Dear Harry (if I may),
I don't think you'll find any Gayatri mantra specifically dedicated to time, though time may come up in various mantras to Bhairava (like this one), Rudra, or Shiva.
I wonder what the source of this particular mantra is?
Regarding kālakāla: It first appears in the Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad (6.2 and 6.16) as an epithet of Rudra. However, Olivelle's edition has kālakāra instead – "the maker of time."
I suspect kālakāla may be a corruption that later shows up in the Śiva Purāṇa as an epithet of Śiva.
So in the Upanishadic context, I'd definitely translate kālakāla as "Time of Time" (meaning Rudra is the lord of time, or "time beyond time").
In the Purāṇas, it's more like "Slayer of Death" or "Death of Death." As far as I remember, there is a Purāṇic story explaining this epithet where Shiva burns Kāla—who's clearly Yama, the god of death.
Generally speaking, unless I'm specifically working with Purāṇic mythology, I prefer the translation "Time of Time."
"Death of Time" is, of course, grammatically possible, but it ascribes to Rudra/Shiva/Bhairava a function he does not possess.
Best wishes,
Nataliya
Dear list members,
1) I was asked to find any gayatri mantras to time or that mention
time. Does anyone know of any or have ideas about where to look. I've
looked in GRETIL and the Muktbodha searchable library but didn't find
any.
)In the following Gayatri mantra from the internet
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCIGR0cpiyc
oṁ kāla-kālāya vidmahe
kālātītāya dhīmahi
tan no kāla-bhairavaḥ pracodayāt
How would you translate kāla-kāla in the first line. Someone suggested
"death of time". Is that a possible translation.
Thanks,
Harry Spier
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