Ice Cream Swaaha
December 8, 2006
Who says you can’t have a good laugh at a yagya?
During the navaratri yagya series in India the outdoor temp. each day was in the mid 90’s with 60-70% humidity. Add to that a pretty good sized yagya fire, some poor ventilation and you have some serious heat.
One day, after the end of the yagya we were all standing in the smoke, sweating, hot and tired and wanting lunch. One of the priests said, “OM shreem hreem kleem ice cream swahaa”! Typical format of a vedic mantra…with a modern ending. I offer ice cream. Pretty funny.
Now, a little background info. The form of gayatri in the Rig Veda always starts with “Tat Purushaya Vidmahe”. Purusha is essentially a divine individual. The second line is usually some characteristic of the deity…so for ganesha it would be “Vakratundaya Deemahi”. The last line is the name of the deity; “Thanno Dandi prachodayat.”
So every one goes downstair to eat lunch. As they are standing around I tell them I have a new Gayatri:
Hot Purushaya Vidmahe
Hungry stomach deemahi
Thanno lunch prachodayat
Much laughter ensues. Clever American.