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Sairam. Here we are back again after a long
gap. We wish you all a very Happy Ugadi.
Parthi Update
Sairam. Here we are back again with news from Parthi. Sorry for the long gap. Not many events in the past few days.
On March 26th, devotees from Bihar had assembled at Prasanthinilayam to celebrate Holi in the Divine Presence. It was the first time that an official celebration for Holi was granted by Bhagawan. Being a Saturday, we were not present in the morning for Darshan. Bihar devotees did have some function in the morning.
In the evening, we entered Sai Kulwant Hall to find silver and gold shining paper strips decorating the centre of the Hall at the level of the dome. Banners with the message of Holi adored several pillars. Holi – the festival of Love and Joy…and so on. Devotees from Bihar and Jharkand were seated awaiting Bhagawan’s Darshan. Several balloons were tied in the shape of a big inverted ‘V’ acting as a border for a deep blue screen with cutouts of a flute and several hands representing Lord Krishna and the Gopalas. This served as the backdrop for the actors who were to put up the evening show. They were all seated in front of the backdrop at the rear end of the Hall near the lions, along the Darshan path.
Swami came out at 3.15 p.m., cut across the centre of the Hall and proceeded straight into the interview room. At 3.35 p.m. He came out and sat down on the sofa amidst chants of Anandavalli. Marigold garlands adorned the brass railings in front of Swami’s chair. At 3.50 p.m. the Vedam chanting stopped. The youth of Bihar entered the performing area. In the first scene, they explained the significance of Holi through the episode of Holika. Then came the actual celebration with all colours! The youth dressed in spotless whites threw colours on each other and into the air with gusto and joy! It was the first time we saw Holi being celebrated with colours in the Divine Presence. Swami was watching all the celebration with a smile on His face!
The rest of the play went on to convey that Holi signifies burning of the Asuric tendencies in man. It stands for destruction of prejudice, selfish motives and the Rajasic and Tamasic traits in man. It advocates the strengthening of Love for God through resolving all differences. The play ended at 4.15 p.m. with the song ‘Sai Naamamu Dorake Kada…’ This was followed by group photographs and Bhajans. At 5.15 p.m. Swami took Aarti and retired for the day.
01-04-2005 to
Students had their last exam on the 31st of March and today was the first day of their summer vacation. Swami did not come out for morning Darshan but in the evening He came out at 3.00 p.m. and sat outside for nearly one hour. Today most of the students were leaving for their home towns for vacation by the 5.30 p.m. train. Therefore, they had wonderful Darshan. It was like a parting gift for the boys! Subsequently, Swami went into the interview room and came out later for Bhajans.
On the 2nd, Swami came out for Darshan at 8.00 a.m. and went straight into the interview room. Later He came out for Bhajans and sat in the Bhajan Hall for around 20 minutes. In the evening, He was out by 3.10 p.m. but again went straight into the interview room. He came out for Bhajans at 4.50 p.m. and sat for about half an hour.
3rd April 2005 saw Swami coming out at 7.30
a.m. The interview room was once again more fortunate than us! We could have
Darshan during the Bhajans for half an hour. In the evening, Darshan was at
3.30 p.m. As usual, He came out of the interview room only for Bhajans at 4.45
p.m. He retired at
On the 4th Swami came out in the morning at 9.05 a.m. after the Bhajans had started. He entered the Bhajan Hall and sat down on the chair. However, after a while, He got up and boarded the Golf Cart and went around the Ashram. He returned at 9.28 a.m. for Aarti and sat down in the Bhajan Hall. After the Aarti He raised both in Hands in Abhaya Hasta pose Blessing all of us. He appeared very pleased! Mysterious are the ways of the Lord!
Many of the evenings, Swami would come into the Bhajan Hall and spend a few minutes talking to students. On one of the occasions, He asked the boys who all had been to Kodaikanal. On another occasion, He materialized a ring for one student. Therefore, these sessions have become very valuable and students wait eagerly for 4.00 p.m. when they are allowed into the Bhajan Hall. The moment the signal is given, they rush in like a tsunami into the Hall!!
Bhagawan came out for Darshan in the evening at 3.05 p.m. He sat down on the sofa placed on the dais amidst the chanting of Mahanarayanopanishad. Most of the boys have left for their summer vacations. Brindavan and Parthi put together, there are around 100 plus students who have stayed back, braving the hot summer, to be with their Lord!
