6. If a man (a teacher) were to receive as his fee these three worlds full of all things, he would obtain that first foot of the Gayatri. And if a man were to receive as his fee everything as far as this threefold knowledge extends, he would obtain that second foot of the Gayatri. And if a man were to receive as his fee everything whatsoever breathes, he would obtain that third foot of the Gayatri. But 'that fourth bright foot, shining high above the skies ' cannot be obtained by anybody--whence then could one receive such a fee?

7. The adoration of that (Gayatri):

'O Gayatri, thou hast one foot, two feet, three feet, four feet . Thou art footless, for thou art not known. Worship to thy fourth bright foot above the skies.' If one (who knows this) hates some

one and says, 'May he not obtain this,' or 'May this wish not be accomplished to him,' then that wish is not accomplished to him against whom he thus prays, or if he says, 'May I obtain this.'

8. And thus Ganaka Vaideha spoke on this point to Budila Asvatarasvi : 'How is it that thou who spokest thus as knowing the Gayatri, hast become an elephant and carriest me?' He answered: 'Your Majesty, I did not know its mouth. Agni, fire, is indeed its mouth; and if people pile even what seems much (wood) on the fire, it consumes it all. And thus a man who knows this, even if he commits what seems much evil, consumes it all and becomes pure, clean, and free from decay and death.'

Footnotes

^196:1 Dyu, nom. Dyaus, must be pronounced Diyaus.

^196:2 Paronagas, masc., should be taken as one word, like paroksha, viz. he who is beyond all ragas, all visible skies.

^197:1 Sankara understood the True (satyam) by tad, not the balam, the force.

^197:2 The teacher teaches his pupil, who is brought to him when eight years old, the Savitri verse, making him repeat each word, and each half verse, till he knows the whole, and by teaching him that Savitri, he is supposed to teach him really the prana, the life, as the self of the world.

^197:3 The verse would be, Rig-veda V, 82, 1:

Tat savitur vrinimahe vayam devasya bhoganam
Sreshtham sarvadhatamam turam bhagasya dhimahi.

^198:1 Because Gayatri represents life, and the pupil receives life when be learns the Gayatri.

^198:2 See before, section 2.

^198:3 Upasthana is the act of approaching the gods, proskunesis Angehen, with a view of obtaining a request. Here the application is of two kinds, abhikarika, imprecatory against another, and abhyudayika, auspicious for oneself. The former has two formulas, the latter one. An upasthana is here represented as effective, if connected with the Gayatri.

^198:4 Consisting of the three worlds, the threefold knowledge, the threefold vital breaths, and the fourth foot, as described before.