SRI SATHYA SAI CENTRAL TRUST
Anniversary
35 Years of Transforming Lives ,
September 02, 2007
&
Sri Krishna Astami Celebrations (scroll down) For report & Sri Krishna Astami Celebrations
Photos: click
here
September
04, 2007
Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust has been one of the earliest
institutions set up by Bhagawan to carry out His Divine Mission. It has been
instrumental in executing various service projects of Bhagawan in the areas of
education, medical relief, providing drinking water and providing relief to the
indigent masses. This Trust was established on 2nd September 1972 as a Public
Charitable Trust and since then has been ceaselessly engaged in the service of
humanity. The 35th anniversary of the establishment of the Trust was commemorated
this year on 2nd September in a grand function organized by Bhagawan’s students
who are currently serving in His various institutions.
Bhagawan arrived at 4 p.m. to grant Darshan to the thousands
assembled in Sai Kulwant Hall that was beautifully decorated for the occasion. The
main programme for the afternoon was a discussion on the theme, ‘Sri Sathya Sai:
Transforming Lives’, by a panel of speakers all of whom have had a long
association with Bhagawan and his service activities. The proceedings commenced
with an introductory speech by Sri Rameshwar Prusty. He was followed by Sri
N.Sudhindran and Dr. T.Ravikumar who addressed the gathering, sharing the
wonderful experiences they had with Bhagawan and recalling the abundant love and
grace that Bhagawan had showered on them.
The discussion commenced with a speech by Sri V. Srinivasan,
All India President of Sri Sathya Sai Seva Organisation. He is a noted
industrialist and has served as National President of CII (Confederation of Indian
Industries) and National President of the Institute of Plant Engineers in addition
to being Senior Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers
(USA). Sri Srinivasan is a member of Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust and is also
serving as Trustee to Sri Sathya Sai Medical Trust and Sri Sathya Sai Institute of
Higher Learning Trust. He began by saying that Bhagawan transforms lives by
transforming minds and the instrument of this transformation is His Pure Love.
Drawing from his experiences gathered during his visits to Sri Sathya Sai Centers
all over the country, he cited the examples of two inspired youth members whom he
met, who have dedicated their lives to the service of Bhagawan setting aside
lucrative careers in favour of serving the Lord. Sri Srinivasan also recalled the
contributions of many noble souls who are now no longer with us, such as Col. Joga
Rao, Rajmata of Nawanagar, Justice Padma Khastagir and Sri Janakiramaiah.
Sri K. Chakravarthi, Secretary, Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust
who spoke next joined the Indian Administrative Service in 1960. He served as the
Collector of Anantapur District, and held various positions including Finance
Secretary (Projects), Commissioner of Relief and Commissioner of Commercial Taxes
in the Government of Andhra Pradesh. He relinquished his promising career in the
Indian Administrative Service in 1981 in answer to the divine call to become the
first Registrar of Sri Sathya Sai University, a post that he held till 1994 before
taking over as Secretary of the Trust. He pointed out that Sri Sathya Sai Central
Trust is no ordinary charitable trust. He said it is a great blessing for any one
to be associated with the Trust in any manner and that this association would
bring out transformation within one. The best way to experience His Grace is by
opening our hearts to him. He concluded his illuminating speech observing that to
express our gratitude to Bhagawan, each one of us must reflect in our lives, the
sublimity of His Love and diligently discharge the duties and responsibilities
assigned to us.
Following this, there was a talk by Sri S.V. Giri. Sri Giri
started his career in the Indian Administrative Service in the Andhra Pradesh
Cadre where he held positions such as the Principal Secretary in the Planning
Department and the Relief Commissioner. Later, he was Central Relief Commissioner,
Education Secretary to the Government of India. He then went on to become the
Chief Vigilance Commissioner in 1995, a post that he resigned from in 1998 to
serve Bhagawan as the sixth Vice-Chancellor of Sri Sathya Sai University. After
having served as the Vice Chancellor till 2005, Sri Giri is currently involved
with many service activities of Bhagawan. Sri Giri highlighted the perfection,
attention to minute detail and the economic utilization of resources that
characterizes the Trusts run by Bhagawan. In this way, the output of the Trust, as
measured by the benefits that accrue to the people, far surpasses the input. He
said that in Bhagawan’s trusts, the emphasis is on quality rather than quantity.