It was 3.50 p.m. when Swami called for Sri Narasimhamoorthy Garu who had just arrived in the morning to Parthi. Bhagawan commanded him to share his thoughts with the audience. Narasimhamoorthy Garu spoke about the evolution of the Vedic thought in India, which took place in 4 stages. In the first stage, the Veda Mantras praise the various entities of the Creation / Universe. In the second stage, they speak about perceiving the Lord within oneself. In the third stage, they exclaim ‘Ekam Sath Vipraha Bahuda Vadanti’, ‘Antar Bahischa Tat Sarvam….’. In the final and fourth stage, the thought evolves to the highest level of Advaita. ‘Ekam Sat Sarva Bhootantaratma’. It talks about perceiving Unity in Diversity.
The rest of his talk was centred
on the life and experiences of Dr. Alreja, an
ardent devotee of Bhagawan who came to Swami way back in 1965 and who till now
serves at His Lotus Feet in the General Hospital at
Parthi. Mr. Narasimhamoorthy shared several
interesting episodes related to Swami from the life of Dr.
Alreja, listening to which, we were all struck
with wonder and awe! He concluded his talk at
His talk was followed by another talk from a student of the I M.Sc. class – Sai Giridhar. Brother Sai Giridhar shared his thoughts about the lessons he had learnt at the Lotus Feet and especially about the learning experience that he had gone through putting up several programmes in the Kulwant Hal in the Divine Presence. He delivered a very scholarly talk that was appreciated by all. He concluded at 4.35 p.m. Swami was very pleased and spoke to him for some time and their dialogue culminated in the materialization of a unique ring for him!
At 4.45 p.m. Bhajans began and at 5.00 p.m. Swami stood up for Aarti.
This morning, Swami came out for Darshan at 7.30 a.m. The Golf Cart took a full round and came onto the dais. Swami sat in the cart for quite some time and at 7.50 a.m., He got down and walked to the sofa placed towards the centre of the dais. He sat down on the sofa until 8.15 a.m. and then went into the interview room.
In the evening, He came out at 3.40 p.m. Once again, the Golf Cart stationed itself on the dais and Swami sat there for some time. Later, He got down and walked across the dais slowly and proceeded towards the interview room.
We wish you all a very very Happy Ugadi. As we entered the Kulwant Hall this morning, we found it shining with brightly colored decorations. The huge red Chinese lamps, floral decorations on the dome and around Ganesha….. Naadaswaram was being played to welcome Bhagawan. At 7.40 a.m., Swami came out in the Golf Cart. He took a full round Blessing everybody with His Darshan and by 7.50 a.m. He was seated on the sofa placed at the centre of the dais.
Vedam was going on in full swing. The Hyderabad youth were seated in front next to the Vedam group. They were ready with a special programme for the occasion. Swami called one Primary School student and asked him to chant Vedam. The lucky boy stood face to face with Bhagawan and kept chanting Vedam for a long time. Swami was looking straight into his eyes with so much of Love and Grace. What a great opportunity to sing His Glory right in front of Him looking into His eyes!! After a while, Swami spoke to him and Blessed him with a gold chain!!
At 8.15 a.m. our former Vice-chancellor, Sri S.V. Giri was summoned by Bhagawan to speak to all of us. Sri S.V. Giri began his talk with a recap of the events in the last year and the various difficulties that the world had faced. In this context, he drew attention to the ever growing need for human values in life. He spoke about the relationship between the Vyashti and the Samashti and how one should make an attempt to see Parameshti (the Lord) through Samashti (society). Subsequently, he elaborated on the eternal truths expounded in the Shiksha Valli saying that mere chanting is not adequate and one should understand and internalize the meaning of the Vedas.
At 8.35 a.m. the Hyderabad party began their programme with Swami’s Blessings. It began with a Panchanga Pundit (Almanac Scholar) reading the almanac – which is commonly called the ‘Panchanga Shravanam’. The Pundit began with reading out the name of the coming year – the ‘Parthiva Naama Samvatsaram’ and prayed that it should become the Parthi Naama Samvatsaram. He reminded the people of their good fortune to be witness to the Holy 80th year of the Avatar. He demonstrated with some calculations how various aspects of this year total up to the number of 80, symbolic of the 80th year of the Avatar.
He then read out the positions of various stars and constellations and briefly explained their significance. He concluded saying that though the science of Panchanga, conventionally is understood as the science of stars and planets and their implications for the world; it truly means the Pancha Angas and using the same to be happy and make others happy. His final punch line drew loud applause. He said that all these Grahas (planets) and their influence can have no impact on us in the powerful presence of Swami’s Anugraha (Grace)!!
