Dasara – Day 8
Wednesday, October 5th, 2011
Today, the penultimate day of Dasara Celebrations and the last night of Navaratri, is celebrated as Saraswati Puja. The day saw the auspicious proceedings of the 6th day of Veda Purusha Saptaha Jnana Yajna and the successful conclusion of the Sri Sathya Sai Grama Seva for the year. Students of Anantapur Campus will distribute Prasadam and Clothes to Prasanthi Nilayam inmates on the 10th day. Poornahuti
The programme for the evening was speech by a student of Anantapur Campus and another eloquent exposition by a faculty member of Anantapur Campus. The first speech by Kum. Lalitha currently pursuing her M.Sc. programme in the Biosciences department was on the topic “The Divine Shakti”.
Kum. Lalitha in the course of her speech said that the ultimate aim of Navaratri festival is coming out of the darkness of ignorance and realising the Divine Consciousness, the awareness of the Divine. The Divine is worshipped in the form of Sri Devi. Sri means light, auspiciousness and Devi means Prakriti (nature). It means the effulgence of Divinity pervades the entire cosmos.
Speaking on the concept of Ichcha Shakti (creative impulse), Kum. Lalitha said she had the opportunity to play the role of Parvatamma (Bhagawan’s elder sister) in the serial “Shirdi Sai Parthi Sai” in the year 1997 when she was only six years old. They were given an opportunity to sit separately for Darshan. Her parents always insisted on her to ask Bhagawan to give an opportunity to study in His institution. She was apprehensive whether Bhagawan would notice her, being small in stature. But Bhagawan came near her and noticed her. That gave her a great sense of fulfillment.
Speaking on Jnana Shakti (impulse of true wisdom), the student said that she had applied for getting admission in the 11th class of Sri Sathya Sai Primary School. She was the ninth person to be called for interview. The first question asked by the headmistress was as to why she wanted to join in Bhagawan’s college when there were so many educational institutions in Chennai. She replied that she would be transported from Tamas (the darkness of ignorance) to Jyoti (light) in Bhagawan’s institution. The student concluded her speech with the prayer, “Anyatha Saranam Nasti Twameva Saranam Mama, Tasmath Karunya Bhavena Raksha Raksha Sayeeswara” (I cannot take refuge in any other than at your Lotus Feet. We bow to Sai, our protector, the form of love and compassion).
The second speaker, Ms. Suma Rao, a faculty member of Anantapur Campus, currently doing her Ph.D. on the topic “Women Executives of India” spoke on the theme “The Love of God.” Madam said there is a difference between how we love God which is prefixed with materialistic ambitions and how God loves us selflessly.
Speaking on an incident which happened when she was doing security duty in Sai Kulwant Hall, a lady from a Russian group approached her and told her in broken English that they were coming for the first time and wanted an interview with Bhagawan. She told the lady that Bhagawan picks people for interview on His own volition. She gave a short training by saying that when Bhagawan asks them “Where do you come from, they should reply Russia and when He asks, “How many? They should reply that they were 37 in number. When Bhagawan came for Darshan, He asked the group, “How many?” They replied, “Russia”. Bhagawan at once looked at her though she was sitting a little further. Then after some time, Bhagawan again asked the group, “Where are you from?” They replied, “37”. The erudite speaker said that we often take Bhagawan for granted and attempt predicting His actions.
Narrating another experience, Ms. Suma Rao said during an interview, Bhagawan said to her mother, “your daughter gets too much angry and then she mopes the prayer hall in Anantapur Hostel from this end to the other to overcome her anger.” She said, but that was a positive attitude to get rid of anger. Bhagawan replied, “Why get angry at all.” When her parents had a major accident, Bhagawan helped her to get over the trauma and pain with His deluge of love.
The teacher concluded her speech by speaking about Rabindranath Tagore: When the child is in the comforting care of the mother, the child feel the mother’s security and love. But when the mother withdraws, the child feels the pain of separation. The speaker compared this with the present situation where Bhagawan, the Mother of the universe has physically left us. We should see His beautiful countenance in the entire world and march on in our life, said the learned speaker.
This was followed by a melodious music programme by the students of Prasanthi Nilayam Campus which was accompanied by brilliant visuals of Bhagawan’s inaugurating various institutions in Prasanthi Nilayam. Another visual treat followed, this time it was the 2002 Dasara Celebrations in Prasanthi Nilayam and a Discourse of Bhagawan. The last programme for the evening was Bhajans, followed by distribution of Prasadam, clothes to the students and staff of Bhagawan’s educational institutions.
At the end, there was an announcement by Prof. Anil Kumar, a faculty member of Prasanthi Nilayam campus. The professor announced that the Grama Seva programme was a thumping success, which got wide acclaim in the villages surrounding Prasanthi Nilayam. The villagers welcomed the students with open arms and received the Prasadam and clothes from the students and staff of Bhagawan’s educational institutions. The Prasadam was packed every night by the students of Anantapur Campus from 7 pm to 3 am. and the male students of Bhagawan’s educational institutions went into lanes and by lanes of villages distributing Bhagawan’s Prasadam. Another announcement was the Poornahuti, the concluding ritual of Veda Purusha Saptaha Jnana Yajna would be conducted at 9.30 am on 6th October 2011. The programme for the evening is a concert by Padma Bhushan Pandit Rajan & Sajan Misra from Varanasi.
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