August 24, 2008 (source:http://www.saistudents.org/alumni/home/news.php)

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August 24, 2008

The day dawned to usher in the birthday of the most mischievous avatar

of the Lord - Krishna. The Kulwant hall was brimming with people Many

devotees who were supposed to leave had decided to stay back to witness

the splendour of the Krishna avatar with their dear Sai Krishna. So

full was Prashanti Nilayam that the main gate carried a notice,"

Sairam! No accommodation available inside." Well there was dearth of

accommodation in the ashram but no dearth of accommodative people!

People had settled in the corridors of the Southern blocks and had

spread sheets and mats wherever there was a little free sheltered

space. It has been some time since the Nilayam has been so full but

well, maybe now its high time we start getting accustomed to such

crowds.

The red rays of the early morning sun turned golden and began

to filter and flow into the Kulwant hall lighting up the central area

especially. Krishna Gita, the elephant, the Gokulam cows, deer,

peacocks, doves and rabbits accompanied by the students too had arrived

to the mandir in procession. They too had been bedecked and some of

them appeared to be in bridal finery. It was at this moment that the

sweet Lord too arrived covered in the golden yellow robe! There was an

applause of thrill as He entered the Kulwant hall. We have only heard

about the beauty of Lord Krishna in the pitambara (yellow dress) but we

are indeed blessed to see Him in the splendid yellow robe! HE moved

slowly down the aisle and a sweet smile adorned His beaming face. He

blessed all as He arrived. As He neared Krishna Gita, she stretched out

her little trunk to touch Him. Smiling to Himself, Swami slowly waded

into the confluence from the animal world.

He fed the cows with bananas. There was a suckling calf. Today

it was blessed to receive milk from two mothers as Swami too fed it

with milk from a feeding bottle. Gently moving amidst the animals, He

ensured that everyone was fed at least something in His divine

presence. Two white doves had the special privilege of being released

into the free skies from His divine hands. As the birds soared

skywards, the decibel levels in the hall also soared as people joyously

clapped at the happy sight. Moving ahead, Swami lovingly fondled a baby

deer that was brought up to Him. He fed the mother of that deer with a

biscuit which she quickly gobbled. He not only blessed the animals but

their caretakers too. Many of the members of the Sathya Sai Gokulam

offered roses to Swami. It was as if a bouquet of roses had been

presented to Him. He patiently and lovingly accepted all of them and

then moving through the students, He went up the stage. It was then

that two children decked as Krishna and Balarama went on stage. Swami

blessed them and the sweets they offered to Him.

Swami sat listening to the chants that were on. He sat that

way for about 20-25 minutes. In between, He told the caretakers to take

all the animals away, back to their lovely homes that He so lovingly

has gifted them. It is really wonderful how much concern Swami has for

the animals. Normally any of us feel that though the animals do not

know, it is their privilege to be in Swami's presence. However, on the

smooth marbled floors of Kulwant hall, the animals find it a little

difficult to get a grip. It was not so before when the hall had

concrete floors and before that when there was sand. So Swami sends

back the animals as soon as possible so that they remain on firm

footing!

Once the animals left, Swami asked the students to put up

their programme. The card was shown to Him and the programme started

with a group song, the Pandurangashtakam. Since it is a popular one,

even the children from the Primary school joined in the singing. After

that, two students sang the song, "Govardhana Giridhara" in all its

majesty and grandeur. This was followed by a novel programme. A group

of students have been working hard at picking up playing the flute. All

these students with their teacher, put up a 15 minute recital in His

presence. Swami kept tapping in beat as they played on the flute. And

therein lies the beauty of being a student! Any talent that one has or

any skill that one acquires, one gets the wonderful opportunity to

present before the supreme Lord Himself! After they finished their

presentation, it was back to songs. A Telugu song recounting the leelas

of Lord Krishna as a child was sung and Swami was so involved in the

song. He seemed to be drinking in every word of the song and appeared

very touched at times. As that song was completed, Swami decided that

it was best that all leave in that frame of mind. He asked for the

Aarthi.

