October 9, 2008 – Vijayadasami Day
The grand day of Dasara arrived on October 9! It was the Vijayadasami Day, the final day of the Dasara celebrations, and also the concluding Poornahuti ceremony of the Veda Purusha Saptaha Jnana Yagna. But this year it marked another very significant event. It was also the 90th year since Shirdi Sai had taken Maha Samadhi on this holy day, way back in 1918.
It is very rare that humanity does anything without the expectation of a reward. Even the stotrams (stanzas in praises of the Lord) or the suprabhatam (waking up prayer to the Lord) have the last portion dedicated to what is called the Phalashruthi which states the benefits that would accrue to one reciting them! In the similar fashion, the Poornahuthi day of the grand Yagnam during Dasara can be considered as its Phalashruthi, for it is on this day that the heart thrills and the eyes get a feast - the reward for the meticulous and sincere attendance of the week long prayer. The previous evening it had been announced that Swami would make the Poornahuthi Poornam (complete and sweet!) at 10 a.m. the next day. So, most of the devotees chose to go straight to the Poorna Chandra auditorium rather than wait in the Sai Kulwant Hall. But there were also many longing for His darshan in the Sai Kulwant Hall hoping that He would come there first, and then move to the auditorium.
It was about 9:15 a.m. when Swami arrived out of Yajur Mandir. The little Krishna Gita was waiting to be fed by the Lord and Swami fed apples to her. Then, to slake the thirst of the pining devotees, Swami moved towards the Sai Kulwant Hall on a magnificent "throne chair", golden in its colour and tall in its height. It became very evident that He had come only to give joy to those waiting in the hall as He took a small round, and then hurried towards the auditorium. Now everyone too rushed there and in a few minutes the Sai Kulwant Hall wore a deserted look with the only people there being the spillover crowd from the auditorium! Just past 9.30 Bhagavan arrived onstage, and interacting briefly with the priests, moved to the western end of the stage. Along the way, all the teachers and students clad in orange and cream had a good darshan and formed a sort of backdrop for the Lord in orange!
At the western end of the stage, Swami blessed garlands to be placed on the mound of kumkum and turmeric that represent the Supreme and receives devotion during the conduct of the Yagna. The water to be sprinkled on all as a sign of divine blessing and benediction too was blessed and Swami received aarthi. The priests then sought permission to go to the Mandir and fetch the necessary tools to perform the Poornahuthi. Swami permitted them and moved backstage.
The priests literally rushed to the Bhajan Hall where the wooden tools and materials were placed. A long wooden pole with a channel through which ghee (clarified butter) would flow to feed the flames of the Yagna fire was the main among them all. They returned in a procession and Swami too came onstage as soon as they arrived. He then moved to the centre, and the priests chanted mantras to complete the final offerings into the sacrificial fire. The mop of lovely hair around His head marked Swami in the group of saffron bodies that surrounded the equally saffron flame. Swami, seated on the throne, looked magnificent and heavenly as the flames lapped up higher and higher as if attempting to look at Him in all His grandeur.
An orange bundle containing all the final offerings to the fire was opened before Swami. Bhagavan inspected it and then blessed it to be placed into the Yagna Kundam. As that was done, a burst of joyful applause filled the entire auditorium. Swami, then, moved around the stage and blessed everyone there with His proximity. The priests then gathered around Him once again after a brief visit to the western end of the hall.
Swami blessed the priests and the wife of the chief-priest with clothes, and they all went backstage, changed into the new clothes and returned. As they gathered around, the head priest and Swami asked for all the chanting to cease. All the priests now chanted at a very high pitch as Swami sat through intensely looking at all of them. Then, the head priest sang out some hymns and Swami was very touched with his rendition. After that, Swami received aarthi at about 10:15 a.m. and retired for the morning into Yajur Mandir.
Bhagavan arrived for darshan in the car at 5.30 that evening. Once He came onstage, Swami noticed Nepalese students seated in the front with huge kumkum marks embedded with rice grains on their foreheads. Swami asked them as to what that mark was all about. The 40 odd students went up to Swami and sought His blessings for the traditional Durga Pooja practice that is common in Nepal. Swami blessed all of them and accepted their letters. He spoke to a few of them too. A wonderful story has to be mentioned here.
