Gayatri Mantra

[Aniruddhan]

namaste,

Assuming that the quoted mantra from the SYV exists and is translated
correctly, it seems to be only saying that *the knowledge the vedas contain*
is universal, and not that the vedas or the gayatri mantra themselves can be
chanted by everybody. This seems to be consistent with the orthodox advaita
vedanta view that non-dvijas can gain jnAna through the smritis, itihasas
and puranas.

Sruti smRti purANAnAm Alayam karuNAlayam
namAmi bhagavatpAda Sam.karam lokaSam.karam

Aniruddhan

On Thu, 16 May 2002 10:20:06 -0400, Ashish Chandra <ramkisno at HOTMAIL.COM>
wrote:

>On Wed, 15 May 2002 21:17:54 -0700, ravi chandrasekhara
><vadhula at YAHOO.COM> wrote:
>
>>Dear List members,
>>
>>Per Sastras, only male Dvijas (Braahmanas, Kshatriyas,
>>and Vaishyas) are allowed to recite Gayatri and that
>>too after they have been initiated into the mantra
>>during upanayana when they are invested with the
>>yagnopaveeta or janoi.  In the site:
>>http://vidyavrikshah.org/gayatri.html, the following
>>translation proclaims the universality of Gayatri
>>mantra, which is contradictory to the Sastras and to
>>what the Hindu Dharma site at www.kamakoti.org
>>mentions.
>>
>>This   prayer   can   thus   be   seen   to   have   a
>>  universality   in   content   and         appeal
>>to   anyone   of   any   religious   persuasion.
>>Indeed   the   Vedas  explicitly   state   that   the
>> knowledge   they   contain   is   to   be   imparted
>> to  everyone   without   distinction   of   sex,
>>caste,   creed   or   race. (Sukla   Yajur   Veda
>>XXVI   -   2)
>>
>>So does this contradict other components of the
>>Sastras ?  It seems many reformist Hindus subscribe to
>>the translation mentioned above.  I hope some of you
>>all would please shed some light on the above
>>mentioned translation.
>>
>
>Dear Ravi,
>
>I read the information you provided in the link but could not make out
>whether this was the opinion of the writer of the introduction or an
>actual quotation from the Veda. I am not certain why the verses from SYV
>XXVI-2 are not mentioned. But I think this question is best answered by
>someone who has a copy of SYV and can post the relevant mantra as well as
>its meaning. Maybe Jaldhar?
>
>thanks
>ashish