As the Aarthi was nearing conclusion, Swami called the

students who had arrived with a cake. He cut the cake and naturally so

for was it not His birthday? Many Krishnashtami cards had been made by

students from the Institute, school and primary school too. Swami

called them all and began to slowly and patiently go through the works

of art that His children had designed. Some were huge, others were

three dimensional structures, some others were fine carvings while some

others were simple sketches and paintings depicting the episodes in the

life of Krishna. But all of them were prayers addressed to Swami. As

Swami was going through these cards, the "Krishna" and "Balarama" moved

up on stage again and offered chocolates to Swami for giving the

Primary school children who had made the cards. Swami seemed to like

the idea and He gave a chocolate to every child who came to Him. In

this manner, Swami spent more than 20 minutes seeing and blessing the

cards with their creators. Then raising both His hands in benediction,

He retired for the morning.

Click here to see pictures of the event, and click here to see short videos of Krishnashtami.

August 23, 2008

The students from the Sri Sathya Sai Loka Seva institutions at Alike

had been permitted to put up a programme in Swami's presence this

evening. The traditional dance form of Karnataka, Yakshagana was to be

performed. This art form is a combination of musical narration, dance

and drama and the novelty lies in the fact that the characters do not

speak much vocally, but any viewer would unequivocally to the

statement that they give wonderful expression to the thoughts and

feelings via dance, actions and facial movements.

Swami arrived a little after 4 pm but He went straight to the

interview room, cutting through the ladies side. Then there was the gap

of about 40 minutes. This time period is used by the participants to

pray that their efforts please Him. It is a period when the sweat and

toil and the feelings and emotions of all the training time are creamed

up with the fervent devotional prayers. Soon enough, Swami came. The

first thing He wanted to do was to go backstage where all the

wonderfully costumed actors were seated. He moved down the stage and

slowly glided amidst the actors. He asked some of them about the roles

they were playing. He checked whether they were all appropriately

dressed. The perfectionist that He is, He pointed out to hairpins that

were sticking out of the heads of some of the characters and said that

they must be put in properly. On the whole, He was happy with the

costumes. Taking a full round, He moved back to the stage slowly. Then

He asked for the presentation to start.

Two children came with the cards and offerings, dancing all

the way to the stage and presented them to Swami. The drama entitled,

"Choodamani Pradanam" was the story of Hanuman's successful triumph at

Lanka in the search for mother Sita. After the kidnap of Sita by

Ravana, Sri Rama enquires from Lakshmana about the promise of the king

of monkeys, Sugriva, to search for Sita. Sugriva gets his army ready

for the search. Leaders are selected among them but Sri Rama has the

ultimate trust in Hanuman. Rama informs Hanuman of the identity of Sita

and gives the signet ring as mark of identification. All the monkeys

now plunge into action with Rama's name on their lips. The mere

chanting of the name gifts wings back to the de-winged Sampathi, the

brother of Jatayu. Very inspiringly, it went on to show that once

anyone begins to work for the Lord, all obstacles simply seem to fade

and disappear. Sampathi, thereafter, himself guides the troops towards

Lanka where Sita has been kept under strict vigil. When faced by the

sea, Jambavan, Sugriva's minister, reminds Hanuman of his immense

powers. With Rama's name, Hanuman jumps across the sea and encounters

Lankini at the entrance.

There was a funny sequence whence Hanuman teases and troubles

Lankini! Finally vanquishing her and releasing her from the curse she

had been under all this while, Hanuman comes to know the whereabouts of

Sita from Vibhishana, the Satwic brother of Ravana. Sita is with

Sarama, Vibheeshana's wife. Ravana enters the orchard with material

gifts and tries to persuade Sita to marry him. Sita reprimands and

curses him. Hanuman then makes his appearance and tells mother Sita all

about Rama. The description of Rama touches the inner recesses of

Sita's heart. It also seemed to touch some chords deep within Swami. He

was touched by the loyalty and love of Sita to Rama and Hanuman's

devotion to both Rama and Sita.

