Athi Rudra Maha Yagna, Navarathri Homa and Durga Puja

Thursday, October 22, 2015 – Morning: As the day dawned and the bright sun peeped through the hills, Sathya Sai Grama was already reverberating with Vedic chants, filling the air with blissful energy.

Vedic chants charging the atmosphere

The proceedings for the day commenced at dawn with the priests performing the Navami Puja for Goddess Durga. Swami arrived at around 11 am after which the Poornahuti and Dashami Puja were performed, since both the Navami and Dashami days were aligned, marking the end of the Navaratri festival. A special 'Bidai' (farewell) ceremony was performed for the Goddess, indicating the end of the festivities.

Bidaii (farewell) to Goddess Durga

This morning also witnessed the Sai Gayatri Homa being performed with blissful fervour as a part of the Navaratri celebrations. Gayatri is the mother of all the Vedas. Gayatri Mantra is a sacred chant comprising of praise, meditation, and prayer. First the Divine is praised, and then meditated upon in reverence, and finally an appeal is made to the Divine to awaken and strengthen the intellect. The sacred hymns of the Sai Gayatri were chanted over five-lakh times by all those assembled. Swami mentioned that the atmosphere in Muddenahalli was so electric that the priests did not want to leave this heaven and return to the world.

Gayathri Homa

Meanwhile, the Athi Rudra Maha Yagna was being conducted with fervour in the Yagashala. Swami, after visiting the Hrudaya Mandiram, came to the Yaagashala, was seated until Poornahuthi, and departed around 1 pm.

The sacred Yaagashala

Thursday, October 22, 2015 – Evening: The evening session began with bhajans as Swami arrived around 5:30 pm. This was followed by Veda chanting by devotees from Malaysia, Australia, Japan and Venezuela.

Vedic chants by devotees from Malaysia, Australia, Japan and Venezuela

Sri Badri Narayanan, on Bhagawan's instructions, shared his personal journey from being a student in the Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning to having realised his Lord. He expounded that it is indeed a great sacrifice to hold on to the world and its temporary nature rather than God. The Bhagawatha rendition resumed with the tale of Krishna travelling to Mathura in order to vanquish his uncle Kamsa and reinstate his parents and grandfather to their rightful position.

Sri Badri Narayanan narrating his own personal journey towards God

Next, Sri Chong Chiu Sen, a renowned Carnatic musician from Malaysia, offered a string of beautifully woven devotional songs at the divine lotus feet. Sri Sen left the audience in a state of trance with his soulful rendition of Thyagaraja Kritis.

Sri Chong Chiu Sen had the audience spell-bound with his flawless rendition of Carnatic Krithis

This musical treat was followed by a talk by Sri C Srinivas, who is well known for his dedicated service to the healthcare mission of Bhagawan. Sri Srinivas claimed that Swami is the source of all the strength in the world and He is the one who enables us to discharge our duties in His mission. He mentioned that the Love of Swami is unfathomable; the love of a mother, in which form we have adored him for the past fortnight, can attempt to come close to His love.

Sri C Srinivas extolling Bhagawan as the source of all strength

The next speaker was Sri HR Nagendra, the president of sVYASA who has been instrumental in the propagation of Yoga world over and in the creation of International Yoga Day. Sri Nagendra spoke about the need to give up ego and in turn surrender to Bhagawan. While stating that Yoga can cleanse the body, mind and the soul, he expressed his desire that the world would recognise that Yoga does not restrict itself to postures and 'Aasanas', rather is a way of life.

Sri H R Nagendra dwelling on the significance of Yoga

The talk was followed by Bhagawan's Discourse.

Summary of Divine Discourse:

The water bubble emerges from water, lives on water, and finally merges in water. Similarly man is the water bubble and God Himself is the water. This is the Truth. There is no way you can say, "This is God and this is not God." Because everything is nothing but God Himself. These times are very, very sacred. One yuga is ending, another yuga is starting. Even very ordinary people at that point of time will be able to enter the spiritual path. Man without knowing his destination, is drifting in darkness. That is the time when divine incarnations and many men of penance and yoga will come up to show them the right destination.

Yoga is not just confined to the body. "You are not one but three. The one you think you are – that is the body. The one others think you are – that is the mind. The one you really are – that is the atma principle. Yoga is required for all the three constituents of the human personality. In our scriptures it is depicted as the Mother Goddess manifesting in the forms of three – Durga, Lakshmi, Saraswati. The physical power is Durga. The mental and intellectual power is Saraswati. The spiritual power is Lakshmi. Lakshmi does not mean just material wealth and possessions. Bliss is our true wealth. And it is Lakshmi who confers on us this bliss.

Perfection in action is yoga. Whatever you do, if you do it perfectly and offer it with love to God it is transformed into yoga. The body is the basis of all noble and charitable activities and is given to us to cross over the ocean of samsara. There is a very intimate and subtle relationship between the body and the mind. Body is like a vessel. And the water in the vessel is the mind. When the body is moving, vessel is moving, the water also will be moving. Through practice of yoga you can make the body steady to a very great extent. When the body becomes steady, mind also becomes steady. If you want to control the thought vibrations in your mind, 'yogabhayasa' – practice of yoga – is very necessary. There are three things you can attain through yoga – first is you will be able to do perfect actions, second is you will be able to control the mind and thirdly, you will attain equanimity of mind in all situations. This equanimity of mind is nothing but the atma principle. In moving waters you can't see your reflection. Therefore it is not possible in the fickle mind to see the steady atma. If you do a little pranayama or breathing exercise, you will be able to control your mind to a great extent.

If you want to attain divine consciousness and enjoy that bliss, you have to move from 'I' to 'We' to 'He' – that is the journey. From 'svaartha' to 'paraartha', from 'paraartha' to 'paramaarthaa'. Once you give up selfishness and become selfless, you have attained the divine principle. God plus desire equals man. Man minus desire equals God.

Next year we are going to start an educational campus in Hassan district – Sri Sathya Sai Sathya Niketanam and next June this school will start functioning. All of you should help this cause and see that is happens. You have to learn that education which will lead you to immortality. That is spiritual education and selfless education. Even if this magnificent yajna had to take place, one family from Kerala sold all their properties and offered it at the Lotus Feet of Swami. When such selfless programs and projects take place, all others should also develop that selfless feeling. In this kind of work, the government, the people, the children, elders, everybody should get together. You can achieve anything with unity. Tomorrow is the day when Kali yuga ends and Sathya yuga begins.

Be Good - Be Happy
Always Have Compassion

Sai Surya