Dear Harry (if I may), I don't think you'll find any Gayatri mantra specifically dedicated to time, though time may come up in various mantras to Bhairava (like this one), Rudra, or Shiva.
I wonder what the source of this particular mantra is? Regarding kālakāla: It first appears in the Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad (6.2 and 6.16) as an epithet of Rudra. However, Olivelle's edition has *kālakāra* instead – "the maker of time." I suspect *kālakāla* may be a corruption that later shows up in the Śiva Purāṇa as an epithet of Śiva. So in the Upanishadic context, I'd definitely translate *kālakāla* as "Time of Time" (meaning Rudra is the lord of time, or "time beyond time"). In the Purāṇas, it's more like "Slayer of Death" or "Death of Death." As far as I remember, there is a Purāṇic story explaining this epithet where Shiva burns Kāla—who's clearly Yama, the god of death. Generally speaking, unless I'm specifically working with Purāṇic mythology, I prefer the translation "Time of Time." "Death of Time" is, of course, grammatically possible, but it ascribes to Rudra/Shiva/Bhairava a function he does not possess. Best wishes, Nataliya On Tue, Oct 21, 2025 at 7:15 PM Harry Spier via INDOLOGY < [email protected]> wrote: > Dear list members, > > 1) I was asked to find any gayatri mantras to time or that mention > time. Does anyone know of any or have ideas about where to look. I've > looked in GRETIL and the Muktbodha searchable library but didn't find > any. > > )In the following Gayatri mantra from the internet > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCIGR0cpiyc > > oṁ kāla-kālāya vidmahe > kālātītāya dhīmahi > tan no kāla-bhairavaḥ pracodayāt > > How would you translate kāla-kāla in the first line. Someone suggested > "death of time". Is that a possible translation. > > Thanks, > Harry Spier > > _______________________________________________ > INDOLOGY mailing list > [email protected] > https://list.indology.info/mailman/listinfo/indology >
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