Ahmedabad, 11 January, 2013

It happens even in 2014. In an era of increasing materialism as many as 28 educated youths – 10 engineers, 4 from IT/computer background, 2 pharmacist, 1 psychologist, 1 MBA and 1 teacher renounced their personal ambitions and dedicated their lives in the service of God, guru and society. They took Bhagwati diksha to become sadhu in presence of thousands of devotees gathered at Sarangpur yesterday.

Two of the 28 youths are from America and New Zealand. Thousands of devotees gathered at Sarangpur to witness the sacred Vedic diksha ceremony of 28 youths at BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in Sarangpur. Everyone was deeply touched by the divine atmosphere as Pramukh Swami Maharaj personally initiated 28 youths into the sadhu-order (bhagwati diksha).

The ceremony was organized in presence of Pramukh Swami Maharaj on his 75th diksha anniversary.

The procedure:

BAPS inducts only educated persons as Sadhu. General requirement is post-graduation. A fresher is inducted as Sadhak. He wears kurta,payjama. If he is found suitable, he is sent back to his home for one month. His behavior and wishes are supervised. If found OK, he is promoted to Parshad order. As a parshad he wears white dhoti and top. He lives with Sadhus and gain knowledge about religion. If he is found OK, he is given Bhagwat diksha, and offered saffron cloths. He is given new name. A new Sadhu is offered janoi, pagh, sweet and guru mantra.

Some of the rules for BAPS sadhus:

-BAPS Sadhu would not touch money.
-He would avoid seeing woman. He can’t discuss women or even open a book containing photographs of women. If by mistake he get to see a woman, he will fast without taking even water till the next day.
-He can’t speak with his relatives. He is not allowed to stay in contact with the people belonging to his past life. He can’t go home even when his mother or father pass away.
-He has to consume mixed food, and individual food item.
-Every 13th day of month his head is shaved.