The Philosophy of the Upanishads c9.s3.t5.8

c9.s3.t5.8

Of other allegorical interpretations we will cite further only that of the *Gâyatrî*, the first in order of Vedic metres, consisting of three feet (◡-◡-◡-◡, thrice repeated), to which an imaginary fourth was afterwards added. In this quadrupedal form the Gâyatrî is a symbol of Brahman, who is likewise four-footed. Later on we shall have to consider this four-footed character of Brahman, and its connection with the four states of the soul, waking, dreaming, deep sleep, and *turîya*. In their manner of treatment of the symbolic Gâyatrî the two chief texts adopt entirely different methods. According to Chând. 3. 12, the text of the Veda and all created things, the earth, the body, the heart, and the vital organs, these six form the one sixfold foot of the Gâyatrî, and the three remaining feet² are immortal in heaven, and are symbolised by space, the physical body and heart; in Bṛih. 5. 14, on the contrary, three feet of the Gâyatrî appear under a material form as the worlds, the vedas, and the vital breaths, while only the fourth (turîya) is transcendent, and finds expression symbolically in the sun, the eye, truth, power, and life.