|
The Sri Sathya Sai Bal Vikas programme was started by Bhagawan in 1968
with the aim to inculcate the fundamental human values of Sathya
(Truth), Dharma (Righteousness), Shanthi (Peace) and Ahimsa
(Non-Violence) among children so that the foundations of a spiritual
life are laid at an early age. Children in the age group 6-15 learn
about various aspects of spirituality from designated Bal Vikas Gurus
belonging to the Sri Sathya Sai Seva Organization. The Bal Vikas
movement today reaches out to more than 2 lakh (200,000) children all
over India through a network of more than 16,000 Gurus and is actively
engaged in realizing Bhagawan’s vision of a spiritual revival in modern
society.
From October 22nd to 24th, more than three
thousand Bal Vikas students from all over India gathered at Prasanthi
Nilayam to celebrate the ‘Festival of Joy’. The event was an outpouring
of the love and gratitude of the students to Bhagawan for entering and
transforming their lives, and through them, the lives of their family
members and others around them. Over the three days, the children basked
in the love of Bhagawan, presenting a variety of programmes in
 the Divine presence on the
lessons they have imbibed as students of the Bal Vikas programme. There
was a significant presence of students from the far off North Eastern
states like Assam, Manipur and Sikkim, their faces beaming with the joy
of being with Bhagawan on this wonderful occasion. Bhagawan too
responded to the love of the children in so many ways. The students,
with their teachers, were all accommodated within the ashram campus and
were given free food on all the days of their stay at Prasanthi Nilayam.
Bhagawan evinced personal interest
in their welfare and even blessed the children with a visit to see for
Himself the arrangements that had been made for them. Two exhibitions
were organised on this occasion. One showcased spiritual books for
children brought out by the Sri Sathya Sai Organizations in different
Indian languages. The other was on the folk arts and handicrafts from
all over India. Children could even learn the rudiments of these arts
from trainers during the days of the exhibition. The entire ashram was
abuzz with activity, with children practising for the programmes they
would present in front of Bhagawan during the three days of the
festival.
 The festival commenced on
the morning of October 22nd in Sai Kulwant Hall. Bhagawan lit
the ceremonial lamp signalling the start of the festival. Sri
V.Srinivasan, President, Sri Sathya Sai Seva Organizations, India
welcomed all the participating students and expressed his gratitude on
their behalf to Bhagawan for blessing them with the opportunity to be a
part of this joyous event. After Sri Srinivasan's introductory talk,
there was a music programme by a choir composed of 300 children from
different parts of the country. The hall reverberated to the sound of
their voices as they sang in unison, songs in Hindi and Telugu
languages. "Shakthi ni ivvu, Bhakthi ni ivvu" they prayed to Bhagawan,
"grant us Shakthi (strength to carry out God's command) and Bhakthi
(devotion to the Lord)". This programme was followed by speeches by
three Bal Vikas students. Kum. Shwetha, from the state of Karnataka,
began by observing that though man has made such strides in science and
technology, he has not yet learnt how to live as a man. The true purpose
of education is character, she said, and it was the gift of character
that they were receiving from
Bhagawan through the Bal Vikas programme. Master Pranav Shyam Bhat from
the city of Mumbai echoed these sentiments and said that every Sai
devotee has a moral duty towards himself and to the world to tread on
the path shown by Bhagawan so that all the people in the world could
reach God. He prayed to Bhagawan to grant all the students with purity
in their thought, word and deed. Master Krishna De, a nine-year old
student who hails from the state of West Bengal, declared, "We have come
from You, Bhagawan, and we must all return to You". He prayed to
Bhagawan to mould their lives to live by His teaching so that the ideal
of "Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam" (The entire humanity is one family) could be
realized.
 After the rousing speeches
by the students, Bhagawan granted His Divine Message emphasizing on the
importance of maintaining purity in the food one consumes and the
company one keeps. The food one ingests influences the kind of thoughts
that arise in our minds, and it is these thoughts that turn us towards
or away from God. Similarly, He said, it is vital to carefully select
the circle of one’s friends. One must cultivate Sathsangam, the company
of the noble. He advised the children to turn away from books that dwell
on negative aspects and instead read the
inspiring lives of great and noble men and sages.
The afternoon session saw a medley of dances on the theme, “The Glory of
Sathya Sai”. The dances depicted the story of Bhagawan’s life, whose
coming had been prophesied by the scriptures of many religions of the
world. Many episodes from Bhagawan’s life such as incidents at the
Pushpagiri Scout fair, the letter written by Bhagawan to His elder
brother, Shri Seshama Raju in which He speaks of the Mission for which
He has descended etc. were all presented through beautifully
choreographed dances. The presentation had a very novel ending where a
 UFO descends on the floor
of Kulwant Hall. From the UFO descend aliens who have come to earth
after having heard of the Avatar’s descent on the planet. They threaten
to take Him away with them if they do not follow His teachings, as the
entire cosmos is yearning for the opportunity of being contemporaries of
the Avatar. They are only satisfied when representatives of Planet Earth
promise to be worthy of God’s Love. At the conclusion of the programme,
arati was offered to Bhagawan.
