THE PRIEST who presided over the marriage of Vedavati Choudhury and Navin Jana wasn’t your regular bare-chested, thread baring, Dhoti-clad and pot-bellied Brahmin. Her name is Avadhutika Ananda Krishnaprana.
Saturday’s was not the first marriage that a lady priest conducted at Ananda Marga Ashram. “Men and women are equal. This equality of status can therefore be solemnized here also. It has turned out to be an appropriate practice,” said Krishnaprana.
In fact, women are allowed to conduct not only the marriages, but other religios rites as well at the ashram, such as the ritual of grihapravesh. Ananda Murtijii, who was a guru at Ananda Marga, first propagated the idea, to do away with the pompous extravagance synonymous with some Hindu festivals.
Neither was the wedding conventional in it’s other aspects. There were no considerations of caste or creed in this negotiated marriage. Nor was there any demand for dowry. And although local customs such as lokachar were adhered to, there was no place for dogmatic rituals.
A collective meditation in the Samskrta is what the ceremony began with, before Vedic mantras were recited. Then followed three oaths by both bride and groom, where they promised each other’s spiritual, physical and mental well-being. All the others present took a final oath, where they swore eternal cooperation to the newly wed couple. A mantra from the Rigveda provided the background to the oath taking ceremony.
The icing in the cake was a collective singing of songs from Prabhat Samgiita and Kiirtans, which were meant to invoke Parama Purusa who would subsequently bless the couple.
