05-03-2007, 04:49 AM
<!--QuoteBegin-Mudy+May 2 2007, 11:23 PM-->QUOTE(Mudy @ May 2 2007, 11:23 PM)<!--QuoteEBegin-->This is from www.gurjari.net/ico/Mystica/html/gayatri_mantra.htm
Here is some description -
<!--QuoteBegin--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Gayatri is a metre of the Rig-Veda (see Veda) consisting of 24 syllables. This metre has been used in a number of Rig Vedic mantras. The syllables are arranged differently for different mantras, the most common being a triplet of eight syllables each. The Gayatri or the Savitri mantra composed in this triplet form is the most famous and sacred of all mantras. It is a prayer in honour of the Sun, also called Savitur.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd--><!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Canonical gAyatrI meter (tripAda gayatrI) has 3 parts (pAdas), each part consisting of eight syllables (akSharas).
But curiously, the GayatrI-mantra itself has an anomaly. The first pAda has only 7 syllables!
tatsaviturvareNyam = ta-tsa-vi-tu-rva-re-Nyam (7 syllables or aksharas)
In sAmavedic singing, it is rendered as:
ta-tsa-vi-tu-rva-re-ni-om (now it has 8 syllables!).
Some people have argued that sAmavedic rk-s are the oldest (although most of them are also present in rgveda). This is based on the hypothesis that oldest mantras were meant to be sung, not just recited. And the corresponding samans (the melodies, not the text) are also the oldest melodies. It may be an accident of systemization that rgveda is considered to be the oldest text. There has hardly been as detailed a study of sAmavedic sAmans (melodies) as say of R^ichA-s of rgveda.
The oldest parts of vedas had many metrical peculiarities, most probably due to their structure being not as standardized as the later ones. And if they were primarily meant to be sung, then the syllables (aksharas) in them may have been split to maintain the metre, e.g. "nyam" being split into "ni-am". We are talking about a metrical corpus perhaps spanning millenia. That provides a possible explanation for the curious fact already mentioned that the most famous example of the gAyatrI metre, the gAyatrI-mantra, in its rk form has one less syllable than the canonical gAyatrI metre.
Here is some description -
<!--QuoteBegin--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Gayatri is a metre of the Rig-Veda (see Veda) consisting of 24 syllables. This metre has been used in a number of Rig Vedic mantras. The syllables are arranged differently for different mantras, the most common being a triplet of eight syllables each. The Gayatri or the Savitri mantra composed in this triplet form is the most famous and sacred of all mantras. It is a prayer in honour of the Sun, also called Savitur.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd--><!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Canonical gAyatrI meter (tripAda gayatrI) has 3 parts (pAdas), each part consisting of eight syllables (akSharas).
But curiously, the GayatrI-mantra itself has an anomaly. The first pAda has only 7 syllables!
tatsaviturvareNyam = ta-tsa-vi-tu-rva-re-Nyam (7 syllables or aksharas)
In sAmavedic singing, it is rendered as:
ta-tsa-vi-tu-rva-re-ni-om (now it has 8 syllables!).
Some people have argued that sAmavedic rk-s are the oldest (although most of them are also present in rgveda). This is based on the hypothesis that oldest mantras were meant to be sung, not just recited. And the corresponding samans (the melodies, not the text) are also the oldest melodies. It may be an accident of systemization that rgveda is considered to be the oldest text. There has hardly been as detailed a study of sAmavedic sAmans (melodies) as say of R^ichA-s of rgveda.
The oldest parts of vedas had many metrical peculiarities, most probably due to their structure being not as standardized as the later ones. And if they were primarily meant to be sung, then the syllables (aksharas) in them may have been split to maintain the metre, e.g. "nyam" being split into "ni-am". We are talking about a metrical corpus perhaps spanning millenia. That provides a possible explanation for the curious fact already mentioned that the most famous example of the gAyatrI metre, the gAyatrI-mantra, in its rk form has one less syllable than the canonical gAyatrI metre.