Prasanthi News - Krishna Janmastami Message

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kumar mahadevan <mahadevan12 wrote: Sent by a Dear Sai Brother in Prasanthi Nilayam : Krishna Jayanthi - Morning : Today morning was the celebration of the birth of the charming and sweet Lord - Sri Krishna. The music boys of the University had got ready with a programme. There was also the cow procession that had been scheduled. Swami, coincidentally, arrived exactly as the cow procession reached the Gopuram gate. Swami came in the car and as He neared the marble block area, He stopped to look at His devotees from the animal kingdom, so to say!! He was dressed in bright yellow and looked as sweet as ever. Leading the procession was Krishna Geeta, the new baby elephant. She had been decorated and looked like a miniature of Sai Gita. Swami said that He would get down near the animals. There

was an anticipatory smile as He got down. He first fed bananas to Krishna Geeta who wolfed down everything very hungrily. First she came straight to Swami and making a customary salute, began to eat out of His hands. But soon she was attracted to the trays laden with fruits and her trunk went towards them more than towards Swami's hands. All observers tried to push her towards Swami, but it was a bit difficult. Swami just smiled seeing what she was doing. God is such a fulfilling and elevating goal in life - in fact the only goal worth having. When we see God in all majesty, we are so overcome and rush straight to Him. Still however, the veil seems to lie so thick over us, that giving up the nourishment at His Divine hands, we hanker and clamour after the loads of "fruits" the world has to offer for us!! And the Lord just smiles. Animals have no discrimination, but what about us? Swami then

went ahead and started to feed the cows that had gathered. He didn't seem to mind the copious saliva from the cows that fell on His robe and hands. He went through feeding bananas to all. He also blessed the deer at the end. All the staff members at the Sri Sathya Sai Gokulam came to Him and offered roses and sought blessings. Swami blessed all and gave padanamaskar to some. Then as He went towards the stage, He once again blessed the elephant. Swami gently dipped His delicate hands into a bowl of water and wiped His hands dry. Aarthi was taken and Swami went to the stage. There two boys took white doves. Like He always does to anybody who comes into contact with Him, He "released" the doves to their "freedom". And just like anybody who has been "touched" by Him does, the doves returned and sat in front of Him on the railings facing Him. There were smiles everywhere and a burst of applause too. Swami called Mr.S.V.Giri and told him to announce that the morning

session was now over and that the programme in the evening would begin at 4:00pm. That being done, Swami received Aarthi and retired for the morning. --- Krishna Jayanthi - Evening Programme : The evening appeared to be a long one. Swami came in the car. The Institute Brass band had come dressed up as Gopalas. They had a programme unscheduled originally but scheduled by His Grace!! Swami completed darshan rounds and sat on stage. The band programme began. It was innovative in the sense that it aimed

at depicting the birth and childhood of Lord Krishna through small skits in the foreground as the band played in the background. They played the piece, "the Tempest" to depict Krishna's journey to Nanda Gokulam. Then they played two more bhajans to show the rejoicing at His birth and thye subsequent butter leelas. Our dear Sai Krishna too had some plans of His own. He told the boys to stop the programme. Then He asked the drama scheduled to begin. The drama was in Telugu and revolved around a lad Sri Hari who is called Anna by all in the locality where he polishes the shoes of school children. The father of one of the students condemns Hari and tells him that he better not associate with his son. what follows next are scenes where Sri Hari teaches profound lessons in humility and 'in'dependence as he reveals how

Sathya Sai Baba with the gift of a tricycle and the spiritual gifts of faith and self confidence, has made him whatever he is today. The play was interspersed with dances to highlight the theme and these were very tastefully choreographed. Swami blessed all the participants with Abhayahasta at the end of the play and said that He was very happy. Then came a bolt from the Saffron shall we say! Swami asked for the discourse table to be brought out. He then rose to speak and there was excited applause at this unexpected shower of Love! The Divine Krishnastami Discourse:Sathya (Truth) alone is responsible for the creation, sustenance and mergence of the whole universe. It is all pervasive. It is the Shuddha Satwa (Pure Principle). It is like the pure golden linga that

