Dear devotees, While I certainly appreciate the efforts on the parts of the individuals involved to try and understand the role of Gayatri mantra in Vaishnava culture, there seem to be a lot of misconceptions here that I personally feel need to be clarified. The foremost is that the Gayatri mantra has some Vaishnava significance to it. While some authors, such as Sri Satyamurthy Ayyangar and others, have made a concerted effort to try and establish some Vaishnava understanding to the performance of Gayatri, it required some "poetic license" to put it in light of the Azhwars' teachings. In actuality, the performance of Sandhya Vandanam and the subsequent recitation of Gayatri mantra is - according to the Vedas - a birth-based obligation afforded to only male members of the upper three castes as a requirement for learning the Vedas. Since the Kshatriyas and Vaishyas have, for the most part, forsaken Vedic responsibilities, the only people who have continued the practice are the handful of Brahmin males who continue to recognize the importance of living a Vedic life. The mantra has a two-fold purpose: 1) in serving as a way to bring power to the Sun in its sojourn across the sky and 2) providing this same spiritual strength as a side benefit to the devotee who performs the Sandhya Vandanam and recites the Gayatri mantra in a proper way. Additional slokas and mantras have been recited by the respective followers of Vaishnavam, Saivam and Smartha Brahminism to pay homage to their respective concept of the Supreme Spirit as residing in the orb of the sun and in all living beings. As far as Samasrayanam goes, this sacrament has nothing at all to do with caste, gender, or any other qualification. It serves as a metaphor, a symbolic gesture, of a devotees's recognition that he/she in body, mind, and spirit belongs wholeheartedly for the purpose serving as an instrument to God. Since such knowledge really only comes through learning under an Acharya, it is the Acharya who is called upon to perform this sacrament to the aspirant such that he/she will awaken to this truth. I am not sure how or why the Gayatri mantra found its way into ISKCON, since most of its members are not Brahmin by birth, and therefore have no burden of responsibility to uphold in reciting it. I personally feel that the very recitation of the Holy Name is far more efficacious and important to a Vaishnava than the caste-based ritualism that Brahminism - and its associated egotism - continue to hold over our society, and have always appreciated the followers of ISKCON for serving as models of this for the other Vaishnava schools of thought. adiyen Mohan Azhvar EmberumAnAr JeeyAr ThiruvadigalE Saranam http://www.vedics.net Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ramanuja/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: ramanuja-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
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