He also briefly introduced the programme of Rural Development that is now taking
shape, which focuses on the family as the basic unit for transformation.
Padmashree Prof G. Venkataraman, who addressed the gathering
next, is a scientist who has served in many premier institutions such as Bhabha
Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai; Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research,
Kalpakkam. He was the Founder Director of Project ANURAG at DRDO, Hyderabad. He
has been the recipient of many awards such as Sir C V Raman Prize, Sir C V Raman
Centenary Award, Indira Gandhi Award, and the prestigious Padmashree Award in
1991. His career culminated with his appointment as the 5th Vice-Chancellor of Sri
Sathya Sai University. He has authored many books, and is currently serving
Bhagawan as the Director of Radio Sai Global Harmony and producing documentaries
and literature about Bhagawan and His Mission. He began his talk by observing that
it is Bhagawan who is at the centre of the Central Trust. He cited the instances
of the Super-Speciality hospitals and the water projects that were completed in
record time and in the face of all odds, once Bhagawan had determined to embark on
these projects. He said that it is our firm faith in Him that will allow us to
fulfill our roles in His Divine Mission.
Then, to the delight of all gathered, Bhagawan rose to grant
His Divine Discourse in His sweet, melodious voice. He was all praise for the
dedicated service rendered by His students who are working in various Sai
institutions, commending their selflessness and the humility with which they carry
out their tasks. He said that even though they are young, they carry great
responsibilities on their shoulders. Bhagawan said His aspirations for the future
lie with His students and He expects them to take on the leadership of His
institutions and set an example for the world.
At the conclusion of His Discourse, Bhagawan lovingly
distributed watches to each of the 155 students, tokens for His boundless
affection for them. As they came forward, one by one, to accept the divine gift
from His Hands, Bhagawan beamed at them and spoke sweet words to them. He again
called them near Him to distribute to them sacred Prasadam with His own Hands. All
the students basked in the Love of the Divine Mother, moments that will be
cherished by them forever. At the conclusion of the programme, Sri Hari Shankar
proposed a Vote of Thanks, expressing gratitude to Bhagawan for His guidance in
every step while organizing the programme and for His loving words. He also
expressed his thanks on behalf of the assembly to the panel of esteemed speakers
who had shared their words of wisdom drawn from their close association with
Bhagawan and His service projects.
The evening programme concluded with Arati and Bhagawan
retired to His residence.
It is but a rare moment in the
history of time when one gets the privilege and merit of celebrating the birthday
of one Poorna Avatar in the presence of another Poorna Avatar. But we, in this
Kali Yuga, born as contemporaries of Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba have been
blessed with this boon. September 4th this year was one such momentous occasion
where thousands congregated in Sai Kulwant Hall to celebrate Sri Krishna Ashtami
in the Divine Presence of Bhagawan Baba. At 8.15 am, Bhagawan arrived in Sai
Kulwant Hall clad in beautiful yellow robe – the Pithambara (yellow garment),
characteristic of Lord Krishna. The Hall reverberated with the chant of Narayana
Suktam and other Vedic hymns in propitiation of Lord Narayana. Bhagawan then
alighted from His car and, as is the usual custom of Krishna Ashtami celebrations
at Prasanthi Nilayam, fed His pet baby elephant Krishna Geetha and cows from the
Gokulam Dairy. Bhagawan then came on to the dais and was seated there listening to
Veda chanting. Two students from the Sri Sathya Sai Higher Secondary School
dressed as Sri Krishna and His brother Sri Balarama went to Bhagawan and got the
Prasadam blessed and few other students went with pigeons that were graciously
released by Bhagawan. The morning programme concluded with Arati.