The Nepalese students from the University, Music College and the Higher Secondary School get together during the summer vacation to carry out seva activities in their region every year. The most impressive aspect of this service is that all the finance for this activity is obtained from the "spiritual savings" of these students. They put a ceiling on their desires and many of them wash their own clothes and save the dhobi fees. It is only such savings that are directed towards the service activity. As Swami says, charity gets meaning when it involves sacrifice. The Rs. 100 given by a millionaire pales into insignificance before the single rupee saved by hard effort! The photos of the previous year’s service activities were shown to Swami and Bhagavan was appreciative of them. After that He blessed all those students and then heard the Vedam chants for a while.
After this, Mr. T. G. Krishnamurthy, the former President of Sathya Sai Seva Organisation of Tamil Nadu, was asked to speak. After his half-hour speech, Prof. G. Venkataraman, former Vice-Chancellor of the Sri Sathya Sai University, shared his thoughts. The distinguished professor outlined as to how the world that does not root itself in Swami's teachings of Love undergoes one bust after another like the dotcom bubble and the housing bubble. Sensing that Swami would most probably deliver His Divine Discourse, the eloquent speaker concluded his talk after twenty minutes. Bhagavan then indicated that He would deliver His Divine Vijaya Dasami message and His microphone was brought up.
The discourse on that evening would become one of epic proportions in terms of it's significance in reminding humanity and rendering a wake up call to it about one important aspect. Swami said:
Many people pass through pleasure and pain. When it is pleasure, we say, it is good luck and in the other case we say that it is misfortune. But it is all karma. “Yad Bhavam Tad Bhavathi” - as is the feeling, so is the experience. The whole world revolves around action. And so, the actions must be sacred. What is Dasara? It is nothing but the result of 10 days of action. The Poornahuthi can be considered as the culmination of the actions of the 10 senses. (5 senses each of perception and action). In this world, action is inevitable.
During the Navarathri, the Divine Mother is worshipped. The first is Devi Shakti, who gives the might to perform all the actions. Basing on this, Lakshmi confers all that is needed. And Saraswati fosters the knowledge. The worship of these three is called Navarathri. “Tridalam Trigunakaram Trinetram cha Triyayudham” (three petalled, embodying the three gunas, three eyed and having the three weapons) applies for the Devi too. The inner significance of Navarathri is to get the Navavidha Shakti (The nine forms of strength).
For all this, Dharma is important. One has to always discriminate. The Buddhi (intellect) is very important and is embodied as Vishnu. Like the current in everything, the intellect pervades the body. Whether good or bad, you have to face the consequences. It is only their actions that make us hold people like the Pandavas in high regard. So, all must do sacred actions. Lakshmi is made out of the letters ‘ la’, ‘ksh’, ‘ma’ and ‘i’. She is forever seated in Narayana's heart. Lord Narayana is eternal and so is she. Sitting there, she confers blessings on all humanity. Lord Narayana is not Lakshmi Narayana but Sathya Narayana.
Sathyanarayana smiles and walks in human form in our midst. Just as Lakshminarayana is Garudavahana, Sathyanarayana is sarpavahana. He looks like a normal human but His power is immense. He appears as if He does not know anything. But Sathya (Truth) is the essence of Sathya Narayana. He stresses on the principle of truth always. From truth, comes righteousness or dharma. Sathyanarayana is the combination of Sathya and Dharma and He has incarnated to establish them. Vishnu Himself says that Sathya Narayana Raju is very important; He is no ordinary one. People may consider Him so but what He says is the truth and the absolute truth. That means that He says what is in His heart and does what He speaks about. The entire creation has come from truth and to truth it will return. There is no place without truth and that is the pure truth. Man is not careful. He thinks that Sathya Narayana is telling untruths or that He is joking. Sathya Narayana may speak smilingly or jokingly but it is the truth. Even those who are close also do not believe this. They neglect His words and take it in a very easy and light manner. All that Sathya Narayana says will manifest in the future. Those who are incapable of thinking of the future alone think of them as untruths. You will soon see the manifestation of this truth. The age of this body is 83 years. Till today, I have not forgotten anything. I may appear forgetful but there is nothing like forgetfulness in my life. I am the eternal witness. And today, that sakshi (witness) is being neglected. I have chosen to speak it today and I have never done so before. As the time is fast approaching, I have to reveal all this. People have spoken their thoughts in the past few days. That is not the truth. But there is nothing wrong in it since they have spoken of their own thoughts and feelings. People have to recognize the truth. Truth has no hatred, enmity, anger or differences. I have no difference. You consider others with differences. All are equal; all the children of Sathya.