Swami often takes out during Sivarathri. (Waves His hand and shows a golden linga for all to see and there is applause.) All the forms here also are manifestations of that pure principle itself. That came as Vishnu in the Krita Yuga, as Rama in the Treta and as Krishna in the Dwapara. Seeta always had one pointed attention on Rama. She kept seeing the one in all beings and had Rama in her thoughts always. For her, except Rama there was nothing else in the world. That oneness is the Suvarna (gold).Gold has 24 carats and then alone is it Poornam (complete). It was during the times of Morarji Desai that 14 carat gold too came into existence and thus the gold value diluted. God has 16 aspects and then alone it is the Poorna Tatwam . Others do not have these 16 aspects. In Dwapara yuga, none recognised Krishna's divinity. He was barely 7 when he did the leelas with the gopikas. It was like playing with one's mother but people criticize him telling

that he went after women. He is the ideal. Krishna was the ideal man in Dwapara yuga while Seeta was the ideal woman in Treta yuga. God incarnates for the sake of devotees and to set man's mind right. In Dwapara, Kuchela was a poor brahmin but was always immersed in the thoughts of the Lord. His children kept asking him for food as they were hungry. But he always kept his faith and sang out, "Vaacham gocharundani." ( You are beyond all word and description. You protected Pandavas , satisfied Kuchela and even Kubera.) Krishna and Rama are the only two avatars accompanied by women. No other avatar has been so. But God is always One and has no second. Dasharatha is one who has ten senses. He has three wives, Kausalya, Sumitra and Kaikeyi.

The children were Rama, Bharata, Lakshmana and Shatrughna with Rama's sister, Shanta. Dasharatha did not get a child from Kausalya and so he married Sumitra. In those days one had to take the permission of the other wife before remarrying. So when he asked Kausalya, she said, "Go ahead by all means. It is necessary to have an heir to the throne." And so he wedded Sumitra. Sumitra means a good friend and she was a good friend to all. When there were no children, with the permission of both the wives, he married Kaikeyi. She was from Kashmir. She put a condition," Since you are marrying me to get an heir to the throne, promise me that my child alone will be the heir to the throne." He promised her. There were no children again. And so the Putrakaameshti yagna was done. The pudding

that emerged from that was distributed to the three wives. Sumitra was heart broken. Kausalya's child will have right over the throne by the virtue of she being the senior most queen and Kaikeyi's child too will have a right as she has elicited a promise. What about mine??" Thus lamenting, she went to the terrace to dry her hair with smoke. Those days there were no electric fans or hair dryers! As she was doing that, an eagle came and took away her share of the pudding. It carried it to the hills where Anjana Devi was praying. She partook it and gave birth to Hanuman! Sumitra then went to her co-sisters. They both then gave her a part of their pudding. Thus the children were born. Lakshmana,born out of Kausalya's part was always attracted to Rama and Shatrughna was attracted to Bharata. Even when it was so, while passing through the forest once, Lakshmana began to scold Rama as to why they alone had to suffer for no fault of theirs? That was because of that place being the home of many demons. Once they moved out of that place, Rama lovingly explained that to him. That is why one must always keep good company. The three of them settled in the beautiful forest. The Sarayu river too was nearby. At that time Sita saw the golden deer. After having renounced all the pleasures of Ayodhya, was she the one to run after the deer? No. It was all part of a plan. it also shows that if you go after Kama (desire), you will move away from Rama (God). That is why, less luggage, more comfort makes travel a pleasure. Lakshmana faithfully guarded her till she taunted him and flung insults at him at not going to Rama's aid. He drew a line and

advising her not to cross it, left. ButRavana in the guise of a begging mendicant, kidnapped her. In the war on Lanka, Lakshmana fainted. Hanuman went and instead of a single plant, got the whole mountain! As he was fling over Ayodhya, Bharata saw him and wondered, "Who is this flying monkey?" When Hanuman came down and related all details, even Sumitra and Mrs.Lakshmana, Urmila were also present. The noble Sumitra said, "If Lakshmana has fallen, then take my other son there. Rama will take care of everything I know. I am so happy that my son is of service to Rama." That was their nobility! Finally with the killing of Indrajit, the war almost came to a close. Vibheeshana told Rama that

the secret to kill Ravana was to shoot at his thumb. The fatal arrow brought a lot of joy to the monkeys. They all began to jump up to have a glimpse of Sita. Rama told that they must all fetch firewood. Sita had to undergo the trial by fire. The Lord of the fire himself came and testified to Rama that Sita was pure. He said, "Oh Rama! You are all knowing. Do you not know about the purity of Mother Sita?" Rama replied, "I never doubted her chastity but I wanted to prove to the world what an ideal woman she is." At this all the monkeys applauded. (The whole Kulwant hall also applauded!!) When Rama returned to Ayodhya, all the people sang joyously - Rama Kodanda Rama. (At this point Swami sang the whole song and there was a very energetic following for the bhajan. ) Rama, Krishna, Sai Rama, Sai Krishna - all are one and the

same. Take any name. The Ramayana is a very sacred story. What I narrated now is true - all other versions have a lot of imagination too. Sing bhajans. After the discourse, bhajans continued. Swami blessed prasadam for all. Then after a while, as He sat, He took the lingam in His left hand. Then, He slowly put it into His mouth and sipped water. After a short while, He turned to those seated near and said, "It has gone back in." Then He want to the car and retired for the day. The Whole Day was a Divine Celebration of the Glory of the Divine Lord - Sai Krishna Om Sai Ram_