Asmad Gurubhyo Namaha Srimathe Ramanujaya Namaha Dear Swami, The "formal recitation of the ga:yatri" is itself a mispractice that is happening or atleast misunderstood. Gayatri needs to be chanted while we contemplate upon the supreme. Azhwar says: "peyarinaiye pundhiyal sindhiyaadhu oodhi uruvennum andhiyaalaam payanangen?" That is, Azhwar claims that, what would be the point of those chantings that were done for the sake of count and not for the sake of thinking about the bhagavan nama, during the sandhyavandhanam. So, Gayathri must be chanted only while thinking/contemplating the supreme - reason for the exact count of Gayathri(like 108, 1008 etc) is not known to me - learned scholars may throw further light on this. Chanting of Thirumanthram in addition to Gayathri as part of this ritual, is optional, though not necessarily recommended by all acharyas. I apologize for my mistakes if any. Adiyen, Ramanuja Dasan --- In ramanuja@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, Madhuri and Mohan <m_raghavan@xxxx> wrote: > Sri Vishnu, > > From this e-mail, I think that you and I are saying very much the same > thing, and apologize if I saw it differently in your original message. > I would concur with you that contemplation upon the meaning of the > mantra is most important, and not just its mere mechanical recitation. > Perhaps this is why most a:cha:ryas would limit prescribing it as a > formalized japam. > > However, I do recall from my own readings and discussion with others > that part of the sandhya vandanam practice does involve taking a few > moments to contemplate on the thirumantram after formal recitation of > the ga:yatri. I think that the reason that no specific number or count > is specified would seem to indicate that this be a contemplation, and > not some sort of formalized ritual for ritual's sake. > > Ramanuja dasan > Mohan
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