All the singing was being done by the Bhagavathars as they are

called, standing backstage. There was the main singer and accompanists

for him. A mrindangam, a drum, a set of cymbals and a music box

provided the rich music. Most of the speaking was being done by that

singer. The actors would once in a while speak English dialogues so

that the non-Kannada people could also catch the action going on. But

all that was rendered superfluous by the superlative acting of the

children as they brought alive all the characters from a time period of

thousands of years back!

Sita is overjoyed and she hands over the "Choodamani" as her

mark of identification for Rama. Then when she seems to despair,

Hanuman, meek and sweet till now, stands to his magnificent height and

reassures her. Hanuman then destroys the Ashokavana and then gets

captured willingly when Indrajit, Ravana's son, uses the Brahmaastra

against him. In anger, Ravana commands that Hanuman's tail be set on

fire. Jumping across the city of Lanka, Hanuman sets it on fire.

Finally, Hanuman returns to Sri Rama and informs the joyous tidings.

When he gives the Choodamani to Rama, Rama embraces him. Marching

against the demonic forces, Rama vanquishes Ravana and rescues Sita.

The drama closed with the scene of the coronation of Lord Rama. It

displayed the glory of the humble Hanuman who achieved so much that

even the Lord was speechless in gratitude to him.

The Ramayana is such a wonderful epic that even today when we

listen to it, it arouses such noble feelings and emotions within. The

story never seems to get boring and every time it is narrated or

depicted, it inspires one to rise above the pettiness and narrow

mindedness and get lost in Love for God. And so it is no surprise that

Swami gives so much importance to that epic. It is not just a story,

but the story of every person in the journey called life.

As the drama concluded, Swami came down from the stage and was

so very happy with all of them. He stated so many times that each and

every actor had done a wonderful role. He posed for group photos with

all of them He also materialised two gold chains simultaneously and

gifted them to Rama and Sita respectively. Many tried giving letters to

Him. He told them to wait and hold on. He seemd to say, "When I am here

available for you to tell me whatever you want, why the impediment of

the paper? When the rich feelings of the heart are on song, why use the

grossly insufficient medium of the words of a language?" He called for

Rama, Sita and Lakshmana and took a picture. He then slowly moved on to

the stage. All the children in a very disciplined manner moved

backstage when they were all told to come front and sit.

Discipline is something that pleases Swami so much. Not one

person, child or adult, rushed to Swami. As a result, Swami Himself

kept calling people to Him and spoke and interacted with them. He sat

for more than 20 minutes after the drama and interacted with all. He

distributed t shirts for all the students. He gifted the elders with

Safari pieces. For some of the elders who always dress in traditional

clothes, He gifted silk dhoties. He asked about the people who had been

involved in the make up. He gifted clothes to them also. He spoke at

length with the heads of the institution at Alike. Then blessing them

profusely, He asked for the Aarthi to be taken. He sat for the whole

Aarthi and blessed the children specially after it concluded. Before

leaving, He once again said, "Very nice drama. All acted very well.

Very happy!" Blessed indeed are these children for they delighted the

Lord so much!

 

Click here to see pictures of the event.

August 22, 2008 Devotees

seem to be coming in huge numbers to Parthi nowadays. It's not that

devotees were less in numbers anytime before. It's just that, now they

come as groups. The concept of Unity seems to be getting stronger with

each passing day. For instance a 2500 strong contingent had arrived

from Vishakapatnam and had also been permitted to put up their

programme this evening. From His side, Swami too encourages group

sadhana. Even physically, He seems to give more attention when the

devotees are in groups. He speaks to the group, gives them

opportunities to present their programmes and distributes gifts of

grace. Very subtly but surely the message sent across is this, "Unity

is strength; Unity is divinity."

