06 January 2014 - QA 3

Gurudev, I am a Muslim and I sat for the morning Rudra Puja today. I felt so much at home, for it sounded so similar to the intonations of our prayers in Arabic. At one point it seemed to me that I heard the word Allah during the chanting. Is it a word in Sanskrit?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

Yes, it is. There is a name for God as Allah in Sanskrit also. All names are the same; all names are of the same God, the one Divinity. This ancient practice of the Rudrabhishekam, with the chanting of mantras, has been happening since thousands of years. It creates such a deep resonance in our consciousness, because our consciousness is very ancient. The chanting and the pooja creates a very positive environment, and its purpose is to cleanse any negativity in the atmosphere. Everything becomes positive with the chantings.