The Panchanga Shravanam was followed by a music programme by the Hyderabad youth. As expected it was full of Josh and vigour! They had selected very good songs, some being new and the rest a collection of songs sung on earlier occasions by them in the Divine Presence. One member delivered connecting commentary between the songs with his soothing and mellifluous Telugu. It was 9.40 a.m. by the time the programme concluded. Swami was fully absorbed in the programme and so were we. The final song was ‘Sai Maata Biddale Mein Andaram’ a very popular song sung by all of us. It was a grand closing for the programme!
This was followed by a photograph session and Prasadam distribution (neatly packed Vobbatus – Sweet Puris). Swami took Aarti at 9.50 a.m. and retired to the Poornachandra Auditorium.
At 3.15 p.m. Swami was out again to delight all of us with His Divine Darshan. He took a full round and then sat down on the sofa. Swami was enquiring about speakers for the evening. He called Sri Sanjay Sahni, the Principal of the Brindavan Campus of our Institute. Sri Sanjay Sahni began his impromptu talk at 3.25 p.m. As usual, he stole the hearts of the audience with his expressive delivery, poignant illustrations and scholarly insights.
He began with the description of God as the One who embodies Time, transcends Time, and from whose womb Time is born! He stressed on the great significance of the current time when we are fortunate to be the contemporaries of the Avatar! Jantu Naam Nara Janma Durlabham – he explained the importance of the human birth and how it must be spent in service of others.
He categorized people into 4 stages of growth. The first being the money minded. These people work merely for the sake of monetary benefits. They are ready to do just anything for the sake of money! The second category of people is the careerist. These people have only the three P’s in mind. Pay, Prospects and Promotion! The next category is the Professionals. These people put in a lot of effort to excel in their field of work and try to achieve perfection in whatever they do. Still higher is the service-minded. This category of people work for their self-satisfaction. Yet however, there are traces of selfishness even in them. The highest category is the visionary.
He then went on to describe the unsullied and pure Love of Bhagawan, through various illustrations. He recalled the episode at Kodaikanal where students and staff were helping in clearing the ground for making a new Bhajan Hall. Watching this even the hawkers who earned their livelihood, selling trinkets on the road along the lake, prayed to Swami to give them an opportunity to participate in this service. They offered to continue the work when the students and staff would go for taking rest in the afternoon. That was their Love for Swami!
He then went on to describe how during the Narayana Seva in the Hill View Stadium, Bhagawan watching the VIII class students sitting in the Mandir with no work allotted to them, had personally guided them to help in serving water to the people. He did not want anybody to be left out from the service activities.
He also spoke about the inspiring message given by Bhagawan in the Bhajan Hall to the staff before the commencement of the first Grama Seva. Swami was so moved by the episode of the mother poisoning herself and her children. This amply demonstrated that God was no alien entity sitting in the heavens above but was part of humanity suffering every bit along with them.
He concluded with Kabir’s Doha which says that when we come to the world, we cry and the world laughs. But let us conduct ourselves in such a way that when we go, the world cries and we laugh – for we have finally reached our destination!
It was 4.05 p.m. and Bhagawan signalled for the Discourse Table to be arranged. The highlights of the Divine Discourse follow:
Creation is born out of Truth, is sustained in Truth and finally merges in Truth. This is the Primordial, Unsullied Truth.
There is nothing beyond Love. In this world, there is no creature without Love. The intensity of Love depends on the stature of the mind. Tyagaraja sand ‘Cheema Lo Brahma Lo…..’ The ant is such a microscopic insect and Brahma is so vast and infinite! Still, the same Love is in both!
Once a hungry bear approached an ant hill and pleaded for food. The ants laughed, ‘How can we satiate your hunger. You are so huge’. However, the ants are very proactive and they had stored enough food for 6 months. The ant went in and with the help of others brought out all this food for the bear. The bear was stunned! It never expected that the ants could store so much food.
Unfortunately today, man inspite of being so intelligent is not able to cater to everybody’s hunger. We must learn from these ants. They store for current use and future stock. Man is most intelligent. Yet he is not able to develop that intelligence. He has become so low and mean due to greed and selfishness. Man has everything in this world, but he does not know how, when and how much to use.
