Russian couple embraces Hindusim

Varanasi:  It is the strong fascination for Varanasi’s Mahashivratri festival that attracted a couple from the land that gave birth to the AK-47 to take part in the festivities."This is our first visit to the city of Lord Shiva and we want to come here again. Being a follower of the Shiva cult, it is a great feeling to be here," enthused Oleg Erchenkov, a Russian and native of Izhevsk town, that is the site of one of the most famous arsenals in Russia, where Mikhail Kalashnikov designed his famous AK-47 assault rifle.

For the past one week, Erchenkov, along with his wife Katerin Kalinkina, has been in the city to feel the divine grace of Lord Shiva. The couple, formerly Christian, also took ‘tantrik diksha’ of Hinduism from a local pundit, Acharya Vagish Shastri, on the auspicious occasion of Mahashivratri on Thursday."It is true that we belong to the engineering town famous for Kalashnikov’s most famous invention, but we have strong belief in Hinduism and the Shiva cult," he told TOI.

He came to know about the Banarasi guru from some of his friends and decided to take diksha from him. The rituals of diksha were performed amidst vedic mantras at Shastri’s house in Shivala area."For the first time when I heard the recital of the vedic mantras, it touched my heart and I realised that this was my religion," he revealed, adding that he started learning Sanskrit to understand the Sanatan Dharma.

His Sanskrit knowledge is not formal or from any educational institution, but he learnt the language himself from books. He said the formal education of Sanskrit in Russia was available in only two universities- St Petersburg University and the Moscow University. But he could not afford the cost.Now, however, he has translated three Sanskrit texts into Russian language, including Shiv Sutra Vimarshini of Kshemraj, Geetarth Sangraha of Abhvinav Gupta Padacharya and Maheshwar Khanda of Skanda Purana.

He was also planning to translate some more books, including Swachandra Tantra of Kashmiri Shaivism and Tantrasara of Abhinav Gupta Padacharya, he said.This 37-year-old man, who works at a Russian university, has also created a website of Sanatan Dharma in Russian language for other Russians interested in Hinduism. Interestingly, the man, wearing saffron outfits in Indian style with rudraksha along his neck, is a diploma holder in marketing.

But, instead of showing his marketing skills, he preferred exploring his own soul. And his better half joined him willingly. "We will come to Varanasi next year to improve our Sanskrit grammar from Guruji (Shastri)," he said.His Guru was also surprised to know the track record of his new disciples. He said the couple also learnt Kundalini practice from him.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com

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