Gayatri Mahima

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Q.6. How many " Onkars " are included in the Gayatri Mantra?

 

Ans. Gayatri Mantra is complete in itself. It is not at all necessary to

supplement it by assigning three or five `Oms' by way of beej Mantra or samput.

This is done only in the Tantrik system. The common man should not bother about

some odd references in scriptures which justify prefixing, inter-fixing or

suffixing more than one Onkars (Om) with the Gayatri Mantra The practice of

using more than one Onkar was probably adopted by different sects as a mark of

distinction (as followers of various sects use uniform, Tilak chhap marking on

forehead etc. to identify themselves).

 

The standard Guru-Mantra, Gayatri comprises of three Vyahritis and three phrases

of eight letters each pre-fixed by Om. Om is in fact, a symbol of reverence

preceding all Ved Mantras, as Mr., Mrs., Miss, etc. are prefixed to the names of

persons. However, there is no restriction in using more than one Onkars though

the standard practice of pre-fixing one Onkar (Om) is recommended for

maintaining uniformity.