P19: He is Advait!

So finally, my Poppins has an official name.

Presenting Advait Dev!

Most have loved the name the missus chose. Certainly has a ring to it. Many wanted to know what the name meant. Very simply, unique! Etymologically, it means ‘not a second’. It also has a mythological reference to one of the most dynamic gods in the Hindu trilogy – Lord Vishnu.

Advait is also a philosophy; a way of life. It is a road to salvation. Something attained when the mind is free of all ‘maya’ or attachment and is focused only on ‘gyana’ or knowledge. To put in simpler terms, when the soul or ‘atman’ is no different from that of the supreme soul or ‘isvara’. This is a philosophy of the Advait Vedanta.

I feel that my son would keep discovering the meaning of his name. Like we derive newer meanings from the same film that we watch on DVD over and over or a new level of pleasure while listening to the same classical ‘raaga’, I would want my son to seek and find deeper meanings of his name.

Swami Vivekananda spoke at the Parliament of Religions in Chicago and followed it up with many speeches worldwide wherein he introduced the West to Hinduism and its various philosophies including Advait. All that treasure will lie at the finger tips of our Advait. It will help him grow and understand and find peace in the times of religious tyranny and terrorism. What the world received in 1893 and a few years afterwards, my Advait will learn from those in his lifetime. When? How? That is not for me to answer. When he will get the calling, he will seek out the answers. When he will be hungry, he shall eat.

Advait!