---------- Forwarded message --------- From: Madhav Deshpande <[email protected]> Date: Wed, Oct 22, 2025 at 6:26 AM Subject: Re: [INDOLOGY] Gayatri mantras to time To: Nataliya Yanchevskaya <[email protected]>
This is perhaps similar to Kāleśvara. The Śiva in Ujjain is called Mahākāleśvara. Madhav M. Deshpande Professor Emeritus, Sanskrit and Linguistics University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA Senior Fellow, Oxford Center for Hindu Studies Adjunct Professor, National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore, India [Residence: Campbell, California, USA] On Wed, Oct 22, 2025 at 12:50 AM Nataliya Yanchevskaya via INDOLOGY < [email protected]> wrote: > 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 >> > > _______________________________________________ > INDOLOGY mailing list > [email protected] > https://list.indology.info/mailman/listinfo/indology >
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