Gayatri – Shloka 7

अर्कमण्डलगं विष्णुं ध्यात्वैव त्रिपदीं जपेत् |
सहस्रपरमां देवीं शतमध्यां दशावराम् || 7 ||

Meditating on Vishnu as present in the Surya Mandala, one must chant the mantra with the three paadas. A thousand is best while a hundred is average. At least a ten is minimum.

Notes:

Sri Madhwacharya gives details of how one should perform the Gayatri mantra upasana as part of Sandhyavandana, starting with this shloka.

The Gayatri is the essence of the Purusha Sukta which is in turn the essence of the Vedas. Since the entire Veda extolls the Parabrahma, the Purusha Sukta, its essence, naturally extolls Sri Narayana. The Gayatri mantra, which is the essence of Purusha Sukta, therefore is a prayer to Sriman Narayana only!

One must meditate on Vishnu as present in the Surya Mandala. The dhyana shloka, which describes his form, and which must be chanted prior to the recitation of the Gayatri, has been given by Sri Madhwa in shloka 9.

In the second part of this shloka, Sri Madhwa lays down guidelines on how many times the Gayatri mantra must be chanted. A 1000 is best. 100 is medium and at least a 10 is the bare minimum required.

One must perform Sandhyavandana thrice a day, during the three sandhya-kaalas. If one undergoes upanayana at the age of 8 and performs 1000 Gayatri recitations during every sandhya, 90,000 can be completed in one month. In one year, around 11 lakhs can be completed. In a little over two years, one can complete 24 lakhs and attain siddhi!

There are three parts or padas to the Brahma Gayatri.

तत्सवितुर्वरेण्यं

भर्गो देवस्य धीमहि

धियो यो नः प्रचोदयात्

In total it consists of 24 syllables, split into three parts. Hence it is called as Tripadee.

During sandhyavandana, the famous vyahruti भूर्भुवः स्वः is added along with the pranava ॐ.

Hence the mantra to be chanted during sandhyavandana is

ॐ भूर्भुवः स्वः तत्सवितुर्वरेण्यं भर्गो देवस्य धीमहि धियो यो नः प्रचोदयात् ॥

(One must get initiated into this mantra during the Upanayana samskara, learn the proper pronunciation and intonation as per one’s sampradaya, and then chant it)