PRASHANTI DIARY - WITH A SPECIAL REPORT FROM BRINDAVAN -Part II

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brief introduction by 2 students in both Hindi and English (where they addressed

Swami as the poet of all the poets) and then the presentation was underway.

The poets were all dressed for the occasion in the traditional costumes of the

states where they hailed from. Each poet got up in turn and stood in front of

Swami and recited His offering to Him with feeling and love. The first poet

rendered his poem in the grandhika style of Telugu and in flowing language

described the glory and grandeur of the Avatar. This was followed by a poem in

Hindi delivered in classical style and referred to the great good fortune of

the residents of Brindavan and the contemporaries of the Avatar and to rejoice

in His boundless grace. This was followed by

a poem in Kannada highlighting a famous sloka from the Bhagavad Gita on Nishkama

karma "Karmanyevadhikarasche ma phaleshu kadachana" which means that you have

the right to work but not to the fruits thereof. The Nepali poem that

followed next praised our Lord Sai as the greatest gift that mankind can ever

hope to receive. This was followed in turn by a poem in English which extolled

the glory of Sai's mission and the role of His students who are His only

property. The Tamil poem that was next resonated well with the large Tamil

speaking audience that was present that day in Sai Ramesh Hall. The poem raised

the question as to how we can adequately describe Him when we fail to even

comprehend Him? These were followed by

more poems in Marathi, Malayalam, Tulu, Gujarati, Oriya, Bengali, and again in

Nepali and Telugu all expressing in one form or other their love for Him and

their gratitude for what He has done for them. At the end of their programme

Swami was immensely pleased. All the poets were also thrilled at Swami's

pleasure, for they live only to please Him. Slowly Swami got up from His chair

and asked all the students to come up to Him. Our students don't need a second

invite and immediately swarmed up to Him and milled all around Him for He was

rewarding them with the rare and much coveted group photograph. Swami posed

with them for long till the photographers were also well satisfied, and then in

His inimitable style started joking with the boys. He

called the boy who had narrated a poem in Gujarati and said "pagadiwala marriage

ko jata" - the turbaned fellow is getting married. Swami also showed His

omnipresence to the Hindi poet by telling him the exact name of the place in

Bihar where he hailed from and blessed him profusely. Thus He gave a lot of joy

to all with a word here and a smile there. The programme ended with the song

"Hum ko tumse pyar hai"- Swami we all love You!! Swami raised His Hand and

blessed everyone before He slowly wended His way back to His home in Trayee

Brindavan FEB 10TH TO 14TH: A YAGNAM CONDUCTED IN SAI KRISHAN KALYANA MANTAP

With the blessings of Bhagavan the following pujas and chantings were conducted

in Sai Krishan Kalyana Mantap every morning starting from the 10th of February

for five days. Bhagavan came to the Kalyana Mantap (Marriage Hall) to bless the

priests on the first day and the priests recited the following everyday over the

next 5 days: 1. Ganapathi puja2. Punyavachanam3. Surya

Mandalarchanam4. Nyasam5. Yantraradhanam6. Mahasouram

Parayanam7. 108 Suyra namaskarams with Tricha and Aruna mantrams8. Surya Sahara

Naamarchanam9. Nivedanam10. Nirajanam and Mantra Pushpa On the fifth

day, February 14th a more elaborate ritual was done for the Poorna Ahuti (the

final ceremony). A small fire pit was erected in the centre of the kalyana

mantap for the yagnam or the fire sacrifice. The yagnam started in the morning

around 8 AM in Sai Krishan Kalyana Mantap. However, we were all waiting in

Sai Ramesh Hall for Swami's Darshan, when around 9:15 AM all the devotees were

requested to go to the

kalyana mantap. Swami arrived in the kalyana mantap just a little before 10:00

AM and took His designated place. When the ritualistic prayers connected

with the yagnam were over, Swami blessed the couple that had conducted the

yagnam and also materialised a gold chain for the lady and asked the husband to

tie it around the neck of his wife. Swami also distributed clothes to the

Brahmin priests who had conducted the prayers over these 5 days.

Blessing the couple that conducted the yagna... Distributing clothes to the

Brahmin Priests He next asked the priest to recite certain Vedic slokas.

After that He also consigned traditional offerings wrapped in a red cloth and

gold coins and other precious offerings also into the fire to bring the

sacrifice to a close. Consigning precious offerings to the

fire... Blessing the devotees with sanctified rice... After that came a

ritual that everyone looks forward to. Swami walked around the Hall sprinkling

akshada (turmeric coated rice) on everyone in both the ladies side as well as

the gents' side. He then sat for some time giving

everyone the bliss of His darshan while bhajans were sung. Then after taking

of arathi He again blessed the couple that had conducted the yagnam and also

posed for photographs with the family before leaving for His residence.

The managala arathi being taken

.... Sumptuous prasadam being distributed to one and all... A sumptuous

lunch prasadam of tamarind rice, curd rice and sweet rice was quickly and

efficiently distributed to all the devotees at the end of the ceremony through

multiple counters arranged in all corners of Sai Ramesh Hall. To be continued

...... With Sai love from Sai brothers - '' Courtesy:

http://media.radiosai.org

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