Parthi Update November 16th to 19th 2004

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Parthi Update

 

16-11-2004

 

This evening, the Brindavan students put up a drama on Bhakta

Purandarasa. The play was titled "Purandara Upanishad". It was a very

good play, lasting for an hour or so. The best part was the wonderful

costumes. Now we have so many costumes in our Hostel that we can

almost run a drama company!! In fact the Costume Room Boys too have

been so well trained that they can prepare any make-up within few

minutes. There have been occasions when the Costume boys have been

informed about certain characters at the last moment, but they have

managed the situation very well. We just have to tell them, "Look, we

need a Ravana, one Yama and a few Brahmins, A Shiva and a

Vishnu….!!" It gets ready just like that.!!

 

The play depicetd the story of Saint Purandaradasa to the extent that

information is available about him. His earlier name was Srinivasa

Nayaka. In his earlier days, he was a miserly money lender and would

not part with even a penny without returns! His wife was a great

devotee of Lord Vitalla and would always pray to the Lord to

transform her husband.

 

The time comes when the Lord wishes to transform the miserly man into

a great saint. Vitalla comes in the form of an old man asking for

money to conduct the Upanayanam (Thread Ceremony) of his grandchild.

Purandara refuses to help him. However, when the old man approaches

Purandara's wife, she parts with her nose-stud, though out of fear of

being reprimanded by her husband.

 

The old man takes this nose-stud and goes back to Purandara to pledge

it for some money. Purandara is shocked to see his own wife's nose-

stud. Deciding to teach her a good lesson, he returns home

immediately and asks his wife to get her nose-stud. Fearing her

husband's anger and wrath, the wife prays to Lord Vitalla and finding

no other way, she decides to consume poison and end her life. As she

is about to drink the poison from the cup, she hears the sound of

something falling into the cup from above.

 

They show Lord Vitalla slowly coming behind her and dropping the nose-

stud into the cup. Discovering the nose-stud she becomes ecstatic.

She runs to her husband with the ring! Purandara is stunned. On

enquiring about the mystery, she reveals the Lord's miracle. This

transforms him totally and he turns a new leaf in his life!!

 

He becomes a complete Vairagi (detached person) and a social

reformer. Prompted by the Divine Command, he gets inducted into

the `Dasa Sampradaya' under the blessings of Sri Vyasa Raja of Hampi.

Purandaradasa then travels to various pilgrim centres like Belur,

Tirupati and Pandarpur. He composes a number of devotional songs in

the local language of Kannada.

 

Then comes a scene where the king of Vijayanagar, Sri Krishnadevaraya

puts Purandaradasa to a test to check his genuineness. The king goes

in disguise and drops a bag of Navaratnas into the bag (Jholi) of

Purandara as he goes around seeking alms. When Purandara discovers

this bag, he does not get disturbed at all. He treats the alms and

the jewels with the same feeling. Watching this, the king is

convinced of his nobility and apologizes.

 

Purandara had composed around 2,00,000 verses of which less than 800

are available today. He was indeed the father of Carnatic music and

was the forerunner of saint Tyagaraja. Purandaradasa dedicates all

these verses at the feet of his guru – Sri Vyasa Raja. However, the

other disciples of Vyasa Raja feel very jealous and do not allow the

guru to place these verses on the Peetham (platform), at par with the

Ramayana and other sacred texts.

 

The guru smiles and asks them to place it down. The moment they do

that, it goes and seats itself on the top!! This happens a number of

times. Finally all are convinced of Purandara's sacredness. Packed

with a number of Purandara Keeratanas, the play concluded with the

most famous song, "Rama Mantrava Japeeso Manuja…." But the word Rama

was replaced with Sai. "Sai Mantrava Japeeso Manuja.."

 

It was 4.45 p.m. Bhagawan got down the steps and came over to them

and gave them photographs. By 5.00 p.m. Swami retired to PC.

 

 

18-11-2004

 

18th morning witnessed the annual celebration of Rathotsavam. Sri

Venugopala Swami and Sri Rama, Sita, Lakshmana with Hanuman were

carried in palanquins to the old Mandir and back to our Mandir,

amidst Vedam chanting and Bhajans.

 

Swami came out for Darshan. Sai Geeta had come decked with all her

jewelry and was standing in the middle of the Kulwant Hall in front

of the main gate. Swami stopped for a while but did not get down to

feed her. She protested with her trunk but the golf cart moved on.

The golf cart moved forward very speedily. To our surprise, Swami

took a full round, entered the Mandir Portico and again came out for

another round.

 

This time, the golf cart took a turn towards the main gate and

stopped near our Sai Geeta. Swami fondled her and fed her with

apples. As usual she blew her breath at Swami's face with her trunk,

almost like a hair drier drying Swami's hair!! After a while, the

golf cart moved further. All were surprised and then there was real

chaos. Everybody was running to see where Swami was going. Devotees

went running towards the wall to have a glimpse of Bhagawan.

