Sapna Lila Devi

I’m sitting in the Fireside Room in one of my favorite retreat spots, a hot springs in northern California. A visiting sadhu from Rishikesh, India, Shri Dayanand Puri Babaji, has just finished leading us in a Full Moon Vedic ceremony on this Monday, day of Shiva. It is his first time in the U.S. and he is ecstatic to be here. I am thrilled, too; India has finally come to visit me! 

Now Baba is handing out rakhis (prayer ties) straight from the Mother Land, India Herself.

 It is my turn to approach the front to receive the blessing. With my shawl covering my head, I sit crosslegged before Baba. It is my chance to break out my weak Hindi. ”Mira nam Sapna hai!” I smilingly introduce myself to him as he prepares to bless me with the rakhi. My name is Sapna!

“Ahhh!” Baba’s eyes sparkle with delight. “Sapna Devi! So good to see you, Mataji," he exclaims, using the most respectful term for a woman (respected mother).

Baba mutters off a blessing in Sanskrit as he ties the red string ‘round my right wrist, chanting all the while. He is smiling and giggling, a bubbling sound that indicates his glee at being spoken to in Hindi, unexpectedly.

Off to the side, I overhear a woman whisper to her friend, “Sapna… that means dream.” By the colorful shawl over her head and the ring in her nose, I can see that she, like me, has spent ample time in India.

From the depths of prayerful space, Baba had sussed out my Indian name. I had been given the name Sapna seven years before, at the holy pilgrimage site of Pushkar, Rajasthan. The full name had come to me one year later, in a dream: Sapna Lila Devi 

SAPNA LILA DEVI

Dream Play Goddess

Though he’d never met me before this chance encounter at a northern California hot springs, Baba Dayananda Puri instinctively knew that part of my name was Devi. I’d been hesitant to use ‘devi’ as it felt pretty bold to take on a title that means “Hindu mother goddess; supreme power in the universe; wife or embodiment of the female energy of Shiva.” But now that the holy man had confirmed it, I could no longer refute it.

My Indian name is Sapna Lila Devi. Dream Play Goddess.

Bindi Girl must be growing up (just a wee bit)...
 

Row row row your boat

Gently down the stream

Merrily merrily merrily merrily

Life is but a dream.

Later, over chai in the common dining room, Baba said to me, "Sapna Devi, your devotion is beautiful."