MAHALAKSHMI PANDU RANGA RAO MALYALA INSTITUTES OF SPRIRITUAL SCIENCE, HIGHER LEARNING AND VEDA RESEARCH : Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh., Puttaparthi, Andhra Pradesh, Katra, Jammu-Kashmir, and Sikkim
Students in Kakinada Institute
Dear Sai Family,
If one is spiritually inclined, being a Vedic priest is a wonderful profession. One gets to spend the bulk of one’s days in the worship of God. In addition, one gets to provide the devotees with hope and love. A priest shares in the joys and sorrows of the devotees. He helps families make major life transitions, such as first hair cutting, Saraswati diksha, marriage, and eventually death. It is said that one must have accumulated a lot of merit from prior births to become a priest.
On the other hand, those who go through traditional priest training must endure a lot of struggle and difficulties. Boys chosen for priest training must leave home at age eight or nine, and come live at a “Veda Pathasala”, where they receive training. Thrown in with other boys, they encounter a new world. They are assigned a “guru” or teacher, and must get used to living dormitory style. They visit home on holidays.
At the Veda Pathasala, those who want to become priests learn “smartam”. This is a 3-4 year program, where they learn all about the duties of priests. They memorize and learn the meaning of perhaps 100 suktas, such as Rudra Namakam, Sri Sukta, etc. The more serious students start training to become “pundits”. They master an entire Veda. It takes them eight – ten years. There are four major Vedas – Sama, Rig, Yajur (Krishna or Sukla), and Atharva. Depending on their family tradition, they choose one Veda to study.
For many boys, it is a little bit of a shock to be taken from their loving homes and to this new environment. But within a few weeks, most adapt well, as children do. The boys have to get up very early in the morning, and with the exception of an hour or two of playtime, work until the early evening. The gurus expect strict discipline from the children, which may seem a little harsh at first. But over time, the love between the students and their gurus is evident. Perhaps it is this love that allows them to endure the many hardships and eventually get the exalted status of priest or pundit.
The typical Veda Pathasala is not like many modern private schools, which are run for profit. The guru provides education for his students at no charge. When Saint Panduranga Malyala founded the MAHALAKSHMI PANDU RANGA RAO MALYALA INSTITUTE OF SPIRITUAL SCIENCE, HIGHER LEARNING, AND VEDA RESEARCH in 1995, he decided to keep his Veda Pathasalas traditional in every way. At his schools, housing, food, and instruction are all provided free to the students. The parents only provide clothing and textbooks for their child.
Saint Panduranga and his wife Mahalakshmi are great exponents of the Veda. Since 1991, he has been performing large WORLD PEACE YAGNAS in India. In 1995, he hired his first Guru to teach Krishna Yajur Veda at the Malyala family home in Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh. In 2002, he completed construction of his first school building and residential facility in the suburbs of Kakinada. The school has 60 full time residential students, studying Krishna Yajur Veda, Rig Veda, Sama Veda, Atharva Veda, and Smartam.
In 2005, Saint Malyala completed construction of a second major school in Puttaparthi, A.P., home of Sathya Sai Baba. The School currently has 25 students studying the Vedas. Not satisfied with these successes, in recent years Pandurangaji has started schools in Sikkim and Jammu Kashmir. At all these schools, Saint Malyala has bravely born all the costs for building, maintenance, food, guru’s salaries, and so forth.
Most of us do not have the tremendous good fortune to grow up attending a Veda Pathasala and spending our life in the worship of God. We have other duties. But there is something else we can do which is even better. We can support others in becoming priests and pundits. It only costs about $54 a month to support a child at the Veda Pathasalas in India. That’s only $650 a year! In the course of a TEN year education, that’s $6,500, less than the cost of ONE semester at most U.S. colleges today!
My wife and I have been supporting Saint Malyala’s Veda Pathasalas since 1995 for two reasons. First, we recognize the value of preserving the Vedic knowledge, which is rapidly disappearing in India. Second, as businesspeople, we recognize real value when we see it. Where else could we get so much “bang” for our buck? (Or perhaps to put it another way, how else could we do so much good with so little investment?) Not only could we completely educate a child for less than $7,000, but that child, with a little luck, will benefit and educate many, many more people in the Vedas over the course of their lifetime. To us, that seems like a tremendous investment for our charitable funds.
To help preserve the Veda, and to brighten up the life of a young boy, I urge you to make an investment today in Saint Malyala’s Veda Pathasalas. Every dollar invested goes directly to help a young scholar. To make a donation please do not hesitate to contact me with questions about the Veda Pathasalas
at craig@saiaustin.org, or (512) 528-0807 or Panduranga rao at 412 537 8455, pandu_malyala@yahoo.com . Click on the button below to make a dontaion thru the secure website. Your investment will last a lifetime!
