Sāvitti untranslated

Sāvitti. A hymn, mentioned as chief of the Vedas (chandato mukhaṁ) (Snp.vs.568). It consists of three lines with twenty-four letters (tipadaṁ catuvīsakkharaṁ) (Snp.vs.457) the Savitri or Gāyatri hymn is found in Ṛgveda 3.62.10: oṁ bhūr bhuvaḥ svaḥ | tat savitur vareṇiyaṃ | bhargo devasya dhīmahi | dhiyo yo naḥ pracodayāt. The first line is an invocation, and is not counted within the metre, and vareṇiyaṁ is these days written as vareṇyaṁ, spoiling the metre.

The Commentary (Snp­a.ii.403) explains that the Buddha is referring to the Ariya Sāvitti, which consists of the formula “Buddhaṁ saraṇaṁ gacchāmi, Dhammaṁ saraṇaṁ gacchāmi, Saṅghaṁ saraṇaṁ gacchāmi,” which also has three lines and 24 syllables, and that this now displaces the Vedic hymn, and is the true hymn or praise for this age.