Poojya Swamiji along with Nutan Swamiji and Maa, arrived at Jamshedpur on Feb 11 by the Geetanjali Express. Sri Narendran and his wife Smt Kaladevi had devoutly offered to vacate their residence temporarily so that arrangements could be made for Swamiji’s stay there. Their residence became the abode of Swamiji. The house was transformed overnight into an Ashram, much to the joy of the Jamshedpur devotees. Guru Arcana with Paada-pooja was held on Sunday, the 12th at 5.30 p.m. Sri Virendra Gulati and his wife, Smt Namita Gulati performed the Paada-pooja on behalf of all the devotees. This beautiful and sublime ceremony was well attended by both devotees and seekers.

Swamiji’s five-day discourse on ‘Role of Renunciation in Enriching Household Life’ was held at the Madrasi Sammelani, Bistupur, from Feb 15 to 19. Swamiji’s talks were based on the Bhagavadgeeta. He spoke forcefully about how ‘Inner Renunciation’ could transform the life of a householder. While his voice resounded through the hall, our hearts were full and tears gathered in our eyes as we remembered how ill Swamiji had been just a few months ago. There was no sign of any weakness as Swamiji illumined the attentive audience on how they too could become sannyasins while remaining in the household. 

On Feb 20, Swamiji visited Anandmayee Maa Ashram. Maa and Nutan Swamiji accompanied him. Swamiji addressed an audience of about a hundred seekers in the Satsang Hall. In an inspiring talk, he spoke about the importance of deeksha in the life of a seeker.

On Feb 21, Poojya Swamiji, Maa and Nutan Swamiji visited Bal Kalyan Vidya Mandir, a school for poor children. The school was started by Smt Meera Ghosh, an old devotee of Swamiji almost four decades ago. In fact, it was Swamiji who had suggested the name for the school. These facts got revealed to the ladies who are presently running the school, when they came across some very old letters and photographs of our Swamiji amongst the school papers. The students chanted the Gayatri Mantra, followed by singing of a Hindi Bhajan.

They chanted and sang so beautifully, Poojya Swamiji was visibly moved and tears welled up in his eyes. He explained to them the significance of the Gayatri Mantra and said that they should always remain fearless and confident. Maa also spoke to them about the Sunday classes in the Ashram and also about the classes held at the CIRD, Delhi. The children listened attentively with bright shining eyes wide open in wonder! This was indeed a unique experience for them. It was such a joyful sight that we all wished we could capture it for eternity! After the session, food packets were given to the students. 

The Vishnu Sahasranaama Mahaa Yajña was held at the Bharat Sevashram Sangh grounds on Sunday, Feb 26. More than 1500 devotees participated in the yajña. We noticed that this year many more people came forward to help in the arrangements for the yajña the day before. It was indeed a sublime sight to see the volunteers working together so silently and attentively! This time food packets were distributed, instead of serving the food in plates, as was done in the previous years. The crowd management was excellent and all participants and observers were very appreciative of the disciplined manner in which everything was conducted.

Besides these programmes, there were regular satsangs at Swamiji’s residence. Maa and Nutan Swamiji held classes on saadhana from Feb 13 to 15. Classes on Kathopanishad were conducted by Nutan Swamiji from Feb 16 to 20. After the Vishnu Sahasranaama Yajña, Maa and Nutan Swamiji taught us slokas from the Nityasamarpanam, explaining their meaning and significance, also showing us how to chant them correctly with the right intonations. All these classes were well attended and proved to be extremely beneficial to devotees and seekers.

Every morning, at 7.30 a.m., there was Pushpa-samarpanam followed by Prabhaata-rashmih, in which Swamiji spoke about various aspects of saadhana. The sublimity of these early morning talks drew many seekers. Regular satsangs with Swamiji were held in the mornings from 10:45 a.m. to 11:45a.m. and in the evenings from 7 to 8 p.m. (except on the days when there were other programmes).

Swamiji, Maa and Nutan Swamiji observed that there were many new people who participated in all the programmes as well as the satsangs. The satsang hall was overflowing with people and extra seating arrangements had to be made so that many more could participate. Every day at the Annakshetra, people were lovingly served food by devotees. Maa very lovingly guided and corrected us whenever necessary and we learnt to become more disciplined and cohesive. She observed each of us very keenly and always gave the necessary inputs that helped to intensify our saadhana. 

With heavy hearts and tearful eyes, we bade farewell to Swamiji, Maa and Nutan Swamiji as they left for Calcutta on their way back to Trichur. They left by the Geetanjali Express on Mar 02, at around 10 a.m. Though they would always remain in our hearts, we missed their physical presence and the days that followed were spent treasuring the memories of their stay in Jamshedpur. 

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13th May morning, 8:30 am. Fresh flowers decorated the hall and the platform on which Poojya Swamiji’s photograph was kept. While the tables were arranged and the seating arrangement was being made, a thought crossed our minds. The work was being done much more smoothly and with greater warmth and enthusiasm than before – the magic charm of ‘Guru-kripa’!

At 9 am, with the chanting of OM and the auspicious sound of the conch, the programme began. On behalf of all the devotees, two of our sisters, Tapaswini and Indira, offered flower petals during the Guru Archana.

The hall was filled with nearly 230 recipients of the daana, their children and a large number of devotees. It was heartening to see quite a few new faces too. Amidst the chanting of ‘Paropakaaraaya phalanti vrkshaah .. ..’, the long queue of Daridra-Narayana slowly came forward and received the packets of prasaada and daana offering. A feeling of joy filled our hearts. By the end of the function, the sun had decided to break free from the clouds. But our hearts were too full to feel the heat.

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For us at Jamshedpur, it was another divine experience. The Gurupoornima function was conducted at the residence of Dr Aloke and Smt Rumni. The hall was beautifully decorated with garlands of orange and white flowers and strands of green leaves between them. In spite of the light drizzle, the hall soon filled up and the programme started as scheduled at 6 pm.

Sri L.N. Ojha welcomed everyone and spoke on the significance of this special day. We assembled in front of Swamiji’s photograph and started the programme with the auspicious ‘OM’. After the chanting of Vishnusahasranama, Sri Narendran and Kaladevi did the archana. Every petal they offered symbolised the humble prostrations of all disciples at Swamiji’s feet. Thereafter everyone listened intently to Swamiji’s message.

As everyone arose for Pushpa-samarpanam, we realised that the outer verandah was also filled up. The rain, which had by then started pouring heavily, did not deter devotees coming from very far. It filled our hearts to see that more than 100 people had arrived.

As the prasaada distribution was going on, many devotees expressed the sublime feelings they experienced during the function. One of the devotees particularly mentioned that he was always drawn to the gathering of Swamiji’s devotees, by the saattvika atmosphere that generally prevailed during these functions.

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