In the evening, Bhagawan granted Darshan at 3.40 pm. The first programme was a
drama presentation by the Sri Sathya Sai University Men’s Brass Band on the story
of Lord Krishna’s birth and childhood to the accompaniment of Bhajans with western
fusion music. Thereafter, Bhagawan permitted the Balvikas children of Nalgonda
District, Andhra Pradesh to stage a drama entitled ‘Prema Baata’ (The Path of
Love). The story revolved around a virtuous but economically backward and
handicapped youth Sri Hari who brings about a transformation in his community and
leads many people – young and old, rich and poor on the path of righteousness as
espoused by Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba. The drama that lasted for around 30
minutes was packed with powerful dialogues and was interspersed with dances and
melodious songs. Following this, heeding to the prayers of everyone seated in the
hall, Bhagawan rose up to give His Divine Discourse.
Bhagawan began His discourse with a Telugu verse that stated that the whole
creation is born out of Truth, is sustained by Truth and merges back in to Truth.
There is no place in this entire cosmos where Truth is not found. This is the
pure, unsullied Truth. Then, with the characteristic wave of His hand, Bhagawan
materialized a golden lingam - ‘Hiranyagarbha’ and declared that the Hiranyagarbha
is the very form of Shuddha Satvam (Pure and unsullied Truth). This Truth
incarnates from age to age for a specific cause. In the Tretha Yuga, it took the
form of Lord Sri Rama and in the Dwapara Yuga it took the form of Lord Sri
Krishna. Bhagawan then narrated stories from the Mahabharata and the Ramayana in
great detail and explained that the Rama Tatwa (Principle of Rama) and Krishna
Tatwa (Principle of Krishna) are one and the same. In conclusion, Bhagawan said
that the sacred name of Lord Sri Rama contains the essence of all the stories of
the Lord, and He exhorted everyone to constantly chant the glorious name of Rama
as this would take us across all difficulties and ensure our wellbeing.
After accepting Arati, Bhagawan retired to His residence at 6.20 pm.
Every thing is born out of truth
Each and Everything Merges in God
There is no place without truth,Every thing in this world is born out of truth
Truth is all pervasive. Truth is present in every one of us, Truth is one and not
two.
All the Swarna lingams(Golden lingams) that I manifest are the Truth.
At this time Swami's Right Hand rose a little and after Two Divine little circular
motions, there emerged a Brilliant, Wonderful and a Most Dazzling Golden lingam
Which was almost Thrice the size of a normal egg. Everyone folded their Hands in
Namaskar.
Swami then Continued as everyone were still keeping their Eyes fixed on the Golden
Lingam:
This is the Divine Truth,Depending on the time, The Divine Paramatma has been
manifesting in Human form to teach this Divine Truth. In the Krita Yuga it was
Lord Vishnu. In the Treta yuga it was Lord Rama and in Dwapara yuga it was Lord
Krishna who came in human form in this world to correct the whole of Mankind.
Many still do not understand the Divine Avatar like many misunderstood and to this
day misunderstand the love of Lord Krishna, They think He was after Gopikas all
the time.. How many of you know the age of Lord Krishna when He was performing
leelas with Gopikas? Only 7 years old.. Many of the Gopikas were much much elder
to Him. They all enjoyed Krishna's Divine company and so did Krishna. That is what
is meant by Pure and Divine Love. Krishna had more than 16000 Gopikas with Him.The
role of Sathya bhama was also a Very Significant one. Krishna wanted to tell the
world how devoted she was and thats why she had to come into His life.
Rama was also another avatar who always adhered to truth, Rama always stood for
Truth and Love. Dasaratha was also a very Devoted man. What is Dasaratha. The one
with 10 chariots. He had 10 senses. Kausalya was his first wife. As she didn't
conceive Dasaratha decided to marry another queen. In those days, the husband used
to take permission from the wife to marry someone else. Kausalya was a noble and
pious lady. She gave permission and thus Sumitra came into Dasaratha's life. Su-
Mitra (a good friend).. As the name, she was a very friendly person. There is very
less mentioned Ramayana about her. There are no words to describe her devotion.
