Sri Shastriji at Siddhashram Schweibenalp, May 8, 1985
Today I would like to speak to you about mundan and the mantra Haidiyakhandi.
Indian culture is deeply associated with the Vedic culture, and when a child is born in an Indian home, until it dies, there are 16 stages of consecration which are performed on him or her. And these 16 Vedic sanskaras are not only part of the Indian culture, for the Vedas are the support of the whole creation, of the world, of the the universe, and that is why these 16 states of consecration are meant to be performed on each and every living creature.
The origin of the Aryan race is, as you all know, from Europe, but they wanted to explore the world and that is why they started to go outside of Europe. And with the passage of time they reached India, more precisely the Himalayas. And there, in the Himalayas, they discovered the holy rivers Yamuna and Ganga. Himalayan beauty enchanted them so much that, in the search for knowledge, they decided to settle down there. They became the great sages and the rishis of the Himalayas. While they lived there, they kept on coming and going between Europe and the Himalayas, and they kept up the contact. It is also a well-known fact that the origin of the Vedas and its criticism was from Europe. From Europe also we collected many things and took them to India.
In this continuation of giving and taking, the culture was preserved. The sages were very keen that the complete culture of the Aryan race should be shared by the whole world and that it should become one. But in those days, the coming and going was not so easy -- as the airplanes did not exist then. Therefore, because of these difficulties, it was not possible to communicate the Vedic culture to the entire world. Yet everything still depends on the Vedic culture.
I mentioned the 16 sanskaras; of the 16 stages of consecration. The first one is the stage of conception. When the child is conceived in the mother's womb, this is considered the sanskara, and when the embryo is 7 months old, there is another ceremony which is known as the simanta ceremony. When the child is born, and when the placenta is cut, this is considered the third one. And the fourth sanskara, the mundan sanskara, which is known as the jhaule sanskara, is performed in the sixth month. And this sanskara is necessary for every human being. Keeping this in mind, Sri Mahaprabhuji made it more or less obligatory in Haidakhan that everybody should have a mundan. Before the initiation is given, before the sacred thread is given, the mundan sanskara is necessary. At this point it was performed regularly.
In the Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna says to Arjuna that this human body is like the tree called pipul tree, the ashwata tree. I'm sure, many of you who have visited Haidakhan, have noticed that there are two ashwata trees near Sri Mahaprabhuji's kutir.
When Lord Krishna compared the human body with the ashwata tree, he meant that the roots of this tree are up above, and the branches face down so that it is not perishable, and that body is the ashwata tree. The wishes and desires of a human being are the leaves of this tree. Those who know this human body to be like the ashwata tree, are the real knowers of the Vedas. In the human body, the crown chakra (sahasrara) is the root of the body and from that root, the small twigs are the hair. And any good gardener knows that when he wants to plant a healthy tree, and wants that tree to be strong, he will dig a sizable hole. Further, from that small tree, he will try to cut away all the small unimportant roots and keep on adding fertilizers to make it stronger, so that when the tree grows, it turns out to be a really solid tree.
The same way as the twigs of the ashwata tree, if the master doesn't get the hair removed from the head, a man does [????????] (crown chakra) is the root of spiritual knowledge. The direct touch of the guru's hand on the head gives you the initiation of the shaktipat with which the kundalini energy is awakened. But if the hair remains on the head's crown and the guru touches it, the energy of power does not reach the sahasrara properly. And another thing, in a human horoscope, Saturn always tries to stop the progress of spiritual life and it is believed that Saturn lives in the hair. Until the hair is removed, Saturn keeps on pestering and impeding progress and is not pacified. The power of thought doesn't develop either, (not) as much as when you have mundan. I am sure you will have had the occasion to observe that in those places where mundan is not done, people's minds are not as developed as it is in many places where this ritual is being observed.
Bearing this Vedic culture in mind, Sri Mahaprabhuji had this ritual performed as a necessity for the spiritual growth of his disciples. And while He was here with His physical body, when ever anybody came and whenever He thought that a person needed it, Sri Mahaprabhuji ordered that His disciples went through the ritual of mundan. And with this ceremony the disturbing influence of Saturn was annihilated.
