--- In ramanuja@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, "Lakshmi Narasimhan" <nrusimhan@xxxx> wrote: Dear Sriman Narasimhan, I agree with what you have said. I think Alwar suggests here thinking of BhagavAn's guNas and not nAma alone. Please correct me if I am wrong. Whatever is said on ashtAksharI applies very well to gAyatrI. here also meaning is important and one can have faith in that meaning if convinced. adiyEn will try to get the meaning of gAyatrI as given in rAmAyaNa commentary of gOvindarAja. I have a doubt. sandhyAvandanam itself is a ritual performed in limited time and chanting of gAyatrI is a part of it. So one cannot think of His qualities while repeating gAyatrI. So is it not better to devote some time to read some pASurams with their meanings or bhagavadguNa darpaNam (sahasranAma commentary) rather than spending time in rituals e.g. sandhyAvandanam? adiyEn rAmAnuja dAsan Vishnu > 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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