Report on Sri Rama Navami Celebrations 2004

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Sri Rama Navami, the festival that celebrates the birth of Lord Sri Rama, the

Avatar of the Treta age, was observed on 30th March at Prasanthi Nilayam. Lord

Rama is revered as being the very embodiment of Dharma and one whose life

serves as an ideal for all mankind. The Ramayana, an epic poem composed by sage

Valmiki on the life of Lord Rama, is one of the sacred scriptures of the Hindu

religion. Bhagawan often cites episodes from the Ramayana in His Discourses as

examples of how to conduct one’s life according to the noblest principles of

Dharma.

The morning programme saw a presentation by the students of the Sri Sathya Sai

Institute of Higher Learning in which various scenes from the Ramayana were

depicted to the accompaniment of a background score that was a pleasing mixture

of western and eastern styles of music, combining brass band instruments with

traditional Indian musical instruments. The songs that were chosen too were

quite appropriate to the scenes and on the whole, the programme was well

appreciated.

Bhagawan then delivered His Discourse, in which He said that the four Vedas

(Rig, Yajur, Sama and Atharva) that are commonly held to be attributeless and

formless, assumed the forms of the brothers Rama, Lakshmana, Bharata and

Shatrughna in the Treta Yuga, with Sita, the consort of Lord Rama, representing

Brahmajnana or Supreme wisdom. He explained in detail how the character of each

of the brothers was closely related to the characteristics of the Vedas they

represented.

In the afternoon, Bhagawan commanded Prof. K. Anil Kumar, well known in the Sai

family as the translator of Bhagawan’s Discourses, to speak to the gathering.

Prof. Anil Kumar first praised all the students for the wonderful presentations

that they had been putting up for the past few weeks in the Sai Kulwant Hall. He

said that while in the Treta Yuga the sons of Rama, Luva and Kusha, spread the

message of the Lord, in the present times, it was the fortune of the students

of Bhagawan to perform this sacred task and in the very presence of the Lord

Himself. He then recalled a few incidents from the Ramayana narrated by

Bhagawan that demonstrated Bhagawan’s intimate knowledge about the characters

and events in the Ramayana. And how could this not be, since the same Lord who

had incarnated in Treta Yuga as Lord Rama had now incarnated in this Kali age

as Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba, he declared. In conclusion, he implored

everybody to develop good thoughts, sacred

looks and tread on the Godward path. The day ended with Bhajans and arati being offered to our Lord.

The next morning, the 31st of March, Bhagawan left Prasanthi Nilayam at around

6:45 a.m., after granting Darshan in the Sai Kulwant Hall. He arrived at

Brindavan at around 10:45 a.m. amidst a warm welcome by the students and

devotees.

Source: http://www.srisathyasai.org.in/pages/ramanavami_04_report.htmDo you ?

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