In English
Redemptive Power of the
The plea that one cannot find time for reciting the thrice a day is specious and untenable. People waste so much of their time in worthless activities that they can easily find a few moments for reciting the when they wake up from bed and before they go to sleep, if only they have the will. The can be recited even when one is talcing his bath. It will mean also offering ablutions to the goddess. At noon, if the is recited before taking one's meal, the food will get sanctified and become an offering to the deity. The (celebates/religious students) should realise the redemptive power of the . Through the (initiation into sacred knowledge), the young boys have had a second birth. It is only when they have achieved the purposes of this second birth will they be qualified to enter on the sacred third stage of "" (-hood), which leads to the realisation of . "One who is aware of , becomes one with " is the Vedhic saying. To recognise the principle, one has to understand one's own true nature. There is a story to illustrate how one can see whether he is qualified to realise . An unmarried girl acquires the fight to a haft-share in a man's property after she is married to him and he ties the (the auspicious marriage thread) round her neck. It is this sacred thread that confers the right on her. Likewise, one remains remote from God as long as one has not acquired the thread of "surrender to the Divine'" (). The moment one wears the (thread) of (total surrender), one acquires the right to a half share in the energy and authority of the Divine. We must strive earnestly to pursue the path of submission to the Divine Will and offering everything to the Divine. The attitude of surrender will grow in us as we recite regularly the . This is the reason why boys are initiated into the at an early age. There is also another reason for this early initiation. Boys, who have been indolent or dull before getting the have been able to develop their intelligence and be more diligent in their studies after they have received the . This is a matter of proven experience. Like sunrise after the night, the dispels the darkness of ignorance: "." The rays of the illumine the mind and intelligence and promote knowledge, wisdom and discrimination. I bless the young (boys who have been initiated) so that from today they recite the regularly, lead exemplary lives and grow into good, god-fearing, educated and enlightened citizens of .