Siblings Dharmi Manani, 11, and Krutarth, 7, are very excited. For the first time, they will be participating in the recitation of Sanskrit Shlokas in a unique event, the first of its kind in Australia and happening only in Adelaide.
The event, Satsang Diksha Homatmak Path Yagna, being organised by the BAPS Swaminarayan Temple, will feature children in the age group of 7-13 from around Australia. They will be reciting selected versus from Satsang Diksha, a revered and profound spiritual text authored by Mahant Swami Maharaj, the present leader of BAPS, in a unique yagna, or offerings in front of a sacred fire.
This yagna, which will take place on 21 August, is being performed for two reasons – world peace, and the auspicious beginning of the BAPS Swaminarayan Research Institute in Australia to be inaugurated on that day itself.
According to the BAPS philosophy, Satsang Diksha contains the essence of Vedic philosophical principles and the Bhakti tradition in 315 concise verses. Due to its universal appeal, it has been celebrated as a guide to social harmony.
Dharmi says she started learning the shlokas (versus) from the Granth Satsang Diksha in mid-2020. By 2021, she realised she wanted to learn more and started the Swaminarayan Siddhant Karika, which has 565 shlokas.
“It took me a year and six months to learn them all,” she says.
Similarly, her brother Krutarth took six months to learn the 565 versus of the Swaminarayan Siddhant Karika. “It was kind of hard learning it all by heart. I used to listen to it every day while playing and doing other stuff,” he says.
For Dharmi, the motivation stemmed after Guru’s Pramukh Swami Maharaj’s 100th birthday last year. “He has done so much for us, now it’s our turn to give back something,” she says.
Asked if she understood all the meanings of the shlokas, Dharmi says, “Not the meaning of each one but the basic ideas of morals and virtues. Like how stealing is wrong, and that God is compassionate towards everyone.”
On the morning of 21 August, Dharmi and Krutarth will be joining around 250 children from all around Australia to recite 900 shlokas or hymns in the Green Fields Swaminarayan Temple, Adelaide. They have been bestowed the honorary title ‘Karika Jayi’.
BAPS volunteer Dipen Shroff says for the event, children have been taking part in online classes for a year and a half to learn the shlokas. It will showcase the preservation and transferring of Hindu Vedic traditions into the next generation in Australia, he adds.
Shroff believes that India’s ancient traditions and rituals are as relevant today as they were centuries ago. “The rites and rituals, art, architecture, dance, theatre, music and alternative wellness methods passed down for generations have touched millions of people and continue to influence the lives of many around the world. The BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha reinforces these traditions through activities around its global network.”
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Interestingly, the ready to be inaugurated BAPS Swaminarayan Research Institute is one of several established across the world as part of Pramukh Swami Maharaj’s Centenary Celebrations. The Institute aims to inspire and educate individuals by providing them with the right tools and opportunities to foster personal success, develop awareness and strong communal ties. The research institute will include in-depth teaching of Hindu shastras, Sanskrit, the Akshar–Purushottam Upasana and traditional Hindu practices.
For the inauguration. the BAPS community is excited to have Mahamahopadhyaya Pujya Bhadreshdas Swami, who has arrived from India to preside over. Respected globally as an eminent scholar and philosopher of Indian philosophy, his most significant work has been his writing of the Swaminarayan Bhashyam, which is a classical-style Sanskrit commentary on some of the most prominent scriptures of Hinduism namely the ten Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita and the Brahma Sutras.
The Pramukh Swami Maharaj centennial celebrations are going to be held in Ahmedabad, India, from 13 December 2022 to 15 January 2023.
Established in 1907, the BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha is a global non-governmental Hindu socio-spiritual organisation in consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations. BAPS has representative centres (temples) in some of the major Australian cities, including Sydney, Perth, Melbourne, Adelaide and Brisbane.
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