[INDOLOGY] Gāyatrī's curse upon brahmins?

[Gaia Pintucci]

Dear list members,

in The Conquest of the Four Quarters, on p. 255-6, Jonathan Bader mentions
Gāyatrī's curse upon the brahmins.
In discussing the tradition according to which Śaṅkara is the founder of
six devotional denominations, Bader writes:

> Nevertheless he [= Śaṅkara] realizes that Gāyatrī's curse upon the
> brahmins [...] has now come to pass. The brahmins of old who had argued
> with the goddess had indeed been born again in the kali-yuga with such
> limited capacities that they were attached to one deity or another.

Has anyone any suggestions as to which narrative Bader might be referring
to? Since he mentions that the brahmins *argued* with Gāyatrī, I guess her
curse is a reaction to a display of hubris by the brahmins.

I had to think of the Padmapurāṇa episode in which *Sāvitrī*, furious after
seeing the cowherdess Gāyatrī take her place as Brahmā's wife, curses
deities and brahmins alike. I wonder if a similar episode is told somewhere
else with a few major differences.

I shall be grateful for any references, hints and comments.

All the best,
Gaia Pintucci
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