----- Original Message -----
March 16, 2010 – Ugadi in the Divine Presence
As per the Bharatiya calendar, the New Year day is called Yugadi,
meaning, the beginning of an era. There is a cycle of 60 years which keep
repeating and each of these 60 years has a name. The current year, it would be
the goodbye ceremony for "Virodhi" and the welcome for "Vikruthi". Yugadi in
Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh translates into Gudi Padwa in Maharashtra and into
Cheti Chand for those of the Sindhi origin.
But at Puttaparthi, which is a potpourri of all people and religions, any
festival becomes important to all because Swami is involved! And so, on the
bright morning of the 16th, thousands gathered in Sai Kulwant all, waiting for
the "orange" of their eyes to arrive! The "apple" of their eyes arrived instead
as Swami chose to don the bright red robe that day!
Just after 9:30 a.m., Swami arrived. His path had been lined with
traditional items and that formed a beautiful picture. A huge arch proclaimed
the Truth that Sai was with, in and around everyone and Swami moved under it
and entered the ladies' side. Moving through the aisle between the students,
Swami entered the gents' side.
The stage had been adorned with flowers and an impressive temple like
environs had been simulated for the centrestage. Swami completed the darshan
rounds and moved into the interview room. Along with Him went Mr. Indulal Shah
and Justice Bhagawati.
At about 10:10 a.m., Swami arrived on the dais. Two chairs had been
placed on either side of Him and on them sat Justice Bhagawati and Mr. Indulal
Shah. As Swami arrived, He asked the All India President, Mr. V. Srinivasan to
introduce Justice Bhagawati, the former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of
India. The Justice, who spoke from a typed script, announced the new Trustees
appointed by Swami for the Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust.
He made it very clear that this was no family Trust as some "misinformed"
people and "fools" outside seem to propagate and that the SSSCT was the largest
public charitable trust in the world with many behemoth projects under its
belt! He also stated that committees of students working for the trust would be
responsible for administering it.
After his speech, Mr. Srinivasan introduced Mr. Indulal Shah who spoke
along similar lines. Then Swami told Mr. Srinivasan himself to speak and he
spoke on the glory of the Sathya Sai Avatar.
Even as he concluded, Swami asked for His mikes to be brought. Taking a
sip of water, Swami began with the poem on the great women of Bharath. Then He
went on to narrate in detail the story of the travails of Raja Harishchandra -
how he gave up all his wealth and riches and finally his kingdom.
Then he sacrificed his wife and child and finally donned the profession
of an undertaker to abide by Truth. As Swami relived the way Lord Shiva
appeared before the king, He became very emotional and seeing Him, one felt
ashamed that we have become so heartless today that such noble ideals do not
seem to move us at all.
Swami then shifted to saying that the Avatar is not external - The Avatar
is present in each and every one of us. When it is said that He has thousand
hands, eyes and feet, it only means that every being in the world is a
manifestation of God.
Swami also emphasized that one must hold on steadfastly with faith in
one's chosen name and form of the Lord. Out of the blue, He asked a student in
the front, "Where do you come from?" The answer was, "Bombay." Swami said,
"Bombay is the place from where your body comes from. The true source for all
is the Atma.
I am I is the Truth." He asked another student, "What do you want?" The
boy replied, "You Swami!" Swami called him to the stage and materialized a
golden ring for him. Swami also said, "I am always with you, around you and in
you"- a reinforcement!
Having done that, Swami kept silent for a while and everyone bathed in
the beauty of living in the Present, in the Presence. Then the inimitable Prof.
Anil Kumar asked Swami, "Swami, my heart longs to say something, can I?" Swami
agreed.
In beautiful Telugu, the professor quoted the great poets who had written
about Swami and filled everyone with the music of their words. He narrated
lovely incidents that manifested His Divine grandeur and Grace and everyone in
the audience were smiling and joyful. He said that when one is with God, what
is there to worry about the influences of the planets or the lines on the hand.
It was 11:45 a.m. when he finished his talk and then Swami asked for the
Aarthi. Prasadam was blessed for distribution. Also blessed for distribution
were copies of a book by Dr. Sara Pavan - Ooru Ledhu, Peru Ledhu. Swami then
called a student from the front and told him that Samastha Loka… must be
chanted. That was done.
There is a tradition that on every Yugadi day, a mixture of jaggery,
neem, mango, salt and chilly is consumed signifying that one accepts all the
joys and sufferings that the year has with equanimity. This mixture was taken
to Swami and Bhagavan added the "divine flavour" to the pudding! Then, blessing
all, Swami moved towards the residence.
It was at 5:30 p.m. in the evening that Swami arrived. He took a detour
through the students and moved towards the stage. The students from the Mirpuri
college of Music prayed for an opportunity to present a musical presentation in
His presence. Swami nodded in agreement. As soon as He came on stage, He asked
the students to begin.
The first song was the famous, "Maha Ganapatim…” in raga Hamsadhwani. It
was classically rendered and that was followed by a Sitar recital. Then there
was a Hindustani rendering in raga Thodi, which was followed by a Veena
recital. The mridangam accompanying the Veena was played with such finesse that
one wondered as to which was the lead instrument and which was the accompanying
one!
They concluded with the famous Thyagaraja Kirtan, "Bantureethi Kulu".
Embedded in it was a jugalbandi between the Tabla, Mridangam, Ghatam and the
Carnatic Kanjira. That went on for about 20 minutes and as it built in speed
and complexity, the audience were increasingly enthralled.
When they completed, there was a thunderous applause. Swami called the
lead singer who was heading the Jugalbandi and told him, "See, how one person
is able to confer joy to so many!" He replied, "Swami, it is only Your Grace."
Swami materialized a gold ring and put it on his finger.
He then moved down the stage and posed for group pictures with all the
performers. Then He moved up the stage and blessed safari pieces to be
distributed to all. After that, one by one, all the students began to move up
the stage with their respective instruments.
It was a beautiful sight to see Swami strum the Sitar and Veena, play
upon the tabla and mridamgam, knock at the kanjira and pull the many strings of
the sur mandal. The students were positively delighted as they seemed to be
re-initiated in the presence of Mother Saraswati herself. Aarthi was then
performed and Swami moved towards Yajur Mandir. It was now 7:20 p.m.
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