Lifestyle
An American woman who holds a PhD embraced sainthood at the age of 25 and lives in Rishikesh, India. Know her story here.
Updated : Jun 07, 2023, 05:53 PM IST | Edited by : Kajari Goswami
A woman now known as Sadhvi Bhagawati Saraswati, who leads a spiritual life in Rishikesh, India was born in America. She decided to visit India and could not leave. In 1996, Sandhi was pursuing her PhD from California's Standford University. Although she had no relation to spirituality and did not even plan it back then, she always ate vegetarian food.
Eating vegetarian food was a point for her friends to make fun of her and pull her leg. People would often tell about India and how Indians eat vegetarian food. This made her curious to know more about the country and she bought a travel guidebook called 'lonely planet'. From there she got to know about Rishikesh and planned a trip.
After reaching Rishikesh, Sadhvi was overwhelmed by the religious practices people in Rishikesh carried. The chanting of mantras, bathing in Ganga, and the sound of bells mesmerised her. Gradually she started to adapt to the lifestyle in Rishikesh and started enjoying it.
Meanwhile, on her way from the hotel to Ganga Ghat was one ashram that she used to look at every day. One day, she just walked in and spoke to the people there if it was possible for her to live there and practice the rituals.
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The people at the ashram informed her that their head, Saint Chitanand Muni was the only one to decide whether this was possible but he was out on a tour during that period. Thereafter, she would inquire about his arrival regularly as long she was in Rishikesh and finally met Guruji.
By that time she wanted to devotee her life into spirituality but Guruji asked her to go back to America and complete her education.
Meanwhile, she returned to America and told her family that she wanted to follow the path of a saint. Initially, her parents were against this idea and would not let her go. In the meantime, Guruji visited America and Sadhvi made her parents meet Guruji. After they were completely convinced, Sadhvi headed to adopt the life of a saint. She has been living in India for over 25 years now and even authored the book 'Hollywood to Himalayas'.