स य इमांस्त्रीमँल्लोकान्पूर्णान्प्रतिगृह्णीयात्, सोऽस्या एतत्प्रथमं पदमाप्नुयात्; अथ यावतीयं त्रयी विद्या यस्तावत्प्रतिगृह्णीयात्, सोस्या एतद्द्वितीयं पदमाप्नुयात्; अथ यावदिदं प्राणि यस्तावत्प्रतिगृह्णीयात् सोऽस्या एतत्तृतीयं पदमाप्नुयात्; अथास्या एतदेव तुरीयं दर्शतं पदं परोरजा य एष तपति, नैव केन चनाप्यम्; कुत उ एतावत्प्रतिगृह्णीयात् ॥ ६ ॥
sa ya imāṃstrīm̐llokānpūrṇānpratigṛhṇīyāt, so’syā etatprathamaṃ padamāpnuyāt; atha yāvatīyaṃ trayī vidyā yastāvatpratigṛhṇīyāt, sosyā etaddvitīyaṃ padamāpnuyāt; atha yāvadidaṃ prāṇi yastāvatpratigṛhṇīyāt so’syā etattṛtīyaṃ padamāpnuyāt; athāsyā etadeva turīyaṃ darśataṃ padaṃ parorajā ya eṣa tapati, naiva kena canāpyam; kuta u etāvatpratigṛhṇīyāt || 6 ||
6. He who accepts these three worlds replete (with wealth), will be receiving (the results of knowing) only the first foot of the Gāyatrī. He who accepts as much as this treasury of knowledge, the Vedas, (has to confer), will receive (the results of knowing) only its second foot. And he who accepts as much as (is covered by) all living beings, will receive (the results of knowing) only its third foot. While it? fourth, apparently visible, supramundane foot—the sun that shines—is not to be counterbalanced by any gift received. Indeed how could any one accept so much as gift?
He, that knower of the Gāyatri, who accepts these three worlds, the earth etc., replete with wealth such as cattle and horses, will he receiving only the first foot of the Gāyatrī, which has been explained. That acceptance will counterbalance the results of knowing only its first foot, but will not produce any additional sin. He who accepts as much as this treasury of knowledge, the Vedas, (has to confer), will receive only its second foot. It will set off the results of knowing only its second foot. Similarly he who accepts as much as (is covered by) all living beings, will receive only its third foot. It will match the results of knowing only its third foot. All this is said merely as a supposition. Should any one accept gifts equivalent even to all the three feet, it will wipe out the results of knowing only those three feet, but cannot lead to a new fault. Of course there is no such donor or recipient; it is imagined only to extol the knowledge of the Gāyatri. Supposing such a donor and recipient were available, this acceptance of gifts would not be considered a fault. Why? Because there would still be left the knowledge of the fourth foot of the Gāyatri, which is among the highest achievements of a man. This is pointed out by the text: While its fourth, apparently visible, supramundane foot—the sun that shines—is not to be counterbalanced by any gift received, as the other three feet mentioned above are. Even these three are not to be thus counterbalanced. All this has been said as a mere hypothetical proposition. Indeed how could any one accept so much as gift—equivalent to the three worlds, and so on? Hence the Gāyatrī should be meditated upon in this (entire) form.