Maha Kumbh: Ex-US Army commander’s son quits IT job, joins ‘akhara’

After a spiritual ceremony, the seers gave Tom a new name, Vyasanand Giri, and anointed him as a Mahamandaleshwar

Mahakumbh Nagar: At first glance, Vyasanand Giri comes across just as any other ‘Mahamandaleshwar’ of the 13 ‘akharas’ at the Maha Kumbh in Prayagraj. He calmly moves about in Niranjani Akhara, where he was initiated as ‘Mahamandaleshwar’ on Sunday, wearing saffron robes and a smile.

The one thing that differentiates him from other ‘akharas’ seers is that he is the son of a former top US Army commander. Vyasanand Giri did not take any queries on the subject but the president of the Panchayati Akhara, Shri Niranjani Mahant Ravindra Puri, confirmed it.

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“That is right. He is Tom, the son of a former senior US Army Commander and who was having a good job in the IT sector. But then, driven by an irresistible urge of spirituality, he decided to give it all up,” Mahant Ravindra Puri said.

Elaborating on the spiritual transition of Tom to Mahamandaleshwar Vyasanand Giri, Puri said, “Mr Tom used to work in the IT sector. Sometime later, he was driven by the pull of spiritualism and decided to embrace Hinduism. Subsequently, he took sanyas. He started doing yoga and meditation, researched a lot on Hinduism and Sanatani culture and often visited Rishikesh over the last couple of years and met me,” Puri claimed.

He revealed that after a spiritual ceremony on Sunday, they gave Tom a new name, Vyasanand Giri, and anointed him as a Mahamandaleshwar. About the criteria for appointing someone as a Mahamandaleshwar, an important position in the akhara order, Puri, also the head of Akhara Parishad, said, “It means someone who has become an awakened soul, one who has mastered meditation, yoga and learned to control the senses. The position also means that as a priest of the Hindu order, one would be ready to sacrifice even one’s life for the protection of Sanatan Dharma and once we were sure that Mr Tom was ready for his spiritual journey, we inducted him.”

Whether foreigners could be made priests and if they could follow elaborate Hindu rituals, Puri said, “There is nothing like that. Many of them (foreigners) are better than many of us. When they meditate, they are lost, immersed in that divine, spiritual consciousness. I have seen many Indians who get distracted by mosquito bites, begin to yawn, cough or start feeling sleepy while meditating. In the case of Mr Tom, we found that he had the strength and the composure to meditate long hours. He has great conviction in his belief,” Puri claimed.

Asked how many Mahamandaleshwars have been made by Niranjani Akhara since 2019 Kumbh, Puri, also the president of the Mansa Devi Mandir Trust, Haridwar, said, “I think we have made 30 Mahamandaleshwars so far. Tom is among the five-six foreigners belonging to countries like the USA, Malaysia and Scandinavia.”

He asserted that many foreigners who are of different faiths are inspired by the Sanatani worldview. That is why they are embracing Hinduism and then admitting that they feel like they are returning to their roots, he asserted. “There are many Muslims, around 100 of them at least, who have approached me and said they want to become sanyasi after embracing Hinduism. I get hundreds of calls from non-Hindus,” he said while explaining that there is also the concept of “temporary sanyas”.

“This is meant to test whether attraction towards Hinduism is real or temporary. We want to check the patience of such people,” he said.