Sanskrit names (was My Amritapuri Experience: Part 12)

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>>

> I hope you will share your thoughts on this. Like

> many on this list, I am a

> western woman who asked Amma (after 13 years) for a

> sanskrit name. In fact,

> that's what I did when I saw her for the last time

> at the Ashram and she

> refused, saying not enough time and then gave me my

> name in Santa Fe a few

> months later. This list is about the only place I

> consistently use it,

> though a few devotees (some western, some Indian)

> use it and I enjoy it.

>

> I hope others will jump into this thread. For me it

> was about my

> relationship with Amma, another step in surrender,

> like asking for a mantra.

> To outsiders it can seem very cultish. Don't Indian

> devotees also ask Amma

> for a name sometimes?

>

 

I received my Sanskrit name from another teacher, but

I use it around Amma devotees, at Amma's programs,

when visiting Hindu temples, at my yoga classes, and

any other place where I feel it's safe to do so. Not

at work, and FOR SURE NOT with my parents and family.

I did tell my sister about my Keval identity, but only

because my brother in law is also named Mike.

 

Of course I went by Keval while traveling in India.

Hindi "mera naam Keval hai" or Gujarati "maarun naam

Keval chhe". (this was before meeting Amma, so I

couldn't say it in Malayalam) Indians would usually

pronounce it 'kewal', though a Bengali speaker would

say 'kebal'.

 

Yeah, it is cultish, but I enjoy stepping into my

Keval alter ego once in a while. At Amma's programs

and when visiting Hindu temples I also enjoy wearing

my kurta tops, Nehru jacket and even my dhoti. Where

else can I wear a skirt someone once asked what I

wear under my dhoti. I said "the same thing a

Scotsman has under his kilt!"

 

I wonder if Indian devotees ask for a Western name

I know some Indian immigrants here who deliberately

anglicize their Sanskrit or Hindi names (e.g. "my name

is Devendra, but you can call me Dave") because they

think it will help them better assimilate or avoid

being the victim of racial slurs.

 

Keval

 

 

 

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[Guest guest]

--- > Of course I went by Keval while traveling in

India.

> Hindi "mera naam Keval hai" or Gujarati "maarun naam

> Keval chhe". (this was before meeting Amma, so I

> couldn't say it in Malayalam) Indians would usually

> pronounce it 'kewal', though a Bengali speaker would

> say 'kebal'.

 

In telugu it would be "naa paeru Kewal"

>

> At Amma's programs

> and when visiting Hindu temples I also enjoy wearing

> my kurta tops, Nehru jacket and even my dhoti.

> Where

> else can I wear a skirt .

 

If I am not wrong it is lungi rather than dhoti, it is

more like bed sheet than skirt. North Indians wear

Dhothi, while South Indians Lungi.

 

regards

Avinash.

 

 

 

 

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