Damodar Pandit: Created page with "girls and thread Initiations and Gayatri of Devotees Going to London. August 11, 1968, Montreal So these ten kinds of offenses should be avoided, and at least sixteen rounds you must chant. All the Gosvamis in Vrndavana, they had a limited..., not limited, a number, fixed, that "So many times I shall chant." So we are offering only minimum of sixteen rounds. That, it will take, sixteen rounds, it will take about, utmost, three hours. So you should... Out of twenty-four..."

2026-08-11T03:11:24Z

Created page with "girls and thread Initiations and Gayatri of Devotees Going to London. August 11, 1968, Montreal So these ten kinds of offenses should be avoided, and at least sixteen rounds you must chant. All the Gosvamis in Vrndavana, they had a limited..., not limited, a number, fixed, that "So many times I shall chant." So we are offering only minimum of sixteen rounds. That, it will take, sixteen rounds, it will take about, utmost, three hours. So you should... Out of twenty-four..."

New page

girls and thread

Initiations and Gayatri of Devotees Going to London. August 11, 1968, Montreal

So these ten kinds of offenses should be avoided, and at least sixteen rounds you must chant. All the Gosvamis in Vrndavana, they had a limited..., not limited, a number, fixed, that "So many times I shall chant." So we are offering only minimum of sixteen rounds. That, it will take, sixteen rounds, it will take about, utmost, three hours. So you should... Out of twenty-four hours, you should '''engage at least three hours for chanting'''.

So then this is the beginning of initiation, and those who have chanted at least for one year, then the next initiation is to offer him Gayatri mantra. Some of the students, boys and girls, will be offered this Gayatri mantra. And when the Gayatri mantra is offered men, they are offered also sacred thread, and girls, they are not offered sacred thread. If their husband is a brahmana, she automatically becomes brahmana, because wife is considered to be the half, better half. She is the better portion. So she automatically becomes better brahmana. [laughter] So better brahmana does not require any thread.

There is a Bengali proverb, jana brahmanera paitera darakara nei. The proverb is that in India if one has got sacred thread, he is immediately understood that he must be belonging to the higher caste, brahmana, ksatriya, vaisya. But if somebody knows that he is brahmana or ksatriya, he doesn't require to show the sacred thread.

Similarly, the wives of brahmana is already known that he [she] is brahmani, so she does not require to show the sacred thread. So don't be sorry because you will not be offered the sacred thread. [chuckles] That's all right.

tree times

Gayatri Mantra Initiation. May 9, 1968, Boston

Student: Are there any formal rules that they agree to accept at this stage? Over and above the earlier...

Prabhupada: Yes. Only form is that the mantra which will be given to him, he has to chant that mantra three times a day: morning, early in the morning; and in the noon; and in the evening. Tri-sandhya. Tri-sandhya means three times, junction of different moments. Morning, day and night, evening, day and night, junction, and the noon, afternoon and before noon. Three times.

Srimad-Bhagavatam 6.1.42. June 8, 1976, Los Angeles

The answer is here, that... We may not compare our inefficiency with the arrangement of the Supreme Lord. Now, God has kept so many witnesses. How you can escape? Here is a name, list of witness. Surya first of all -- the sun. So how you can escape surya's light? You cannot escape. So here is one witness. Then agni, fire. Then kham, the sky. Where there is no sky? Here we are sitting; there is sky. And there is light also. Then marut, air. Deva. Who is deva? Demigods, yes. Then soma. At night there is moon. Sandhya, evening or noon. Noon is also sandhya. Sandhya means junction. When the night is going away-the day is coming early in the morning -- that is also sandhya. When midday -- the forenoon is passing; the afternoon is beginning-that is also sandhya. Tri-sandhya. Tri-sandhya. We have to chant Gayatri mantra tri-sandhya -- early in the morning, in the midday and in the evening. That is tri-sandhya. Yasya prasadad bhagavat-prasadah yasyaprasadad na gatih kuto 'pi. What is next line?

Letter to: Sri Govinda. Jaipur 20 January, 1972

So far the meaning of Gayatri mantra, you may refer to Pradyumna and he will help you. Generally, best times for saying Gayatri mantra are when the sun rises and sets, and when it is noon.

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 7.12.2 <nowiki>https://vedabase.io/en/library/sb/7/12/2/</nowiki>

[02:02]

Translation: "At both the junction of day and night, namely early in the morning and in the evening, one should be fully absorbed in the thought of the spiritual master, fire, the sun-god and Lord Visnu, and by chanting the Gayatri mantra one should worship them."

На утренней и вечерней заре он должен погружаться в мысли о духовном учителе, огне, боге Солнца и Господе Вишну и поклоняться им, повторяя мантру гаятри.

low whispering voice

Letter to: Upendra. Los Angeles 24 January, 1969

In your letter you have asked many questions, and I will try to answer them for you herewith. Firstly, the Gayatri Mantra is not to be said loudly. Gayat means to sing, but singing can be done loudly or very softly. The Gayatri Mantra should be sung in a low whispering voice

silent or whispered

Letter to: Syama. Los Angeles 21 February, 1969

Regarding your next two questions, you may not put the initiation beads on the cow. Nor is it necessary for grhasthas to recite the Gayatri Mantra aloud. It should be silent or whispered.

Letter to: Mandali Bhadra. Tittenhurst 2 November, 1969

Regarding the Gayatri Mantra, to say it silently is also chanting. Every mantra is recommended to be uttered silently, but specifically this Maha (Hare Krishna) Mantra can be chanted both ways: loudly and silently. The meaning of the first Mantra is ``I meditate on the sungod who is maintaining the three worlds.<nowiki>''</nowiki> Savitur is the name of the sungod, but the greatest savitur is Krishna. Therefore it is meditation on Krishna who is the master of all the cosmic manifestation. The other mantras are prayers to the Spiritual Master, Caitanya Mahaprabhu and Lord Krishna Himself.

Letter to: Gurudasa. Los Angeles 6 May, 1970

I am so glad to learn that things are going on nicely in our London Temple. The most important point in this letter is second time initiation of some of the devotees, specifically Jaya Hari Das Brahmacari, Jyotirmayidevi Dasi, and Mandakinidevi Dasi. So I am sending herewith the sanctified Gayatri Mantra Tape and papers for holding the ceremony, as well as a sacred thread and special instructions for the devotees with the Gayatri Mantra.

Now what we have to do is to hold the Gayatri Mantra ceremony according to the instruction paper, then at the end teach Jaya Hari personally how to count on the finger divisions. Then play the Gayatri Mantra tape for him, and let him repeat the Mantras along with my vibration, word-to-word, and then hang the Sacred Thread on his neck as usual. The girls don't require Sacred Thread, as you know, but they simply can responsively chant the Gayatri Mantras. In each individual case the instruction should be given and the mantra replayed.

This Gayatri Mantra function should be held amongst the devotees only.

Bhagavad-gita 2.22. November 26, 1972, Hyderabad

Prabhupada: Yes. Simply by mechanical japa, we'll not be ha... We have to hear from the sastra what is self. Of course, those who are actually following the rules and regulation of gayatri-mantra, they'll be, gradually, come to the spiritual understanding. But not as official chanting. That will not help. "Because I have got gayatri-mantra, oh, om-burble bura burra..." [makes sound] Finish. Not like that. Don't cheat yourself. Try to understand.
[[Category:Quotes]]
[[Category:Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada]]
[[Category:Spiritual practice]]

Quotes: Gayatri (Srila Prabhupada) - Revision history