Life goes on…it becomes more beautiful in heaven and becomes all the
more beautiful when spend in the presence of the Lord, says one of
the students responding to the great good fortune of being a part of
Bhagawan’s caravan to the capital city, Delhi.
With Bhagawan’s epochal Delhi sojourn turns to Day 5 on the 13th
April, by now thousands upon thousands, daring the summer’s
merciless onslaught have earned the rare glimpse of Divinity in
human frame at the capital city of India. Bhagawan has been
regularly granting Darshans at His Divine Abode at the Sri Sathya
Sai International Centre, both in the morning and in the evening.
Apart from this, Bhagawan had granted Darshan session at the public
venue, DC-10 DDA Grounds (Near Dwarka Sector-10 Metro Station),
Dwarka on the 10th evening.
Most significant happening during the first four days included
Bhagawan’s visit to the Bahá'í Temple, popularly known as Lotus
Temple, due to its architectural and monumental significance.
Visiting the monumental beauty on afternoon of the 12th April,
Bhagawan spent almost an hour, accepting religious prayers offered
by various faiths followed by a unity prayer.
It was a indeed a day when God 'walked' into a monumental Temple,
most silently, posing as a silent witness, while listening to
multitudes of prayers from various faiths. One who preaches unity of
all religions does accept prayers in unison and by His visit to this
“Universal” Temple, Bhagawan shows His commitment to Universal
Brotherhood through Unity of all Religions.
During His sojourns away from Prasanthi Nilayam, Bhagawan often
visits houses of His ‘foremost’ devotees, acceding to their prayers
and He has been conferring this benevolence right from His early
days. Continuing with this practice, on the 12th afternoon, upon
completing the Bahá'í visit, Bhagawan headed towards the residence
of former Chief Justice of India, Justice (Retd) PN Bhagwathi, who
has been an ardent longtime devotee of Bhagawan.
Earlier, on the 11th evening Bhagawan had another house visit, to
the residence of veteran devotee and eminent industrialist, Kulwant
Rai at Aurangazeb Lane. Elaborate arrangements had been made outside
the Rai residence for the devotee pubic to have His Divine Darshan.
Bhagawan spent quite some time with the Rai family while bhajans
were on. Bhagawan and His entourage had dinner at the Rai residence
before retiring to the International Centre blessing the veteran and
family.
For one who believes Him to be what He is, His walking into his
residence will sound like a mythical tale, incredibly exhilarating.
Perhaps, nations former Prime Minister, the man who held the high
office for three terms, successfully taking the nation out of
various crisis, Atal Behari Vajpayee, would have had this feeling
when Bhagawan Himself decided to walk into the veteran’s house in
the late evening on 12th April. In a touching gesture suffused with
Divine Love, Bhagawan travelled to the Vajpayee residence at Krishna
Menon Marg , New Delhi, visiting the ailing former Prime Minister.
The former Prime Minister was scheduled to visit Bhagawan at the
International Centre couple of days before, seeking His blessings,
but could not make it owing to ill health. Eleven years ago, when
Bhagawan visited the captial city last time, Mr. Vajpayee was the
Prime Minister and the SSSIC was inaugurated by the Divine hands in
his presence. Vajpayee has been a long time devotee of Bhagawan and
had visited Prasanthi Nilayam several times.
Earlier, on the eleventh evening, a private function was held at
Mavlankar Auditorium, behind the Parliament House of India. The
function that was thematic was meant for the elite from the society.
It was an awareness session wherein two seniors from Prasanthi
Nilayam, former Vice Chancellors, Prof. G Venkataraman and SV Giri,
who was formerly the Central Vigilance Commissioner, addressed the
gathering. Prof. G Venkataraman, speaking second, dwelled upon in
detail on the mammoth Chennai Water Project. His speech was aided
with video and slide show presentations. He spoke about the
beginning of the project, as to how dramatically Bhagawan announced
the project and how the project went ahead despite challenges from
various fronts, by sheer grace of Bhagawan. Sri SV Giri, the third
speaker spoke in detail on the subject, Bhagawan and His Mission.
There was another distinguished and interesting speaker in Sunil
Bharti Mittal, whose forays in the telecom industry made him
distinct in the world of telecom industry. He is one of India’s
foremost industrialists, currently heading the Bharti Group that
owns India's largest cellular company, Airtel. Mittal spoke about
Bhagawan and the greater good fortune of being a part of His
Mission. He mentioned about His marriage into a family devoted to
Bhagawan for decades and His first darshan of Bhagawan in the
seventies. What attracted him most about Bhagawan was Bhagawan's
secular approach where religion does not play any role. He mentioned
about the presence of two prominent muslims in Prasanthi during the
twin visits he had made to His Divine Abode in Andhra Pradesh. While
it was Dr. Farooq Abdullah, a devout muslim and former Chief
Minister of J & K, was the first one, second one was the then
Minister of Education of UAE, Shaikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan.
Interestingly he showed a photograph of him with Bhagawan when He
was small, that was taken way back in the seventies, when He had His
first darshan of The Lord.
Cultural Progammes are a way of attracting His attention and it is
His benevolence that often grants this great grand opportunity to
the folks to make presentations appeasing the Divine, earning
blessings. A group of slum children had the opportunity to present a
drama on the theme of Unity of Religions at the specially erected
stage in the Primary School premises at the Sri Sathya Sai
International Centre on the 10th morning. …And at the Mavlankar
Auditorium, the Delhi Balvikas children got to perform in the Divine
Presence and earned a coveted photograph session. And at the
Mavlankar Auditorium, to a packed distinguished audience consisting
of cream de la crème of the society, Delhi Youth had a thematic
drama presentation entitled "Life is a Game – Play it", a
presentation based on the epic Bhagavad Gita.
The music troupe that accompanied Bhagawan has been practising
vigorously and its turn is yet to come to sing His glory in His
Divine presence, emulating it's feat during Bhagawan's Mumbai visit.
On the 12th evening, for the first time, Bhagawan had asked them to
sing bhajans, including some aalaap bhajans, that lasted for forty
five minutes. It was an enthralling experience for the Delhi
audience listening to His chosen students in His immediate Divine
Presence.
Who’s Who from the national capital visited Bhagawan? Unless He
wills none can come to Him and His mission moves as He wills, which
is beyond the understanding of myopic human perceptions. When many
celebrated names like that of Ashok Singhal, Jaswanth Singh, Sushil
Kumar Shinde and from the world of business and industry Sunil
Mittal, Indu Jain, Brij Mohan Munjal, SK Birla etc., roll by, it
becomes clear that He is the magnet that attracts and when He wills
one is blessed to bask in His benign Divine presence. Delhi is
currently basking in His Divine presence.
Text & photo source : Radiosai.org Prasanthi Diary, sssbpt.org -
Sri Sathya Sai Media Foundation - h2hsai.org -
