritual of upanayana. Similar in formation to upaniṣad (‘sitting near’), upanayana means ‘taking near’. ‘Near’ may again be to the teacher, here called ācārya, or to the stage of studenthood after which the student is called a brahmacārin. There are many ceremonies after which the teacher takes the boy’s hand and makes him look at the sun. After numerous other exchanges, variously described in various manuals, student and teacher sit north of a fire, the student facing east, that is, looking at the teacher, and the teacher facing west. The teacher then makes him repeat the first verse:

tat savitur vareṇyaṃ.

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