Now I will share with you the most secret aspect contained in the mantra Haidiakhandi.
With the grace of Sri Mahendra Swamiji Maharaja, the book "Shri Sadashiva Charitamrita" was written and published in 1961. Within his lifetime, the criticism and interpretation of this book was also written, but was not published then. A short while after Sri Mahaprabhuji appeared in 1970, he said to me, "In your house there is a written book ready. Please bring it here." And when I brought this book, "Shri Sadashiva Charitamrita," to Him, Sri Mahaprabhuji heard it from my own mouth from the first chapter to the end. And after having listened to the whole book, Sri Mahaprabhuji commented, "This is perfect. This is what I wanted." Sri Mahaprabhuji wanted that all religions should be united and that there should be a book in which they were given a common base, a universal book.
And I requested of Sri Mahaprabhuji, "Now that you have appeared before the world, you should give it some teaching on kriya yoga." For kriya yoga had not been given fully, so I wanted that Sri Mahaprabhuji should complete His teaching on it.
Sri Mahaprabhuji told me that now the time is not ripe for the world to know the secrets of kriya yoga. When the time comes, He would open the treasure of this knowledge and give it to the world. As you might have read in the "Autobiography of a Yogi," there is a mention of kriya yoga, and also in many other books like this. But there is no book in which there is a description of how kriya yoga should be done, or how it should be taught. Everyone was told to go to the master, to the guru, and find out what it was.
These disciples in search of masters, kept on wandering here, there, everywhere, and then would find a master who whispered something into their ears, telling them that this is how kriya yoga is done. But in our Vedic literature and all other religious books, nothing is secret, everything is open for everyone to interpret as they wish.
After my repeated prayers to Sri Mahaprabhuji that He should tell me what I should write, He told me that I should compose a ninth chapter. For each chapter He would tell me what I should write. And whatever Sri Mahaprabhuji told me, I wrote. It was the complete description of kriya yoga in His presence. Many times He listened to what I had written. But when He had finished, I prayed to Sri Mahaprabhuji saying, "It will be impossible for the present mankind to follow this kind of yoga, because today, at this stage, human beings eat all kinds of food which is not pure (as are vegetables, ghee, etc.). I mean all the kinds of chemical food, and this is why it is impossible for them to follow this deep and difficult yoga."
So when I protested to Sri Mahaprabhuji that nobody would be able to do this yoga of present mankind, Sri Mahaprabhuji laughed and said, "Shastriji, don't worry. This yoga will be followed by someone who will be born -- there is no end to time, and there is no end to the universe -- somewhere, a human being will be born who will understand it and do this yoga. Maybe, one person only, and maybe five persons, or maybe a few more will understand it and will be able to perform and live this yoga, and this will be sufficient to make it available to mankind, for it should no longer remain secret."
At the same time, Sri Mahaprabhuji told me, "If you are satisfied, if it makes you happy, I will teach to present mankind of this yuga (era), the yoga of "Haidiyakhandi". And as I was writing this literature on Haidakhan Babaji (in the 50s), Sri Mahendra Maharaja one day came by car to my house and told me, "Shastriji, all this time, we have been writing on Haidakhan, on Haidakhan Baba, etc., but now I have been given the permission by Babaji to tell the world the meaning of the name Haidiyakhandi". So when I prayed to Sri Mahendra that he should tell me the secret mystery of the name Haidiyakhandi, he said that at the moment it is all right to just explain what is Haidiyakhandi. Haidiyakhandi is the one who lives on the continent of Haidakhan. Just as we have the European continent, or America and Australia are known as continents, the same way in India in ancient times, the different regions were known as continents, and so Mahendra Maharaja said that this is sufficient for the world to know, that Haidakhan is the continent of Haidakhan Baba who lives in this continent. Sri Mahendra Maharaji also said to me (Shastriji), "I'm revealing to you only a very small portion of what Haidiyakhandi means, but when Babaji appears to you and the world, He himself will reveal to you the whole mystery of this name."