Aum Sai Ram,
Craig Sastry, Chairman, Fund Raising
Donations can also be made by cash, check or credit card. Mail your donation to SSSB Temple, P.O. Box 507, Monroeville, PA 15146, or leave in the hundi at the Temple. All donations are tax deductible.
If one is spiritually inclined, being a Vedic priest is a wonderful profession. One gets to spend the bulk of one’s days in the worship of God. In addition, one gets to provide the devotees with hope and love. A priest shares in the joys and sorrows of the devotees. He helps families make major life transitions, such as first hair cutting, Saraswati diksha, marriage, and eventually death. It is said that one must have accumulated a lot of merit from prior births to become a priest.
On the other hand, those who go through traditional priest training must endure a lot of struggle and difficulties. Boys chosen for priest training must leave home at age eight or nine, and come live at a “Veda Pathasala”, where they receive training. Thrown in with other boys, they encounter a new world. They are assigned a “guru” or teacher, and must get used to living dormitory style. They visit home on holidays.
At the Veda Pathasala, those who want to become priests learn “smartam”. This is a 3-4 year program, where they learn all about the duties of priests. They memorize and learn the meaning of perhaps 100 suktas, such as Rudra Namakam, Sri Sukta, etc. The more serious students start training to become “pundits”. They master an entire Veda. It takes them eight – ten years. There are four major Vedas – Sama, Rig, Yajur (Krishna or Sukla), and Atharva. Depending on their family tradition, they choose one Veda to study.
For many boys, it is a little bit of a shock to be taken from their loving homes and to this new environment. But within a few weeks, most adapt well, as children do. The boys have to get up very early in the morning, and with the exception of an hour or two of playtime, work until the early evening. The gurus expect strict discipline from the children, which may seem a little harsh at first. But over time, the love between the students and their gurus is evident. Perhaps it is this love that allows them to endure the many hardships and eventually get the exalted status of priest or pundit.
The typical Veda Pathasala is not like many modern private schools, which are run for profit. The guru provides education for his students at no charge. When Saint Panduranga Malyala founded the MAHALAKSHMI PANDU RANGA RAO MALYALA INSTITUTE OF SPIRITUAL SCIENCE, HIGHER LEARNING, AND VEDA RESEARCH in 1995, he decided to keep his Veda Pathasalas traditional in every way. At his schools, housing, food, and instruction are all provided free to the students. The parents only provide clothing and textbooks for their child.
Saint Panduranga and his wife Mahalakshmi are great exponents of the Veda. Since 1991, he has been performing large WORLD PEACE YAGNAS in India. In 1995, he hired his first Guru to teach Krishna Yajur Veda at the Malyala family home in Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh. In 2002, he completed construction of his first school building and residential facility in the suburbs of Kakinada. The school has 60 full time residential students, studying Krishna Yajur Veda, Rig Veda, Sama Veda, Atharva Veda, and Smartam.
In 2005, Saint Malyala completed construction of a second major school in Puttaparthi, A.P., home of Sathya Sai Baba. The School currently has 25 students studying the Vedas. Not satisfied with these successes, in recent years Pandurangaji has started schools in Sikkim and Jammu Kashmir. At all these schools, Saint Malyala has bravely born all the costs for building, maintenance, food, guru’s salaries, and so forth.
Most of us do not have the tremendous good fortune to grow up attending a Veda Pathasala and spending our life in the worship of God. We have other duties. But there is something else we can do which is even better. We can support others in becoming priests and pundits. It only costs about $54 a month to support a child at the Veda Pathasalas in India. That’s only $650 a year! In the course of a TEN year education, that’s $6,500, less than the cost of ONE semester at most U.S. colleges today!
My wife and I have been supporting Saint Malyala’s Veda Pathasalas since 1995 for two reasons. First, we recognize the value of preserving the Vedic knowledge, which is rapidly disappearing in India. Second, as businesspeople, we recognize real value when we see it. Where else could we get so much “bang” for our buck? (Or perhaps to put it another way, how else could we do so much good with so little investment?) Not only could we completely educate a child for less than $7,000, but that child, with a little luck, will benefit and educate many, many more people in the Vedas over the course of their lifetime. To us, that seems like a tremendous investment for our charitable funds.
To help preserve the Veda, and to brighten up the life of a young boy, I urge you to make an investment today in Saint Malyala’s Veda Pathasalas. Every dollar invested goes directly to help a young scholar. To make a donation please do not hesitate to contact me with questions about the Veda Pathasalas
at craig@saiaustin.org, or (512) 528-0807 or Panduranga rao at 412 537 8455, pandu_malyala@yahoo.com . Click on the button below to make a dontaion thru the secure website. Your investment will last a lifetime!
Aum Sai Ram,
Craig Sastry, Chairman, Fund Raising
Donations can also be made by cash, check or credit card. Mail your donation to SSSB Temple, P.O. Box 507, Monroeville, PA 15146, or leave in the hundi at the Temple. All donations are tax deductible.