Prashanthi Bulletin - October 4th - October 6th, 2005

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Prashanthi Bulletin

Index of earlier Bulletins

October 6th, 2005 This morning all the Pundits had assembled in the Mandir

Bhajan Hall for the initial rituals to commence the Veda Purusha Saptaha Jnana

Yajna. Bhagawan came out at around half-past seven and proceeded into the

Bhajan Hall. Vedic chants were going on both outside in the Kulwant Hall and

inside the Bhajan Hall by the Pundits. After the preliminary rituals were

completed, the Pundits came outside to commence the procession to the

Poornachandra Hall where the Yajna Kundam was ready for the Yajnam to begin.

Meanwhile, dear Sai Gita, Swami's pet elephant, decked with all her favourate

ornaments, was waiting in Kulwant Hall for a pat from Swami. However, Swami

decided to Bless her from the Bhajan Hall itself. As the Pundits assembled

outside in the Kulwant Hall, Sai Gita moved forward to lead the procession. At

8.30 a.m. the procession to the Poornachandra Hall began. Thereafter, Swami

instructed all the

students and staff also to proceed to the Yajnam venue. By the time we assembled

in the Poornachandra Hall, Swami was already there and the Pundits had begun

their prayers. The privileged couple - the chief priest and his spouse - was

seated near the Yajna Kundam to make the Yajna Sankalpam. The Vedam teachers

and students were seated dressed in bright orange Dhotis with cream Angavastram

at the rear of the stage behind the Yajna Kundam. At one end, Swami was seated

in His Chair while at the other end was the Devi Puja venue. Beside the Vedam

students were seated the other Pundits who perform different forms of worship

and chant different Mantras in parallel with the Yajnam. The process of

creating fire by friction from churning of two wooden pieces began. Normally

every year it used to take quite some time to generate the fire in this sacred

manner. However, this year, within seconds the fire was generated. It was taken

to Bhagawan, and Swami also waved His Hand

over it along with the Pundit to enable the fire to spread faster. The Pundit

returned to the Yajna Kundam and in a few seconds the fire burst forth in a

spectacular manner for all to see. There was loud applause and the Yajnam began

formally. At 9.15 a.m. Swami went inside and the students dispersed to carry out

Grama Seva in Puttaparthi village. In the evening Swami came out at 4.00 p.m. By

4.20 p.m. He came outside and sat on the dais. At 4.30 p.m. the proceedings of

the Prashanthi Vidwan Mahasabha began. The first speaker was the Vice

Chancellor Sri Gokak followed by Dr. Deepak Anand and Dr. Ravi Kumar. By the

time all of them completed their talks it was already 5.50 p.m. Swami asked for

an announcement to be made that as it was already very late, Swami would speak

the next day. But in a few minutes, Swami signaled for the Discourse table to

be brought. He stood up amidst loud applause and spoke for just a few minutes

and concluded saying that today just by

standing up He gave so much joy to all devotees. Tomorrow He would give much

more joy to all of them. We will come back to you with details of the next few

days of Dussera celebrations at Prashanti Nilayam. October 5th, 2005 Today

again, the closer villages of Puttaparthi Mandal were covered in the Seva. The

pattern remains the same. The students and teachers go from house to house and

distribute Puliyora and Laddu as per the number mentioned by them. In addition

to this, each household gets one Sari and one Dhoti. The response has been very

encouraging as usual. The Sun God has been very kind not to shower his fury on

the students. It's been a pleasant experience serving the innocent and

child-like village folk. Today, the first lady of Kazakhstan visited Prashanti

Nilayam for a few hours and Bhagawan Blessed the team with an interview.

October 4th, 2005 Today

is again an auspicious day marking the beginning of this year's Sri Sathya Sai

Grama Seva. The Brindavan students arrived here on 2nd evening. The classes for

the semester concluded on Saturday the 1st of October. Grama Seva will continue

until the 12th of October and will conclude coinciding with Vijayadasami

celebrations at Prashanti Nilayam. This year too the village seva is being

planned to cover the more than 150 villages in the three Mandals of

Puttaparthi, Kothacheruvu and Bukkaptanam forming the unit that was called

earlier as Puttaparthi Taluka. On the evening of the 2nd, white T-shirts and

caps were distributed to all senior students. The T-shirts have the quote 'Help

Ever Hurt Never' printed on the back. On the 3rd, in the evening, Swami sat

outside for a while energizing all of us. He commanded Sri S.V. Giri, the

former Vice-chancellor, to speak a few words on Grama Seva. Sri Giri Garu is

taking a lead role in the organizing of this Grama Seva. He

explained the inner nuances of the Grama Seva and the spirit in which the Seva

must be carried out. Swami spoke to him from time to time giving him certain

points which he elaborated to all of us. Today, the villages farthest away in

Puttaparthi Mandal were covered. The outside-in approach is being adopted in

every Mandal. The students begin from the periphery and progress inwards.

Subsequently Bukkapatnam Mandal will be taken up and finally Kothacheruvu

Mandal. In the evening, as we all settled in the Kulwant Hall, Swami was inside

the interview room. After a while around 4.00 p.m. He came out and sat amidst us

on the dais for a long time. It was a great Darshan. Meanwhile, the doctors in

the General Hospital were eagerly awaiting Swami's visit there to mark the

Golden Jubilee of the Hospital. However, Swami stayed in the Mandir and Bhajans

began. At that point of time, Dr. Alreja and Dr. Gopinath came to the Mandir

with a rose in their hand to personally

invite Swami to the Hospital. Swami had already entered the Bhajan Hall. Looking

at them, Swami came outside after a few Bhajans and started talking to them.

Around 5.20 p.m. He signaled to them to go to the Hospital. It was clear that

Swami had consented to Bless them with His visit. After another Bhajan, Aarti

was given while Swami had already left for the General Hospital. At the

Hospital, Bhagawan was welcomed with group songs by the staff. After the group

songs, a Golden Jubilee Souvenir Volume was Blessed by Bhagawan. After blessing

all the staff, Swami prepared to leave. Then the doctors pleaded with Him to

bless the food they had prepared for Him, and again our Lord agreed. After

partaking a small quantity of the Naivedyam offered by them, Bhagawan returned

to His car, moving through the ranks of the staff members who were trying to

give Him letters and submitting their prayers. Swami admonished some

overenthusiastic staff pushing forward with letters, but once in

His car and ready to leave, He again smiled, waved, blessed all of them, and

returned to His abode by 6.15 pm.

You can see an illustrated version of happenings at Prashanthi Nilayam in the

Prashanthi Diary of our monthly e-Journal Heart to Heart. The previous issue of

Prashanthi Bulletin is available here. The Photo album contains photos of events

of past Prashanthi Bulletins. Index of past Prashanthi Bulletins... Source:

Radio Sai Websitehttp://radiosai.org/pages/PB.htm