ould not possibly be
said that it is the Self of everything. We therefore have to understand
the passage as declaring that Brahman, which, as the cause of the world,
is connected with that product also whose name is Gayatri, is 'all
this;' in accordance with that other passage which directly says, 'All
this indeed is Brahman' (Kh. Up. III, 14, 1). That the effect is in
reality not different from the cause, we shall prove later on, under
Sutra II, 1, 14. Devout meditation on Brahman under the form of certain
effects (of Brahman) is seen to be mentioned in other passages also, so,
for instance, Ait. Ar. III, 2, 3, 12, 'For the Bahv/rik/as consider him
in the great hymn, the Adhvaryus in the sacrificial fire, the Chandogas
in the Mahavrata ceremony.' Although, therefore, the previous passage
speaks of the metre, Brahman is what is meant, and the same Brahman is
again referred to in the passage about the light, whose purport it is to
enjoin another form of devout meditation.

Another commentator[127] is of opinion that the term Gayatri (does not
denote Brahman in so far as viewed under the form of Gayatri, but)
directly denotes Brahman, on account of the equality of number; for just
as the Gayatri metre has four feet consisting of six syllables each, so
Brahman also has four feet, (i.e. quarters.) Similarly we see that in
other passages also the names of metres are used to denote other things
which resemble those metres in certain numerical relations; cp. for
instance, Ch. Up. IV, 3, 8, where it is said at first, 'Now these five
and the other five make ten and that is the K/ri/ta,' and after that
'these are again the Viraj which eats the food.' If we adopt this
interpretation, Brahman only is spoken of, and the metre is not referred
to at all. In any case Brahman is the subject with which the previous
passage is concerned.

26. And thus also (we must conclude, viz. that Brahman is the subject of
the previous passage), because (thus only) the declaration as to the
beings, &c. being the feet is possible.

That the previous passage has Brahman for its topic, we must assume for
that reason also that the text designates the beings and so on as the
feet of Gayatri. For the text at first speaks of the beings, the earth,
the body, and the heart[128], and then goes on 'that Gayatri has four
feet and is sixfold.' For of the mere metre, without any reference to
Brahman, it would be impossible to say that the beings and so on are its