Gayathri Mantra – Misconceptions!

“I am told that Gayathri Mantra has miraculous power and if we recite daily we will become wealthy and powerful…”Rajesh Iyer, a reader in Palakkad said.

“I guess this is a misconception. There is no such specific Mantra as Gayathri Mantra. And those people under poverty line, especially Brahmin community, have been reciting Mantras for more than 5000 years and they didn’t turn wealthy and powerful…”

“Udayji, how can you say there is no such Mantra? Gayathri Mantra is considered as mother of all Mantras and it is acclaimed as the most powerful one….”

“Gayathri is NOT a Mantra. It is a Chandus (poetic meter). There are many Hymns set in the Chandus of Gayathri – all those Hymns can be called as Gayathri Mantras.”

“During the Upanayana (the sacred thread – yajnopavita – ceremony), what was the Mantra that your father whispered in your ears? Do you recite that Mantra, Udayji?”

“He initiated Savithri Mantra set in Gayathri Chandus…Yes, I recite it at least 108 times every day…”

“Aha…what was the Mantra?”

“Om Bhuh Bhuvah Suvah| Tat Savituh Varenyam|Bhargo Devasya Dhimahi| Dhiyo yo Nah Prachodayat. However, the first part (Om Bhuh Bhuvah Suvah) is NOT the part of the Mantra.”

“Yes, yes – that’s the Mantra…”

“This is the most popular 24-syllabled Mantra in Gayathri Chandus. Krishna in Bhagavad Gita says, amongst poetic meters I am the Gayathri….Rajesh, I understand that Savithri Mantra is popularly known as Gayathri Mantra. But I wanted to clarify your misconception so that you don’t propagate wrong things. Let’s call it Gayathri Mantra, I don’t have any problems…”I smiled.

“Yes…yes…The internationally renowned scientist Dr.Howard Steingeril of Hamburg university in USA has proven in a research study the miraculous power of Gayathri Mantra, oh sorry, Savithri Mantra!”
“Rajesh, Hamburg University is in Germany…..I can’t find any records in Hamburg University site that says it did some research on Gayathri Mantra. However, I have read those articles you are mentioning here and found it as a super hoax. Nobody appears to know Dr.Howard Steingeril!”

“But what about the findings?”

“The story is a cooked-up one – a humbug. It says Gayathri Mantra produces sound frequency of 66 MHz! It’s super blunder! Since the Mantra can be heard by human ear, the sound frequency is clearly less than 20 KHz …

(Excerpts from my book: MANTRAS and RITUALS: THE LOGIC OF HINDU SCIENCE. For further reading: https://www.amazon.in/dp/B093Z2M52M ) You may visit Amazon site of your respective country and search “B093Z2M52M”

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