Gayathri Mantra

[sarabhanga]

Namaste Gill,

I have a great fondness for Spike Milligan, but if all of the intelligible words are removed from this poem, then it becomes PURE nonsense.

Deliberately teaching the Gayatri Mantra to a very young child would be equivalent with teaching her only: “Ning Nang Nong Bong Boo Nong Nang Ning Ping Jibber Jabber Joo Nong Ning Nang Clang Ning Nang Nong Bong Nong Nang Ning Ping Nong Ning Nang Clang!”

There is no problem if a young girl hears the mantra in the natural course of things and begins to repeat it of her own volition.

Learning does not always require specific instruction ~ and many things are best taught purely by example (especially with children). So if you are overheard chanting the Gayatri at dawn every morning, or the mantra happens to be included in music that is regularly heard, then Kaya would naturally notice its importance and automatically learn the sounds.

I have given advice, and made my point clear, and you are free to decide for yourself. I can really say no more on the matter.

[sarabhanga]

And regarding Baa Baa Black Sheep:
Who is that Kala (Black) Baba Ajaikapad (like a Goat)?
What are his Sutras (Wool), and why would you want them?
What are the three Purna Bhagas (Full Bags)?
Who is the Lord (Master)?
Who is his Shakti (Dame)?
And who is their Little Boy (Son or Sun) who lives down the Lane (who dwells at the end of the Beam)?
There are obvious Christian connotations here, but the original Hindu interpretation is clear.
There is much more to most so-called Nursery Rhymes (and many supposedly childish fantasies such as Santa at the north pole) than most adults care to admit!
And I will leave Twinkle Twinkle Little Star for your own consideration ~ perhaps Kaya already understands it.

[sarabhanga]

Namaste Gill,

AkhADa is like the ancient Greek concept of Gymnasium; and the Akhadas or Akharas are essentially (quasi-military) ascetic orders. There are 7 Dashanami Akhadas ~ Ananda, Niranjani, Juna, Avahan, Atal, Mahanirvani, and Agni. And there are also Vaishnava Akhadas modelled on the Shaiva system, and the two Udasin Akhadas, and the Natha Sampradaya also has some Akhada system. All of them are found throughout India, but more often in the north. And the rules for accepting women are different in each case, but there is no general prohibition of women in Akhadas ~ only that males and females in general must stay in their own ashrams. There are many women in some of the Akhadas, and even some “foreign” women.

A more likely restriction is the pure fact of being born as a non-Hindu, and the most orthodox groups will not allow “foreigners” as devotees, let alone initiated Sannyasins! It is not necessary, however, to join an Akhada to be a Sannyasin, and there are many more thousands of Dashanami Sannyasins (renunciate followers of Shri Shankaracarya) who have no association with Akhadas and Nagas ~ not to mention all of the Sannyasins who are members of other Sampradayas.

[Gill Harley]

Hi Sarabhanga

Thank you so much for sparing the time to give me so much invaluable information. You have given me a real feast here!

Firstly, I agree absolutely: example is best for teaching children so that is obviously the best way forward.

Secondly, thank you for your interpretation of Baa Baa Black Sheep. That was most helpful. I am presently engaged in the task of showing how everything comes from the Vedas, even though we only get it here in an adulterated and corrupted form, but I had no idea that it would also include Baa Baa Black Sheep. Lucy, my daughter, will be fascinated!

Thirdly, I am absolutely DESPERATE to find some sort of ashram/hermitage where I can fulfill the purpose of my life, and so your information on the Akhada was most interesting as previously, I'd assumed that they wouldn't accept women. The time is not yet right for me, though. My parents are old and infirm and need me close by, and Sai Baba teaches that service to our parents is service to God. However, I do live within the confines of the dharma as much as is possible in this sort of lifestyle.

But as soon as the time is right, I will come to India and now I know, at least, where to make a start. (In case you were wondering, I wouldn't stay at Sai Baba's ashram. By the time I'm ready to begin the final ashrama, Sai Baba will have entered his final samadhi, and his ashram at Puttaparthi is a bit like a noisy circus at the best of times. In fact, in my book, I teasingly refer to Sai Baba as Mr Barnum and Bailey - he's always putting on a show to get the punters in!).

And finally, I ordered and read Rampuri's book, the link to which I found on your own website. But I'm now quite dumbstruck, because it made me realise two things: 1) Sai Baba has also entered my body, just as Hari Puri Baba has entered Rampuri's body and 2) I think like a foreigner, and I don't know what to do about it.

Both of the above I had, in fact, suspected for some time, so it's come as almost a relief to realise that I'm right, or at least that somebody else is experiencing the same thing. And it's not something you can talk about to anyone in the West because on 1), they would panic and call in the exorcist and on 2) they would think I was talking worse nonsense than Spike Milligan!

But it's good to know that I'm not the only one, and I'm sure Sai Baba will find a way forward for me. After all, if he doesn't, we'll both be stuck!

It's interesting, though, that Rampuri, in his book, was trying to work out when Hari Puri Baba entered his body, and assumed that it was after Hari Puri Baba's death, probably because he assumed Hari Puri Baba couldn't be in two places at once. I'm sure, though, that Sathya Sai Baba is not the only Baba that can enter people's bodies even while he is still alive, and live in a small house in Sevenoaks, Kent, England while still giving his darshan at Puttaparthi.

Anyway, so that's the other thing I have to thank you for - directing me towards Rampuri's book. It was most inspiring.

All best wishes to you!