How Many Letters In Gayatri Mantra Shankaracharaya

I have delivered a Lecture in Chennai on Vedic Hinduism,Quantum Theory and Gayatri Mantra and its

 

relevance in unlocking the Secrets of the Universe, on the occasion of the release

 

 

of the Book ‘Downloading Nature’s Secret from Akasa to The Quantum Vacuum Field’.

 

A detailed post on this follows.

 

After the Lecture a young man approached me and asked that the number of letters in Gayatri Mantra add only to 28 and why do people say it has 24 letters?

 

People , including me have been saying The Gayatri Mantra has only twenty-four letters.

 

I asked him to search for it and he will find the answer by himself within twenty-four hours and if he does not

 

find it I shall let him know.

 

 

My belief is that in Hinduism, the Sadahka has to find the things by himself and must resort to learning from

 

 

others as a shortcut as a last resort.

 

And something inside me told me that he would find it by himself.

 

He agreed to do so.

 

I came Home and checked whether I have posted any material .

 

I had the impression that I had and I had not.

 

I am posting the information now.

 

In the composition of the Richas (couplets) of Veda s, meanings are subordinate to the syntax of words,’

 

Gayatri essentially being a Chhandas ,Musical Notations are given importance over Meaning or Grammar.

 

The chhandas (components of Veda  (classified according to number of letters) in the Veda s are composed

 

to retain symphony as grasped by the Rishis to guide people in Realizing The Self.

 

 

Those who recite in a Chhandas change the pitch while Intoning.

 

The  difference between the “written” and pronounced “Nyam‘ in the Mantra lies in its sonic effect.

 

The Vedas are Sabda Pramana, Sound as an Instrument of Knowledge

 

‘Nyam’ as a composite of ‘Ni’ and ‘Yam’ according to their musical notation, the first

 

 

second and third segments of the Mantra add up to 8 words each.

 

Adi Shankaracharya endorses this .

 

The Pingal Shastra and Mantrartha Chandrodaya supporrtthis satnd on Gayatri.

 

Mantra on the same principle.

 

 

In this way, the letters in the Mantra are to be counted as follows:
TAT SA VI TU VAR RE NI YAM BHA RGO DE VASYA DHI 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
MA HI DHI YO YO NAH PRA CHO DA YAT 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 = 24

 

The Shruthi is the Revelation  are not governed by Grammatical rules as they are grasped by The Rishis

intuitively and Vedas are learnt only the word of mouth,by intonations and not through written form.

 

Being timeless and Eternal The Vedas precede Grammar and hence this issue.