Swami Muktananda's letter of acknowledgement

In August, 1969, Swami Muktananda formally and publically acknowleged Adi Da's Spiritual Accomplishment in a open letter (pictured above left) written in his own hand in the presense of Sri Adi Da and between fifty and one-hundred others.

The Marathi language was Swami Muktananda's native tongue, and the letter, written in Hindi interspersed with Sanskrit, presented many problems for interpreters and translators. This page presents the four most important versions, in their relative historical order, with commentaries.

The first initial rough translation was prepared by a group of Swami Muktananda's aides, and due to the difficulty, took over two weeks before it was given to Sri Adi Da. As later translations would show, it contains added and missing elements, and does not, for whatever reasons, convey the full content and intent of Swami Muktananda's message. 1

In the late 1970s several scholarly translations were commisioned and although in some respects they were better than the 1969 translation, they were limited by their academic approach. In 1984, an Indologist and scholar of various Adepts, with sensitivities to spiritual terms, meanings and issues, brought forth another translation; [ A. J. Alston translation ] which was published in the essay "The Order of Free Names" in The Illusion of Relatedness (1986); with Sri Love-Ananda's translation and commentary.

In 1989, a definitive word for word transliteration was obtained from a former translator for Swami Muktananda who had lived with the Swami for many years and not only read his handwriting with ease, but was also familiar with his use of words and manners of expression.

In 1995, The Order of My Free Names was published with an updated rendering of the letter and further exposition by Sri Adi Da: [ letter ] [ essay excerpt ]

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