gAyatrI mantra

[Sankaran Jayanarayanan]

Ravi Mayavaram <msr at REDDY20.TAMU.EDU> wrote:

Thank you for your reply!

>upanayana saMskAram is there for the first three varNas, which would
>imply that, they all qualify for chanting the sacred gAyatrI mantra.
>
>About the efficacy of the gAyatrI mantra when chanted outside India,
>it really does not matter. We should not do the mantra japam expecting
>the phalam. At the end of sandhya we surrender it to nArAyaNa. It
>should be done with IshavarArpaNa bhAvam, as a sacred duty. I am just
>paraphrasing what I learnt from Giri (personal correspondence).
>

Yes.

But I had a different question in mind. I was told that some pujas like
the Panchayatana puja (to Ganesha, Vishnu, Shiva and other deities) have
*ill effects* associated with them if performed in the wrong manner
(surrender to the Lord notwithstanding). In a similar way, the Gayatri
Mantra is held "sacred" or "holy" by the advaita tradition and comes
with a set of instructions on who can chant it, when and where it ought
to be chanted and so on. I wanted to know if we are allowed to chant it
in the USA.

I believe Ramana Maharshi has also said that it is possible that the
instruction of a Mantra by someone other than a qualified Guru may not
have the right effect. He gave the analogy of a king and an ordinary man
issuing the same order. The king's word carries more weight.

>The calmness of mind and sense of purification after the japam is
>apparent and immediate, even outside India. But I agree that observing
>one's dharma is countries like USA is very difficult.
>

I too have felt the same in the USA. But it is difficult to know whether
or not this feeling represents spiritual progress. As Ramana Maharshi
says, it is very difficult to know the extent of one's spiritual
progress.

>Ravi
>

-Kartik

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