On
the morning of 23rd, there was a presentation by Bal Vikas
students of various states on the religious customs and traditions of
some of the major religions of the world. The basic tenets of Hinduism,
Christianity, Judaism, Zoroastrianism and Islam were depicted through
the rituals that are performed by followers of these faiths. The
afternoon session featured a very innovative presentation by the
children of the
 Sri Sathya Sai Primary
School. Using a projector-screen system for a backdrop, the programme
dwelt on the life and teachings of Bhagawan. The narrators of the
programme were two students dressed as Prof. Kasturi and Dr. Hislop, two
devotees who were fortunate to have enjoyed the proximity of Bhagawan
and were witnesses to many wonders and miracles of Bhagawan during their
lifetime. They recall various incidents that took place during
Bhagawan’s childhood days. Then it is the turn of Mother Saraswati, the Goddess of learning and
Lord Dhanvantari, the God of Healing to express their gratitude to
Bhagawan for raising education and medicine on such a high pedestal
through His educational institutions and hospitals. The saints,
Thyagaraja, Purandaradasa, Meerabai, Chaitanya Deva also follow, paying
homage to the Lord whom they all adored through their devotional
compositions. For the final scene, all the students of the Primary
School joined in waving golden stars and singing aloud the praise of
their Mother Sai. Bhagawan blessed the participating students with
photographs before accepting arati at the
conclusion of the day’s proceedings.
 The morning of the final
day of the festival, October 24th featured a presentation
with a difference. “Heritage Sports”, as the programme was titled,
recreated the sylvan atmosphere of rural India, with the Bal Vikas
students showcasing some of the games and sports that are popular in the
villages in their states. The students from Andhra Pradesh displayed
astonishing dexterity in swirling tops and balancing them on their palms
and on their heads and even tossing it to each other and then balancing
them. Students from Orissa exhibited a game of amazing endurance, “Puchhi”,
which is played usually by village girls there. All the games and sports
were much enjoyed and appreciated by the devotees who had gathered in
Sai Kulwant Hall. This was followed by three short speeches by Bal Vikas
students.
In
the evening, Bal Vikas students from Tamil Nadu, presented, “Bhakthi
Mahima”, on the lives of two much revered saints of India, Tulsidas and
Kanakadasa. Tulsidas was very much a man of the world until his wife
turned his mind away from worldly pleasures towards the bliss of being
immersed in devotion to the Lord. His heart was then filled with a
tremendous longing to have the Darshan
(Vision) of His beloved Lord Rama. Lord Hanuman guides Tulsidas to Chitrakoot,
where Lord Rama had stayed during His exile from Ayodhya. There,
however, He fails to behold His Lord, as, absorbed in His contemplation,
he does not notice Lord Rama, Mother Sita and Lakshmana walking past him
and only has a fleeting glimpse of them. He beseeches Lord Hanuman to
bestow the divine vision on him again. This time he even applies sandal
paste on the foreheads of Rama, Lakshmana and Sita without realizing
that the very Lord who he adored was now before him. Tulsidas now
dedicates
 himself to composing the
epic “Ramcharitmanas” on the life of Lord Rama. One day, some misguided
people decide to steal into Tulsidas’s ashram to destroy his work. But,
at the gates of the ashram, they see two handsome princes standing
guard. Realizing that they were none other than Lord Rama and Lakshmana
they beat a hasty retreat. Filled with remorse, they beg forgiveness of
Tulsidas. But, Tulsidas praises their good fortune that allowed them to
have the darshan he was craving for.
Finally, Lord Rama, pleased with devotion of Tuslidas, manifests Himself
along with His consort, Mother Sita, and brother Lakshmana.
Saint Kanakadasa was born in a low caste family and had never been
educated in the Vedas or other scriptures. However, he was full of
devotion to Lord Krishna. One day, he happened on a pot of gold
concealed in a shrub in a forest. But, such was his detachment towards
wealth that he immediately distributed it among the needy. A Guru, who
was earlier a disciple of Saint Purandaradasa notices this quality in
Kanakadasa and initiates him as his disciple. One day, the Guru decided
to test his disciples. He gives them each a banana and instructs them to
eat the banana unseen by anyone. All the disciples disperse looking
for places where they could be alone. After a while, the disciples
return to the Guru. Kanakadasa alone has not eaten his banana. The Guru
asks him the reason and Kanakadasa reveals that he just could not find a
place where he could be alone because wherever he turned he saw Krishna
smiling at him. The Guru praises Kanakadasa’s exalted state and blesses
him to go out into the world to spread the glory of Lord Krishna.
Kanakadasa travels to many pilgrimage places singing in praise of Lord
Krishna. He reaches the famous temple town of Udupi in the state of
Karnataka. However, there, the orthodox priests refuse to permit him
inside the temple as he belonged to a low caste family. In agony,
Kanakadasa cries out to Lord Krishna to grant him His
darshan. The western wall of the temple
cracks open, the idol reveals itself to bless Kanakadasa with the Divine
Vision, and thus the world learns of the power of Kanakadasa’s devotion.
A window is now fixed on this wall in the Krishna temple at Udupi and it
is called Kanakana Kindi. It is a custom to
first have darshan of Lord Krishna through
this window before entering the temple precincts as a mark of respect to
this great minstrel of Karnataka.
This programme marked the conclusion of the ‘Festival of Joy’. It was a
rewarding experience for all who witnessed the celebrations, but
perhaps, most of all for the participating students. The excitement of
staying together with peers from different parts of the country,
broadening the mind by seeing at close hand the rich traditions and
diverse culture of Bharat, and most importantly imbibing lessons for
life from Bhagawan Himself, all these are a treasure to be cherished for
a long time. This meet will certainly prove a fillip to all Bal Vikas
students as the participants return to their homes re-energized by the
touch of Bhagawan. Let us all pray that this positive energy spreads to
rejuvenate the nation and pervade the entire world so that the Kingdom
of God can be realized on earth itself.
Jai Sai Ram! |