And when Sri Mahaprabhuji told me that He could tell me the secrets of the mantra "Haidiyakhandi" immediately, I was reminded of what had happened with Mahendra Maharaji years ago, when he had told me that, when Sri Mahaprabhuji appears, He himself will tell you the real meaning of Haidiyakhandi.
And while explaining the meaning of this great name, Prabhuji told me that, when the actions of yoga start in the body, they start first in the muladhara chakra, from below. But this "Haidiyakhandi yoga" is a very special yoga which starts from the sahasrara chakra, from the top. And one by one, from above downwards, it will pierce all the chakras. When I further questioned Him to explain to me more precisely, Sri Mahaprabhuji told me that there are five syllables in "Hai-di-ya-khan-di." In the Sanskrit alphabet, each letter has a particular place in the body. Hai has a place in the throat. According to the rules of grammar, ai is mixed in Hai and pronounced from the talu (the throat). Each of the five syllables has a letter both pronounced from the throat and belonging to the topmost chakra, so that in reciting these five syllables constantly, one travels only in the uppermost chakras, purifying them. This Haidiyakhandi yoga, which gives everything to a human being who follows it, is a yoga between throat and crown chakra and has no connection with any of the lower parts of the body. It rules all the chakras from the sahasrara, from the top. By constantly chanting the mantra "Haidiyakhandi' all the chakras of a human being are pierced, and he becomes the owner of all the siddhis (the great powers), which are known as the ashta siddhis (the eight divine powers) and the nau nidhis (the ninefold divine blessings). This is one of the most important points of this yoga which Mahaprabhuji showed to us.
Everyday I was reading the 'Haidakhandi Sapta Shati." One day while reading the last stanzas, I came across a sloka which I noticed immediately, for it contained these words, "By chanting constantly and repeatedly My name, a man obtains all the siddhis (all the powers of yoga)."
Then again, Sri Mahaprabhuji showed me another mystery. According to the grammatical rules, when you join two words, it becomes different. The same way Sri Mahaprabhuji explained, that the one who resides in 'Haidakhan" is "Haidiyakhandi." According to the grammar Panini, one of the most famous Indian grammarians of Vedic time, you have to add "i" to the name, whenever you want to change a male gender into a female gender. Then you have the feminine gender. Like "Shiva": Shiva is the male gender and when you want to make it female, it becomes "Shivani", by adding "i" to the last letter. Also, Yam-Yami, Indra-Indrani, and the same way, Haidiyakhandi. On this earth as it stands, there is not a single name in which has the male and female joined into one. Like "Sita" is the female and "Ram" is the male. They are two different names, but they become one by joining them -- but they are two different names. "Sita" is the shakti, the energy, and Ram is the brahma. "Radha" is the energy, Krishna is the brahma. That is why one who resides in Haidakhan is called Haidakhandi, that is, masculine energy. Then, who is the female energy? It is the queen, Mahamaya -- Haidakhandi, the female energy. She is also part of this name (Haidakhandeshvari).
Many people offered prayers and did Aarati to Sri Mahaprabhuji as Sri Mahaprabhuji. But there were times, when people put a sari on Sri Mahaprabhuji, worshipping Him, offering aarati to Him as Mahamaya. And He proved it to us, that within Himself, Brahma and Mahamaya both resided together. He proved to us that there is no need for us to do a separate sadhana, separate yoga for the male and female energy, for Brahma and Mahamaya. By chanting, or doing japa of "Haidiyakhandi", we worship both together. For the universal good of mankind, Sri Mahaprabhuji has given us the great boon of this mantra. And when I finished the 9th chapter, I closed the book, so Sri Mahaprabhuji laughed and said, "Well, now that the book is finished, and all is written down, what is the need for me to be here any more?"
BHOLE BABA KI JAI
SADGURU BAGHAWAN SRI HAIDAKHAND KI JAI
PARAMGURU SRI MAHENDRA MAHARAJA KI JAI
JAGDAMBE MATA KI JAI
HAIDAKHANDESHWARI MATA KI JAI
JAI VISHWA
SRI MUNIRAJI MAHENDRA KI JAI