Dasaratha then decided to marry Kaikeyi. Kaikeyi was the daughter of King Kaika,
the present Kashmir. Since the king already had 2 wives, Kaikeyi's father had
second thoughts about the marriage. He put one condition to Dasaratha. Since you
are marrying my daughter for a heir to your kingdom " I will give my daughter in
marriage in one condition. You should give your kingdom to the son of Kaikeyi and
not your other wives' children ".The king after due consultation with his queens
agreed to the condition. Dasartha along with his three wives performed Putra
kamisti yaga. the priests after the yagna gave Payasam(rice pudding) as prasad and
asked the three to partake the prasadam. The prasadam was divided into three equal
parts in three bowls.
In those days there were no fans or electric hair driers. So Sumitra climbed the
terrace to dry her hair. She put the bowl with the pudding on the terrace wall and
was adjusting her hair. In no time there came a eagle and took away the bowl.
Sumitra ran down and narrated the incident to her two in-laws. In those days in
laws were not like the present day in laws. They were very friendly and
co-operative. They both contributed half share of their pudding to Sumitra and
three of them partook the prasadam.In no time Kausalya gave birth to Rama and
Kaikeyi gave birth to Satrugna and Sumitra gave birth to Lakshmana and Bharata.
Since she had shared the pudding with both, Lakshmana was close to Rama and BHARAT
was close to Satrugna.
Sita, who married Lord Rama was woman of character. Even after being abducted she
always had Rama's name in her mind. They had to go to exile in the forest. Greed
came in the form of a golden deer. The moment she saw the golden deer, in spite of
knowing that it just can't be a deer as there is no deer made of gold in this
universe, her mind started to ask for the deer. Lord Rama, obliged because, that
was for the first time that Sita asked for something. Since she came all the way
with Him to the forest, setting aside all the royal comforts, Rama wanted to make
her happy. The moment she had desires, her husband went far away from her.. In the
same way THE MOMENT YOU HAVE DESIRES... GOD DISTANCES HIMSELF FROM YOU.. Less
luggage more comfort..make travel a pleasure.
As Rama went in search of the golden deer, Lakshmana stayed with Sita.As Rama
didn't return back, Sita got worried and asked Lakshmana to go search for Him.
Lakshmana was bit hesitant to leave her as his brother had ordered him to stay
with Sita till He returns. Not knowing what to do, Lakshmana drew a line with his
arrow (Lakshman Rekha(line)) and says to Sita not to cross the line come what
may...In no time comes the demon Ravana in the form of a poor beggar. Sita goes
inside and gets some food grains and tries to give it to him standing within the
line but the poor priest pleads to come out and give and Sita pitying at his
condition obliges and in no time Ravana abducts Sita.
Swami then narrated how Hanuman and party helped Rama to free Sita from Lanka and
how Hanuman saved the life of Lakshmana by bringing the Sanjeevini from the
mountain .
Swami Then continued " Just to let know the whole world how pure and true Sita
was, He asked her to jump into the fire. All the people of Ayodhya were very happy
to see Lord Rama after more than 15 years of exile.They all sang and danced (
Swami then sang the bhajan " Rama Kodanda Rama, Rama Pattabhi Rama, Rama Kalayana
Rama.
A Discourse on SriRama on Krishnastami Day ?
Swami then said " Today is Krishnastami. Krishna and Rama are one and the
same.Always chant the name of Rama and it will confer you bliss and happiness.You
can achieve anything by merely chanting His name.Where ever you are, what ever you
are doing, chant His name"
Swami then said Most Wonderfully " If you have more love for Sai, chant Sai Rama
or Sai Krishna.. Always sing the glory of the Lord and it will give all that you
want"
Thunderous Applause from every Single Devotee.
Swami then said which bought tears to everyone eyes "Am I giving you trouble? Am I
straining you?" for which there was a big NO from the devotees.
Swami then asked the Boys to sing Bhajans while Swami Blessed the Prasadam. Swami
was watching the Prasadam Distribution and after Being fully Satisfied with the
Distribution, Bhagawan took the Divine Mangala Aarathi at around 5.55 P.M .
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