Even having all the intelligence, man does not know how to use it, nor does he make an effort to learn the same. The book is full of knowledge but the head is full of mud! Today, we have very good answers to all questions but we do not know how to practically apply them in life.
God has bestowed on us all the wealth, for the purpose of sharing and not amassing. The human body is meant for serving others, not just eating and drinking. All the wealth, intelligence and talents given to man are for serving the humanity. However, man has given up this noble path and is treading in the opposite direction. Even a cow knows how to feed itself and serve others.
Vyakti is the individual and Samashti is the collective (community / society). Samashti itself is God! If you understand Samashti then you will be able to understand Vyakti.
Today, the time has come when man has to learn from insects and other creatures. The knowledge we receive is to be shared with others. Man should walk on the path of equality. If there is no Samatva (equality), how then can there be Manavatva (humanity) and understanding of Divyatva (Divinity)? We must develop the latent Divinity within us. Human Being is not of recent origin. He is there from ancient times. It is only the physical body that is born at birth; humanity has always existed.
Man is not able to recognise the latent Divinity. He has therefore forgotten humanity too. First know the human qualities. Be a human, not just in form but in practice. This is why the concept of Educare has been put forth by Swami. Educare is to bring out that which is latent within. Education can be acquired from without. The one who experiences the Divine Presence in every atom of his body is a truly educated person. Education is from the books while Educare is from within! Education is by learning whereas Educare is by manifestation. Information is not enough. Transformation is required! Without transformation, all information is a waste. But we take a taste to this information.
The intelligence and intellect are gifts of God. Use them properly. Preserve them. There is so much power in every human being. True Love is that which unites the Love in you with the Love in the other. True Love will never hurt anybody. Love always helps. God has granted infinite Love to each one. It will never reduce!
However, today, Divine Love is misused for sensual pleasures. Love is the life for every creature. We must use it properly. We can understand Love only when we grow in Love. All worldly Love will have to be dropped one day or the other, but Divine Love remains for ever! It is easy to use the word Love but very difficult to understand it. If you can understand the nature of your own Love, you will be able to understand the Love of others. Once we know this Love, we become Love ourselves!
After this Bhagawan moved on to the episodes in the Ramayana. He touched upon the greatness of Sumitra through various illustrations. Swami said that Ramayana is not just a Grantha (scriptural text) but it is full of Gandha (fragrance). Share this fragrance with all and the whole world will become like the way it was in Rama’s times!
Bhagawan concluded His Discourse with a great, happy and delightful declaration! He said - Very shortly, not in the distant future but very shortly – there will be only one religion, only one caste in the whole world!! Once unity comes, there will be purity. This will lead to intimate association with God and will finally lead to the experience of Bliss!
Swami concluded with the Bhajan – Rama Rama Rama Sita…..
It was 5.25 p.m. and the Hyderabad group (not the morning team but a different one) presented their music programme. This went on till ten past six. Prasadam was distributed for the body as the songs satiated the souls!
Pocket calendars were distributed to all. The uniqueness was that it was a Parthiva Samvatsara calendar that goes from April 2005 to March 2006! The past year has come to a close. The New Year – Parthiva Year has begun!
Bhagawan took Aarti and retired for the day.
Bhagawan came out for Darshan at 8.40 a.m. As He took a full round of the Hall, He collected letters from many devotees and from almost all the students. As He approached the Vedam group, Swami asked for the Golf Cart to be taken a little back. He spotted one boy in the third line. Swami called him and took his letter. The joy on the face of the student was indescribable. Bhagawan had reversed the Golf Cart just to collect his letter!! Swami then went into the interview room with a devotee family. Bhajans started and went on till 10.00 a.m. when Swami took Aarti and retired.
In the evening, Swami was out by 3.15
p.m. He got down from the Golf Cart and sat down on the sofa and spent half an
hour listening to the Vedic chants and receiving letters from students. At
3.50 p.m. He got up and walked into the interview room. He went into the
Bhajan Hall by 4.50 p.m. and spent some time
talking to the boys inside the Bhajan Hall.
Bhajans started a little while later and went on till
The Kerala youth are already pouring in, in great numbers for the Youth Camp as part of the Vishu celebrations. Swami spoke to the Kerala State - Sai Samithi President, Sri Mukundan about the programme arrangements. Several members were also called into the interview room. Therefore, the next few days are likely to be very eventful with Swami showering all His Love on the Kerala Youth and devotees.
We’ll get back to you with the details.
Sairam A Anantha Vijaya
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