 

We are not sure where Swami went but ten minutes later, the golf cart

came gliding in again!! Bhagawan went into the Bhajan Hall and asked

them to commence the procession of the chariot. The procession moved

towards the old Mandir and returned after an hour or so. Then we had

Bhajans as usual. In the evening, it was just Vedam chanting and

Bhajans.

 

 

19-11-2004 (Morning)

 

To start with let us wish all our Mothers and Sisters a very Happy

Ladies Day. This year marks the completion of ten years of

celebration of Ladies Day at Bhagawan's Lotus Feet. The Sai Kulwant

Hall was decked with lovely Rose buds – in all possible colours!!

Swami's sofa was kept in the centre of the dais and to the left of

it – obviously on the ladies side, there was a huge portrait of

Mother Eswaramma framed with a broad wooden frame, very beautifully

decorated with big bunches of rose flowers in contrast bright

colours. It looked very grand!!

 

Over there, next to the interview room, we could see some ladies

waiting next to the big cake and a little forward, in line with the

Ganesha was a big board covered with a silk curtain and decorated

with flowers. Obviously, it had to be some plaque meant for

inauguration. We were wondering what it was all about. Things go on

so silently at Swami's Feet. We never come to know until the last

moment.

 

At 6.50 a.m. a long procession of Primary School band, Vedam

students, Anantapur Band, and Naadaswaram group led Bhagawan into the

Sai Kulwant Hall. It was a jingle-bingle of so many chants and music.

But it created the perfect atmosphere for celebration!! Everything

looked so decked and decorated but there came our Swami – just the

same – simple in His orange robe!! What decoration can be added unto

Him who is the source of all beauty and charm!! The golf cart glided

in with Swami smiling at all devotees on either side. The cart took a

turn at the centre towards the dais. The gents had to be happy

with `Doordarshan' at least on Ladies day!

 

Swami got down and climbed up the steps. Smt. Sarala Shah and Smt.

Chetana were ready with a candle. Swami took the candle and lit the

inaugural lamp. For some reason it did not get lighted immediately,

but Swami would not give up. He personally held the candle and made

sure that both the wicks were lighted!! As soon as the wick shone

with a flame, a melodious invocatory song (more like a stotram) filed

the air.

 

Swami then signaled to the Primary School band. They came forward and

performed their usual feats. Swami stood and watched the presentation

that lasted for around five minutes.

 

It was 7.05 a.m. Sister Chetana gave the welcome address and

introduced the two speakers for the day. After introducing them, she

mentioned that today Bhagawan would be inaugurating a new project.

This project was for the welfare of the economically backward women.

The project was christened as "Eswaramma Women's Welfare Project".

She prayerfully went to Bhagawan. Swami pressed a remote button and

the curtain on the board slid apart revealing a beautiful plaque

declaring the commencement of the project!! Swami too turned around

and saw the contraption at work!

 

The first speaker was Dr. Geeta Reddy, Minister for Tourism, Culture

and Sugar – Andhra Pradesh and also a well known, reputed doctor by

profession. She gave a very erudite talk and described how Swami's

name is spreading everywhere across the globe. She said that she

could speak with total conviction as she had personally witnessed

this when she toured around the world in her capacity as Minister for

Tourism.

 

She mentioned that even in Vatican, there are ten Sai Centres!! She

appealed to all to realize the fact that the world has been created

for the purpose of Love. Towards the end of her scholarly talk, she

also expressed her doubt that possibly the present physical

discomfort that Swami is going through, may have something to do with

our failure in practicing His message of Love and compassion to our

fellow men and women. She also praised Bhagawan as the champion of

women and also reminded everybody of the great and noble Mother

Eswaramma who gave the Lord to this world.

 

She, on behalf of the Government of Andhra Pradesh expressed her

gratitude to Bhagawan for all the great projects that He had

undertaken for the poor and needy. She also stated that recently the

Chief Minister went on record by sending a letter of Thanks to

Bhagawan for all the help He has been doing for the state!!

 

The second speaker was Mrs. Helen from Greece who has spoken even

earlier in Bhagawan's presence. She is part of a team that rushes to

the aid of suffering and ailing people anywhere in the world. In fact

they happen to be the first ones to land up in any distress situation

in any part of the world. Her talk was a memorable one and touched

each one of our hearts. Her experiences sent a chill through our

spine and her appeal to students churned our hearts and we were left

wondering at all that is happening so silently and how ignorant we

are of this great phenomenon called `SAI'.

 

We must share few of her experiences with you.

 

Her first experience was in Bosnia when she had been there during the

time of war, to distribute food and other items to the residents.