Swami arrived at about 4:10 pm itself. But He took a straight

path to the interview room. The stage was all set for the drama to

begin. The actual drama began, however, at only 5:15pm. But in the hour

that passed by, any absorbed observer could not have helped notice two

other dramas going on - one of bhakti and the other of Karma. The hall

was packed and all the devotees with yellow scarves sat in prayer and

devotion waiting for the Lord to come. It was a hot evening. As the

popular fact about Puttaparthi goes, "There are three seasons in Parthi

- hot, hotter and hottest!" So though the wrath of the summer has

passed by, it is still hot at times in Parthi, with the humidity too

being high as it is the monsoon season. Giving relief to the Bhakti of

the devotees was the Karma of the selfless sevadal volunteers as they

went about supplying ambrosial and cool drinking water to them. This

silent Yajna went on continuously as many a parched throat was slaked

with nectarine water. It was symbolic of all that Swami has achieved

through His mammoth projects - injecting into His people the enthusiasm

for energetic service; the softness of heart to be touched by suffering

of any kind.

Swami came out at about 5:05 pm and after listening to the

Vedic chants for a while, asked them to stop and beckoned the

Vishakapatnam group begin the programme. The office bearers first came

and symbolically offered the programme unto His feet. A silver lamp

made its way up the stage and soon it was lit by the Lord. This is

another practise that is gaining ground especially among the different

districts of Andhra Pradesh. A lamp is lit by Swami at Parthi and its

"light" is taken back to the respective places signifying Swami's entry

into their homelands. And so it was only after the lamp was lit and

Padukas blessed that the actual participants moved upto Swami and

offered flowers. Soon the drama began.

The drama opened with Karnam Subamma calling out to Krishna

and little Sathya responding to her asking her why she had called. He

reminds her of the wonderful Brindavan days that He has come to

recreate - those days of leelas when He as Krishna had danced with the

gopikas. Then too, like now, He was the favourite of everyone. All

wanted to spend time with Him and no one felt their day complete

without Him being a part of it. As a tiny tot, Krishna showed Mother

Yasoda that the entire Universe is in Him - the same boon that the

little Sathya bestowed on Subamma. The episode of Krishna merrily

dancing on the hoods of the vicious serpent Kaliya as He subdued him

was wonderfully depicted and the episode of Swami swallowing the

poisoned vadas and in turn consuming the hatred and anger of people who

tried to poison Him was brought up as a comparision. Krishna also

performs the miracle of lifting the mountain Govardhana to spare the

people of Gokulam, who had placed all their faith in Him, from the ire

of Lord Indra. When Subamma asks little Sathya whether He would do a

similar thing even now, He replies, "Then I lifted only one mountain -

symbolic of achieving the impossible. This time I shall do many more."

He then allows her a sneak peek into the future where He accomplishes

"lifting the Govardhanas" of health care, educare and socio-care.

Throughout the drama, Swami was very moved and it appeared as

if He was reminded of the Love that exists between Him and Subamma and

that which exists between Him and Yashoda, if there is any difference

between them that is! He seemed overwhelmed on many occasions and here

and there kept nostalgically remembering the episodes and even told

some of them to the people by His side. The crowning moment for the

drama came towards the end. Both Subamma and Yashoda express their

desires to see their dear little ones gently swinging in a jhoola. At

this point both Krishna and Sathya came to Swami and pleaded with Him

to fulfill that desire! Swami agreed and as the final dance was on

itself, Swami moved down from the stage and near the big swing that had

been placed in the centre of the performance area. The dancers went

about merrily dancing till Swami told them to stop and pose with Him by

His side.

And so all the children came crowding around. Slowly all the

people associated with the dram also came to Swami They surrounded Him

from all sides as the flashes were fired and tapes rolled. Most of the

children began to break down into uncontrollable tears. There were

expressions of Love and uncontrollable joy. The urge to fall full at

His feet was also uncontrollable. In short, everything about the final

formation and photo session was uncontrollable! And thats how it is

with the Lord - everything beyond limits and boundaries! Swami created

two gold chains simultaneously and gifted one to Krishna and the other

to Subamma. He was surrounded on all sides by the children and children

seemed to be everywhere. And everyone seemed to have only one

objective- to fall at His feet. Soon, Swami waded out of the surging

waves of children and as He moved towards the stage, He asked for

sarees and white safari pieces. He gifted two beautiful sarees to

Yashoda and Subamma. He also asked for sarees to be distributed to all

the other children. For the boys side, He gave T-shirts to all the kids

and to the elder boys, He gifted Safari pieces. In the meanwhile, He

also sent word for Krishna and Sathya. He told Krishna, "Call your

mother also." The innocent 'Krishna' instead of calling 'Yasoda',

called her mother from the audience. And the mother of Sathya also came

to Swami in the same fashion. Swami posed for a picture with them. The

mothers broke down and almost lay at His feet. Swami told them to rise

and blessed them.