Whoever comes and speaks to Me, I always smile. I am never angry with anyone. Even when I appear angry, it is a pretention to correct you. The students here wonder that they get disappointed, dejected and comment on others but how is it that Swami maintains composure. All are one; the shakthi (energy) in all is the same - that is the Atma shakti (power of the soul). There is only Atma Narayana (indweller). There may be many names and forms but God is one. You see bulbs here; but all the lights go out when the current is gone. God is the Atmic current. God has been doing a lot for the bliss of His devotees. But He has no likes or dislikes; He has no desires. God has only one desire and that is "Loka samastha sukhino bhavanthu". Each one faces the consequences of one's karma, and so, some will have to face sorrow and misery. I do not have even one desire. I have incarnated for your happiness. But to make anyone happy is not My desire. Bulbs are many and you see that the intensity of their lights vary - some are bright and some are dim. But the current is the same and no one can find fault with the current. The lord is the current. Joys and sorrows are of your own making.
Sathya Narayana has also been called Vishnu, that is explained in detail in the Vishnu purana. Vishnu moves in the world as Sathya Narayana. Sathya is His hallmark. Why did I not speak for 10 days? All spoke in their own ways. It is to declare the truth that I speak. I love those that love me and also those that hate me, the demons. But people do not understand this. They say Swami is not talking with me. Is He angry? I have only hunger for devotees and not anger towards them. God is the embodiment of love and Navaratri is celebrated to demonstrate this principle of truth. People worship in different ways that they choose. But there is no difference for Bhagavan. All are embodiments of love and must mingle as brothers and sisters. Remember that men are more valuable than all the wealth of the world. Have faith in the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man. Have love and treat everyone well. People stay away from you till they are able to have a glimpse your love; once love is there, they will come instantly. All those who spoke based it on their experiences and feelings. That is not wrong. But there are very few who have known the path of truth.
Be the same to all. Have no differences. All are one. Though they look different at one moment you will realize that all are brothers and sisters at the next. All are one be alike to everyone. Love all - that is My message.
In a tree there are buds. Some of them flower immediately and become fruits while others take time. One must wait for that fragrance and sweetness. Today is Poornahuti. What is it? It is complete thyaga (sacrifice). Swami is complete thyaga always. “Poornamadah poornamidam poornath poornam udhachyathe” - This is full. That is full. And if you remove fullness from fullness it still remains full. Children are like buds and may not understand that depth now. As they grow and mature they will understand.
One more thing: Every child has a small cellphone today. It leads to misuse and bad thoughts of connection between boys and girls. If you do not want bad thoughts, do not have bad connections. Do not use a phone extensively; it may look and feel nice and savvy but will lead to misuse. For 83 years I have never used a phone. The devotees may cry but I will not pick up a phone. I have not spoken on a phone, that is why I have the right to advice you. You are all children and so act accordingly. Be careful. If you are careless the world will be careless towards you. You may say that I am speaking well and good. But others may take the wrong meaning. So do not give scope for misinterpretation. It is okay with elders, but people who are young completely misunderstand, and so you miss the understanding. If given a choice, throw the cellphone in the well. Do not buy them; if you do so have connections with the right people. Using the cellphone to gossip and carry tales about others is not good. If you do not use the phone and speak for a while you will think "Ayyo! I have not spoken to so and so" and get worried. Be very careful and get a good name.
Swami concluded His discourse with the bhajan, "Hari Bhajan Bina Sukh Shanti Nahi". Needless to say, everyone followed with gusto and vigour. Blessing prasadam to be distributed, Swami received aarthi and retired at almost 7:50 p.m.!
- Heart2Heart Team
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