They would prepare a bag with food items and other necessities and

finally she would drop a photo of Swami in each bag. When the local

people from Bosnia would come to pick up these bags, which would be

distributed only during night, without anybody's notice, they would

rush to collect them.

 

But the first thing they were interested in was the photo of Swami.

Wondering why they were behaving in this manner, she asked the

translator to tell her what they were discussing. What the translator

told her left her dumb founded. They were exclaiming that

this `fellow' in the photo (they would call Him `fellow') was a

regular visitor over there and He would come and give them food and

other basic needs. Initially she thought that they were referring to

other Sai Devotees, but on further enquiry they said that this same

fellow would come, in His orange robe!! She couldn't believe her

ears!!

 

Then she started narrating her experience in Iraq. She said that her

team was the first to visit Baghdad after the war. She was warned not

to visit the place but she would always reply that God was with her

and would take care of her and her team. As of date, her team has

completed almost 17 trips to Baghdad and they are still alive!!

 

A very thrilling experience occurred during one of her recent visits

to Darfur (Sudan). They had taken a number of wheat flour bags with

them to distribute to the starved and grief stricken. Normally, wheat

flour is what they used to distribute in these areas. In one area,

they found a number of children in need of milk. This was a deserted

area and there was no chance of procuring any milk in bulk. The

people started pleading with her to provide some milk powder instead

of wheat powder. They had so many sacks of wheat flour but no stock

of milk. Seeing the dozens of children crying, her heart was in pain

and she prayed to Bhagawan to help her out of this hopeless situation.

 

As they continued their distribution, she saw some children out of

sheer hunger taking the wheat flour and eating it. She went and told

them not to feed the young children with the flour as it was not good

to consume raw. However, the children said that it was milk powder

and not wheat flour. She tasted some of the powder and found it was

so sweet. Again some more people came and told her that it was milk

powder. On opening the bags, she found that all the bags had milk

powder in them. Tears flowed down her eyes!!

 

When they had actually bought these bags the purchase order clearly

had placed an order for `wheat bags'. However, by Divine Will, milk

powder bags had been supplied. Later in the receipt, she found that

it was billed as `Milk Powder'!! Now this is the miracle and Love of

our Lord who sits silently at Parthi but in a Cosmic dimension is

always at work saving His devotees and showering His Grace on them!!

 

She also recalled her latest trip to Baghdad, when she was arrested

by the locals and with tied hands and blindfold was taken into their

custody for several hours. However, she kept praying to Swami and

could feel His Presence all the while. Safe and sound, she was

released. Even the doctors at their hospitals now accept the fact

that it is God who is sending her team to Baghdad!!

 

She concluded her talk appealing to students to keep up the tradition

of Bharath and value the most respectful culture we have. She

confessed that in Greece and other Western countries life had

deteriorated to such a level, that all values were lost. Children did

not respect parents, nobody was concerned of their neighbors, even if

one were to fall nobody would bother to even assist….Finally, she

sang the song `Humko Tumse Pyaar Kitna' accompanied by our sisters

from Anantapur and Primary School.

 

Swami was very happy and Blessed both the speakers. It was 7.50 a.m.

They prayed to Swami for His Divine Discourse. But Bhagawan smiled

and kept sitting. He asked them to proceed with their programme. The

next item was a dance by the Primary School sisters. It was a very

well choreographed and professional dance item. It was a combination

of several songs, recorded professionally. The dance had several

groups of girls. Each group performed a different type of dance –

like Bharatanatyam, Kuchipudi and even Kathak – but all were very

artfully fused together! Therefore, at any point of time, we could

see several layers of dancers performing different steps giving a

very professional touch to the whole item.

 

Towards the end, all the little girls came forward with lit lamps in

their hands singing a `Laali' - lullaby song to our Lord. One little

girl in the front row seemed to have some problem. We could not

exactly make out what it was. Possibly, the wax lamp was too hot and

it was slowly heating her palm too. She did not know what to do. Our

compassionate Lord immediately signaled to one of the women seated in

front and she came running and took the lamp from the girls hand and

placed it on the steps of the dais. Following this the other girls

too removed the wax lamps from their palms.

 

However, this girl continued crying. A few minutes later, Swami

called the little girl, smiled at her and took His kerchief and wiped

both her palms and also bent forward to wipe her tears with His

kerchief. The little one was so thrilled! Now she was a mix of tears

and smiles!! All those who witnessed this scene were privileged to

drink in the Divine Motherly Love!

 

At 8.10 a.m., it was the turn of two artistes to play on their

violin. They were professional women artistes. They were the

daughters of the sister of the famous Violin player L. Subramanian.

Their violin burst forth into soul stirring tunes and rhythms

enrapturing all of us. As this went on in the background, Swami

sitting on the sofa coordinated the distribution of so many things!

It started with wonderful red silk saris with green border to all VIP

ladies, staff and some others. The distribution went on and on. Our

brothers were shifting the saris from the interview room to the sofa

and the ladies would take over from there!!