Swami continued the giving with pens that were also brought

out. To many of the children, He Himself distributed. After that was

done, Swami went back on stage. Everyone were so happy and Swami was

the only reason for that. Swami said that the drama was very well

scripted and presented. After a short visit to the interview room,

Swami received Aarthi and retired for the evening.

 

Click here to see pictures of the event.

August 19, 2008 At

about 4:15 pm, Swami came for the darshan rounds. A lot of space was

left on the ladies side and Swami cut through the detour and went into

the interview room. But fortunately, God is bound by Love and devotion!

Just as fire can't help burning and water can't help but wet things,

God cannot help but shower His grace. As He has said in such reassuring

words, "If you need me, you deserve me." These days especially, the

gents side gets starved of close darshan whenever Swami cuts to the

interview room after the ladies side. And so, it was no surprise that

Swami decided to feed them all with a feast today! Before going into

the interview room however, the senior teachers from the School of

Business Management of the university prayed for Swami's blessings for

the MBA anniversary day which falls on the 21st of August. Swami

interacted with them for about five minutes and blessing them with

loving words and padanamaskar, Swami went into the interview room.

After a short while, Swami came out slowly to the stage from

the gents side via the portico. He came up till the railings and then

sat there gently swaying to the tunes of the Vedic chants. It is such a

satisfying feeling to have the great Lord Himself "swaying to the

tunes" of your chants! And that too with a smile dancing on those

lovely lips. With a sweeping glance, He graced everyone in the hall. He

suddenly beckoned to His left and to the pleasant amazement of

everyone, He came down the cetral ramp and began moving around the

students. He began His rounds where He had left off during the previous

trip! Slowly moving into the gents side, He began to ask for and

collect letters. It is a great joy for all when Swami begins such

rounds. Let us pause for a moment here and think of the wonderful

service and work that those white clad angels who "help" Swami around

do everyday!

Swami showers His Love and Grace ceaselessly. He is ever on

the move and every moment thinking of how to spread joy and happiness

to all round. And when He does so, the boys with Him, moving behind

Him, have to be on a kind of military alert - understand His thoughts

almost! Know which letters He want them to take, read that slight

corner of the eye movement when He beckons anyone in for an interview,

understand the huge hidden message underlying every word He speaks and

accordingly act, move around exactly where He wants to go and yet at

the same time, ensure that the devotees are able to see Him without

getting blocked. And on days like today, when Swami is in absolute

heights of joyous uncertainty for the devotees, these lads have to don

the attitude of absolute alertness and surrender!

It was a beautiful and touching sight as people rejoiced at

His close proximity. He moved over to the students' side where there

were letters galore awaiting His attention. Each and every letter got

the attention it deserved. The birthday boys and boys with trays were

blessed. He passed by the Veda group and was soon engaged by a group of

boys who also prayed for MBA day celebrations. Swami interacted with

them and then moving further along the boys, materialized a gold chain

for one of them. Thus having completed the rounds, He was headed

towards the interview room. But then, a subtle movement of His eyes

indicated that He wanted to Grace the ladies too with a bonus darshan

round. And so, it was round 2 for the women.

Swami moved along the aisle and continued taking letters.

Completing that, He moved along the students back towards the bhajan

hall. Not leaving anything incomplete, He took a round in the bhajan

hall too! Then He topped it by moving through the upper portico. Surely

not only the darshan-thirsty, but also the darshan-greedy would have

been satiated today. It was 5:30 pm when the bhajans began and they

continued till 6:00 pm when Aarthi was taken.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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