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Drawing on a tradition thousands of years old, the solemn ceremony of sannyas took place at the Shiva Ashram on Friday, 12 March 2005. Our beloved Yamuna took the vows of renunciation to become Swami Premananda Saraswati (Premji). At dusk Friday evening, her head was shaved and she dressed in white to symbolise letting go of her identification with the body and the person. Pujaris from the Shiva Ashram conducted a yagna, fire ceremony, where purified butter and fragrant spices were offered to the flames. Individuals from the community who attended the ceremony were invited to throw a handful of spices into the fire, representing the burning or dissolving of old tendencies and embracing openness to the inner Self.
Premji tended the fire throughout the night, reflecting on her newfound life devoted entirely to the spiritual path. At dawn she was accompanied by Swami Shankarananda, Ma Devi and about 40 devotees to the waterfront of Port Phillip Bay at Manyung Beach. Traditionally those who take these spiritual vows cast off their lives and dedicate themselves to God’s will. Renunciates take seven steps into the water, symbolising the dissolution of the individual, then are called back to serve humankind. After this part of the sacred ceremony, Premji was dressed in the orange cloth of the swami, the traditional colour of service.
Another part of the ceremony is when Swamiji whispers to her a special mantra and her new name. This was conducted under the same shawl that Baba Muktananda used to initiate Baba’s first swamis in the late 1970s. Baba gave it to Swamiji in 1978.
Making Premji a swami is the fulfillment of Swamiji’s intention from some time ago. She has served the ashram community virtually since Swamiji and Ma Devi settled in Australia in 1991. Swamiji gave her the name Premananda (the ‘bliss of love’) because, he says ‘At our very centre, at our very best, each of us is the bliss of love. Premji has the ability to carry the light of love’.
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