A FAMILY MOVING FORWARD

Wednesday, August 12th, 2026

Yorkville, Toronto

It was my pleasure to award Rajani Sharma with a diksha name of Rohini Shakti. She is here in Canada on account of her son Nityananda, my assistant. When he first came to Canada there was no intent for him to get into devotional life. Now, as things stand, he is executing priestly duties and is the brahmin priest for the fire ceremony of his mom’s initiation. His dad, who also came from the Punjab in India, along with son, Tejas, are taking interest in devotion. That’s a whole family getting down with Krishna.

The havan, fire ceremony, began at 11am today with a small attendance, but which grew in size as temple devotees came to hear of this special ceremony and how one person’s small endeavour (Nityananda) turned into a family affair.

Whenever I do these diksha programs I feel especially empowered when speaking from the Gita. In other words I start with the words of God, Bhagavad-gita 8.12, read the purport of His devotee, Prabhupada, then I feel set and fit to add in my two cents worth. We are elaborating on each others’ words and making the message relevant to the current audience.

What developed here was a happy occasion ending with a blissful kirtan when today’s pujari priest, Rupanuga, opened the curtains to reveal to us the marvelous deities of Radha Gopinath. The dancing began and all in a joyous state because Rajani/Rohini Shakti had moved in to new and exciting phase in her life.

It is nice to see a family do it together.

MAY THE SOURCE BE WITH YOU

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