July 15, 2010 – Second Day of Alwar Bhakti Samrajya Mahotsavam

The second day dawned on the proceedings of the Alwar Bhakti Samrajya Mahotsavam (ABSM) on July 15. Every one was taken by a pleasant surprise that day as Swami arrived shortly after 4:20 p.m.! He did not take the complete round; took a detour soon after the central marbled areas. He moved towards the eastern end of the Mandir and from there entered the portico and went into interview room. A wonderfully decked Ranganatha Swami idol decorated the stage.

After a few minutes, Swami came and distributed clothes to the priests. After this, He specially called for the priest who does aarthi daily and presented him too with dhoti and angavastram. Then He went back into the interview room. It was only at about 5:30 p.m. that He came out onto the stage. On the way, He sat briefly at the centre as the priests performed the aarthi for the idols. He blessed lotus flowers to be offered and then took His place at the western side of the stage. The speaker for the evening was Sahasravadhani Sri Medasanimohan of Tirupati. He was introduced by Vidwan Srikanta Rao who had spoken the previous day.

The speaker moved to Swami and offering a rose and then fell prostrate at his feet. He began his talk by counting the great blessings he had - two opportunities to speak in the Divine Presence. Covering next three of the twelve Alwars, namely, Thirumalasai Alwar, Kulasekhara Alwar and Periyalwar after the previous day’s elucidation on the first three Alwars, the learned orator delved on the unparallelled devotion of the Alwars and gave an intellectual rhetoric presentation bringing beautiful insights from the epics and the Bhagavad Gita that lasted for an hour. Being knowledgeable in more than one lakh verses, he was an intellectual’s delight.

The crowd in the Sai Kulwant Hall consisted of people from all parts of the globe - from Russia to USA, from Australia to countries of Europe. They would definitely have understood little of what the speaker was saying, but Swami’s presence on the stage was a powerful magnet that held them spellbound.

Even a slightest reaction from Swami drew cheer from the audience. It was so clear - anything that is held in the Divine Presence is only Swami’s excuse to bless us all with the greatest gift of darshan. And so the master drama is conducted in which our dramas, speeches and songs become a part of The Script!

As the speaker concluded, Swami beckoned to him and granting him namaskar, created a beautiful gold chain. He put this around his neck and the grateful speaker fell again at his lotus feet. Then there were two minutes of silence during which Swami sat watching everyone. He asked for aarthi and blessed prasadam to be distributed. Towards the end, He asked for the universal peace mantra, Samastha Lokaha Sukhino Bhavanthu, to be chanted again and moved towards the residence as the nadaswaram band struck up a Rama song.

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