“When you are named, you don’t need to rebel against the world and its stories any more than you have to comply. When you are named, you live the power of that naming by being in integrity with yourself…Naming is alignment. It is a life of congruence. It is living the prayer instead of constantly praying, longing and wishing for it.” - Melanie DewBerry

In certain spaces I am called Arundhati Devi. It is a fairly new experience and one that I am still getting used to. I’ve been meaning to write about it for many, many months but as I am still processing and working with it, this post is merely an acknowledgement… A “this-is-what-I-am-reflecting-on” type of post. I have been thinking about sharing but wasn’t quite sure what to share… and then my Guru shared about receiving his name and that was enough of a nudge.

On receiving a spiritual name

Arundhati is the name bestowed on me by my Guru, Sri Vasudeva. For years I did not think much about receiving a spiritual name and then, as my fortieth birthday approached, I began to think more about it, about how such a name would help my growth. I thought so much about it that I eventually mentioned it to my Guru in November 2022 and was then given the name in December 2022.

There is a powerful video I found on YouTube by Dr. Harjot Kaur of the Sikh faith on the importance of one’s spiritual name and its connection to one’s Guru. “When someone calls you by your spiritual name,” she says, “they are calling on your highest destiny.”

In another YouTube video, Paramahamsa Sri Swami Vishwananda shares that “your spiritual name carries the quality of your soul… that name reflects who you are… and once you receive that name, that name carries a certain vibration which will awaken what you have deep inside of you.”

The meaning of Arundhatī (अरुन्धती)

“I have had this name in my mind for some time”, said my Guru, “and then it came to me that this is the name that is meant for you”.

Arundhati, when translated from Sanskrit, literally means ‘washed by the rays of the Sun’. In looking at translations it also refers to ‘wife of dharma’, ‘morning star’ and a ‘medicinal climbing plant’. In Hindu mythology, Arundhati is the name of a star and the wife of the revered sage Vashishtha. Her name is thought to signify unerring loyalty, purity, wifely devotion, moral strength and wisdom.

Here are two videos I found that share the story of Arundhati:

• Arundhati – The Wife Of Sage Vashishtha | Indian Mythology | Mytho World
• The Story of Vasishtha Arundhati

Embodying the name

Since receiving this name I have been exploring what it means to me, how I feel about it, how I can embody the qualities of it and how I can begin to incorporate it in the wider world.

How does one go about announcing to the world a name change? Especially if one is already established in a certain space?

I have started combining my birth name and my spiritual name, Renee Arundhati, as part of my signature. In the space of the Blue Star I am known as Arundhati Devi. I work at discovering how best to open to the fullness of this name.

Peace,

Renee Arundhati