Dear Harry,

no, the fact that this mantra is part of the post-Vedic Śrīsūkta does not indicate that it's older than the others.

The late age of these mantras in general has been noted by several scholars, from Leopold von Schroeder in 1900 to Peter C. Bisschop in 2018. It is impossible to infer the date of their composition on the basis of their Vedic “source” texts. In a paper I gave at the DICSEP last year, I argued that the modified or adapted Gāyatrīs probably did not come into being before the 2nd century CE at the very earliest. You can find an early draft of my talk and further references here:

https://www.academia.edu/43771517/_G%C4%81yatr%C4%AB_as_a_Name_of_%E1%B9%9AV_III_62_10 

Best regards,

Dominik

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Dominik A. Haas, BA MA
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Institute for the Cultural and Intellectual History of Asia, Austrian Academy of Sciences
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Dear list members,

Verse 26 (Sheftelowitz's edition) of the śrīsūktam (in the rg-veda khilas)  is the gayatri mantra

 mahālakṣmī ca vidmahe viṣṇupatnī ca dhīmahi |
tan no lakṣmīḥ pracodayāt |

Would that make it older than the gayatri mantras at Maitrāyaṇī-Saṃhitā  2-9-1.  Does that make it the oldest gayatri mantra in the form 

... vidmahe
... dImahi
...pracodayAt |

Thanks,
Harry Spier

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