 

As this went on, those wonderfully decorated chocolate baskets came

out of the interview room one by one and all the performing children

were served with these. Few baskets came to the boys side also. Then

began the main Prasadam distribution. It was Burfi with a silver

flake on it. Even as this was being distributed to all the devotees,

vessels of huge apples started pouring in. It was Mother Sai at Her

best in pampering all her kids!! As this went on, the sari

distribution was still going on. Then came some different type of

saris for the dancers!

 

All the while, the violin strings strummed away to glory! The Hall

was reverberating with wonderful Keertanas and devotional songs. They

played very well and Swami too was keeping beat often. Korai Onrum

Illai, Bho Shabho Siva Shabho Svayam Bho, Jagadodarana… and several

other lilting tunes kept us all swaying and clapping to merge into

the magic of music!!

 

At 9.25 a.m. Swami took Aarti, Blessed the violin artistes with

saris, dhotis for the Mridangam player. The entire family seemed to

be present over there and Bhagawan spoke to them for quite some time,

showering so much of Love and Grace!

 

After that Swami spoke to the dancers who were seated in front of the

dais. The girls rushed forward to have photographs. But Swami told

them to be seated and indicated that He Himself would come down to

them. So down came our Lord and Blessed the little ones with group

photographs.

 

Having saturated our stomach, mind and our soul with His gifts and

Love, our dear Lord as simple as ever, with nothing for Himself

except for our Love, got into the golf cart and glided towards the

PC. The long procession of the various bands and Vedam chanters were

almost blocking the entire pathway to PC! Our dear Lord stopped the

golf cart just as we do in a cross road when the red signal light is

on, and after the procession moved forward, the cart glided on its

way!!

 

This morning later, the Convocation Drama rehearsal is likely to be

there at PC. So that's it. No rest for Bhagawan. It's just change of

work. Possibly not even that. For He does the same thing for ever and

ever!! Giving, giving and giving!!

 

 

19-11-2004 (Evening)

 

Bhagawan came out for Darshan at 3.00 p.m. All the Ladies were

already wearing the sari given by Bhagawan in the morning! Sister

Chetana introduced the programme for the evening. The first item was

a musical rendering by the sisters from U.K. They sang two English

songs and a Hindi one. Meanwhile, Swami was speaking to the party of

Smt. Anuradha Paudwal who was the next singer for the evening. Swami

asked her to come over to the stage. She came and took Blessings from

Bhagawan.

 

Swami spoke to her. Accompanying her were Rajiv Chopra who also

rendered some songs and Aditya, her son.

 

At 3.25 p.m. Smt. Anuradha Paudwal began her most scintillating

presentation. The Kulwant Hall stood still struck by her melodious

and soothing voice. She started with a number of devotional film

songs like: Tuma Asha Vishwas Hamare, Sri Ramachandra Krupalu

Bhajamana, Allah Tero Naam Iswara Tero Naam, Prabhu Tero Naam Jo

Dhyaye Phala Paye….Then she began singing Sai Bhajans like Sai

Bhajana Bina, Daya Sagara Karunakara, Antaranga Sai Anathanatha Sai.

Sri Rajiv Chopra also sang along with her.

 

This was followed by Payoji Mene Rama Ratana Dhana Payo – Swami's

choice. Mere to Giridhara Gopala followed. Sri Rajiv Chopra rendered

Anoop Jalota's song Aisi Laagi Lagan. Bhagawan then asked her to sing

Satyam Sivam Sundaram. She concluded with Yashomati Maya Se Bole

Nandalala and Satyam Sivam Sundaram.

 

At 4.30 p.m. the final item began. This was a dance by children from

Secunderabad. There were around 10 of them, very talented. One child

acted as Krishna and the others were Gopikas. They performed

wonderful feats in the course of their dance. Dancing on plates and

pots and forming most tough postures standing on pots, with lamps in

their hands and on their head. They received continuous applause from

the audience. Towards the end, by 4.45 p.m. Bhagawan got up. But the

dance was so thrilling that He watched standing all the while.

 

At 4.55 p.m., He distributed silver glasses (tumblers) to all the

dancers. They came forward and received the momentoes from Bhagawan.

At 5.00 p.m. Swami moved towards the gents side and got into the golf

cart. As the golf cart moved towards the ladies side, Smt. Geeta

Reddy offered Aarti to Swami bringing the grand Ladies day to a

close!!

 

At the end of the day, we all felt a sense of appreciation for the

wonderful way in which the entire day had been planned and organized.

The only pinch was that Swami had not given His Divine Message. But

well, Swami knows what is best for us. Let us see what unfolds in the

next few days.

 

We will try to send you updates as frequently as possible during the

Convocation and Birthday celebrations.

 

Sairam