LATEST PHOTOS: DIWALI WITH BHAGAWAN AN UPDATE WITH IMAGES

November 3, 2008

DIWALI WITH BHAGAWAN AN UPDATE

click on photo

Diwali, the festival of lights as it is often called arrives at a time in India when the chills of the winter are spreading their tentacles slowly over everything. It arrives as a warm thawing influence and along with the lights and sweets, warm feelings and loving thoughts are also distributed among all. Across many parts of India and Nepal, it is the homecoming of Lord Ram of Ayodhya, after a 14-year exile in the forest and his victory over the evil demon-king Ravan. In the legend, the people of Ayodhya (the capital of his kingdom) welcomed Ram by lighting rows (avali) of lamps (deepa), thus its name: Deepavali. Over time, this word transformed into Diwali in Hindi and Dipawali in Nepali, but still retained its original form in South and East Indian Languages. Celebrated as Narak Chaturdashi, one day before Diwali day, it commemorates the killing of Narakasura, an evil demon who created havoc, by Lord Krishna's wife Satyabhama. According to the Puranas, the goddess of Wealth, Prosperity and Luck Lakshmi was born from the churning of the Milk Ocean, along with other magical beings and objects on this day.

In Puttaparthi, Diwali is another occasion to celebrate! Any occasion with the Lord is a reason to celebrate and so Puttaparthi has no shortage of reasons for a celebration. The day at Puttaparthi saw the confluence of people from various parts of India and the world, especially from Gujarat as the Gujarati New Year also happens to fall during this period. They had come prepared with programmes for three days and Swami in all Love and Grace had permitted them to put it up in His presence.

The 28th evening saw Swami go to the Vidyagiri stadium a little after 4:00pm. After having a look at the progress of the preparations for the Yajna starting on the 15th of November, Swami returned in about 25 minutes time. Since it was the day of Diwali, the people from Gujarat had prepared two programmes.

The first one was based on the Ramayana. It compared the Sri Rama story with the Sai Rama story and brought out the similarities between the two missions. The drama focused on the bridge building episode to highlight the power of the name. It also highlighted the same with the example of the great devotee Hanuman - how he crossed the ocean and overcame alll the demonic forces to fill the Lord's heart with hope and thrill. He also filled Lord Sai's heart with joy as Swami seemed to nostalgically reminisce on the devotion and Love exhibited by this great devotee. It had a song cum acting scene highlighting the dialogue between Ravana and Mother Sita.

As the war went on between the forces of good and the evil, little Vaanaras (monkeys) arrived in clusters holding Swami's picture. It concluded with all the children coming together in a formation. It was like the aggregation of the forces of Sathya, Dharma, Shanti and Prema.

That concluded and the children dispersed. Then a little boy so perfectly dressed as the Father of the Nation- the Mahatma, came and offered his salutations to Swami. Some more participants came up to Swami with cards, pictures and a specially prepared brochure showing the various seva activities being carried out in Gujarat. Two children then brought a special card which showed symbolically all the children contributing to the mission by rowing the boat of Sai's work. All the photos of the

participants adorned it and Swami blessed it.

The programme entitled, " The great souls meet " highlighted the various religious conflicts taking place in the world and attempted to provide solutions based on the teachings off all the great people of God - Jesus, Adi Sankaracharya, Prophet Mohammed, Swami Vivekananda, Confucius, Zarathushtra, Gautama Buddha, Mahatma Gandhi and Abraham Lincoln. It ended on a jubilant note when the Lord's voice is heard telling them not to worry for this time He Himself had arrived on earth for the redemption of mankind.

As the final formation came into place, the children came to the front and rolled out a blue velvety carpet and invited Swami to the centre of the formation They also placed a lovely cushiony lotus for Swami to rest His tender feet on!Swami sweetly obliged them and moved into their midst. After that, all the children moved back to let the participants of the first programme have their share of the Lord's time and Presence in their midst - but not before a quick padanamaskar or a word with Swami. Swami was all smiles and He called the children of the other group also to surround Him. After the photo session, Swami blessed prasadam to be distributed to all and asked for bhajans to begin. As bhajans were on, Swami went for a short while into the interview room.

Coming out Swami asked for the Aarthi. Blessing everyone, Swami moved towards the Yajur Mandir. There some school children, a few teachers and some other devotees had gathered with some fireworks. Swami so sweetly held out a sparkler and as it sizzled on, it appeared so poignant and significant. It was absolutely significant of His life - burning Himself away to lend light and joy to everyone around! He then distributed sparklers and other crackers to some children and the students. A 'garland' type cracker was lit and the sound it created was such that all devotees gathered at the gate of the Yajur mandir. A lot of smoke and sound was created. But again the sight there embodied what Swami means to the devotees. They are ready to face any hardship for even a glimpse of His beautiful form - and when you ask them why they are ready to undergo anything, they just reply, " Who is undergoing anything? We are so happy and Swami is so sweet and Loving. " As the lines of a famous song goes, " Where do I begin to tell the story of how great a Love can be? "

Swami sat a while watching the small display of flowerpots and the chakras on the ground. He advised everyone to be careful. He pointed out towards the loose clothing of some people and advised them to be at a safe distance from the lit lamps. Spending 15 minutes and giving joy to all who had gathered there, HE agreed for a second round of Aarthi and also coconut breaking before retiring for the day.