News & Notes - Jun 2007

 

 

      During the felicitations accorded to Poojya Swamiji on May 05, at Town Hall (Thrissur), two new books authored by Swamiji were released. 

‘Sannyaasa - an Inner Pilgrimage’ was released by Poojya Purushothama Swamiji by handing over the first copy to Swami Muktanandaji Maharaj of Anandashram.

‘Aatmaanubhootih’ (Sanskrit shlokas on Self-realization, composed by Swamiji, with English meaning) was released by Swami Prashantanandaji Maharaj of Ramakrishna Mission, who handed over the first copy to Swami Gabheeranandaji Maharaj of Chinmaya Mission.

      On May 02, Vedavyasa Bhavan was inaugurated in Vyasa Tapovanam, Wadakanchery, by Purushothama Swamiji. Poojya Swamiji presided over the function. Governor of Karnataka, HE Sri TN Chaturvedi, who was supposed to inaugurate the function, could not come due to sudden indisposition. Acharya Narendra Bhooshan gave the keynote address. Sri AC Moideen, MLA, Smt Rugmini Menon, Mundathikode Panchayat President, and Sri PS Mohan Das, Dist Panchayat PWD Standing Committee Chairman, were also present to grace the function.

During the inaugural talk, Purushothama Swamiji said that Vedavyasa Bhavan would become a persuasion for people to think about Vyasadeva, who compiled the Vedas and also gifted us Mahabharatam and Sreemad Bh¡gavatam, which have forged the cultural values and tradition of the land.

In his Presidential address, Poojya Swamiji pointed out that while there is widespread adoration for Sri Krishna and there are a number of temples idolizing him, Sage Vyasadeva who gifted us Krishna through his immortal writing, is not adequately recognized by people.

All monuments made of matter will gradually perish. Literary, cultural memorials alone have the unquestioned power to endure. India’s distinction is its immortal literature, on the strength of which have grown our culture and values right from times immemorial, Poojya Swamiji said.

Maa delivered the welcome address and Prof. PS Padmanabhan expressed gratitude to the dignitaries, delegates and visitors who participated in the function. The programme commenced and concluded with the National Anthem rendered by the children of the Cultural Heritage Class of the Ashram.

      Observing 50 years of Swamiji’s Sannyaasa: Arranged by some prominent citizens of the Thrissur Town, a special function felicitating Poojya Swamiji on his completing 50 years of Sannyaasa, was held on May 05, at the Town Hall. (Report on page 23)

The welcome note was delivered by Sri MP Surendran, News Editor of Mathrubhumi, the Malayalam Daily (Thrissur). Spiritual Heads of various religious institutions together lighted the five-feet tall traditional brass lamp. Then, all who were sitting along with Swamiji on the dais, spoke one by one:

Dr. Sukumar Azhikode, in his keynote address said: “Swamiji is a Mahaatmaa, who, through his writing, speech and actions, personifies the great purport of the word ‘Bhoomaa’ that the Upanishads reveal and discuss. He is showering the rain of ‘relief and redemption’ to the people, scorched otherwise by the ‘blazing wild fire of worldly life’. This is an occasion when one gets drowned in humility, shunning erudition and empty eloquence to attract the audience. An event like this is indeed rare in history. People moving under the sway of kaama and krodha (passion and intolerance) have assembled here to express their respect to a great Soul, floating in a horizon far above their mundane plane.”

Dr. Andrews Tazhattu, the Arch Bishop of Thrissur said: “Swami Bhoomananda Tirtha has realized the brilliance of the Soul and thereby achieved God-realization. Swamiji will be known as a courageous Social Reformer and a Lover of humanity.”

Janab Faisy Onampilli, the Imam from Valiapalli said: “Rising beyond the ascetic life of an Ashram, Swami Bhoomananda Tirtha is shining as a Dhaarmic fighter, demolishing and uprooting evil practices of the society. Swamiji’s eyes, by their glance of mercy, grace all people alike.” Quoting from the scriptures in chaste Sanskrit, the Imam said that through his actions Swamiji has amply demonstrated the truths in the Bhagavadgeetaa and the Upanishads.

Swami Prashantanandaji Maharaj of Ramakrishna Mutt, Thrissur, said: Mahaatmaas are like the Spring season. Having crossed the torments of worldly life themselves, they constantly help others to cross the worldly ocean. Swamiji is not merely a ‘spring wind’, but also a ‘huge cyclone’ itself, capable of uprooting all obstacles on the path of dharma.

Swami Muktanandaji of Anandashram (Kanhangad) said: “Swamiji is an elevated ascetic (Yativarya) who gives constantly the much needed directions to saadhakas and seekers of Truth, directly and indirectly, revealing the presence of God in all, in an inimitable style of his own.”

Swami Gabheeranandaji of Chinmaya Mission, Thrissur, said: “The past fifty years of Swamiji’s life have been filled with the ‘fragrance of renunciation’.”

Swami Purushothama Tirtha ji shared many interesting anecdotes about Swamiji as well as himself, especially about their embracing Sannyaasa.

Kerala Speaker Sri K. Radhakrishnan, offering the upahaara to Poojya Swamiji, said: “Distinguishing virtue and vice, good and bad, Swami Bhoomananda Tirtha is guiding the society onto the right path. Not remaining confined to the Ashram, by understanding the actual impediments of man’s material life and coming forward to help the situation, Swamiji has been playing a crucial role in keeping the society unified and strong.”

Prof. R. Bindu, Mayor of Thrissur, Sri Sunil Kumar, MLA, Sri AC Moideen, MLA, Sri C Vijayan, Thiruvambady Devaswam President, and Sri K Balakrishnan, Paramekkavu Devaswam President also spoke on the occasion.

After Poojya Swamiji’s talk, Dr. Ramankutty expressed gratitude to all the participants. The function concluded with the National Anthem. Before leaving the hall, everybody received Jnaana Prasaada (in the form of the booklet, Vijnaana Muthukal) and sweet from Poojya Swamiji.

      74th Jayanti of Poojya Swamiji: In the Ashram, preparations to celebrate the Jayanti had started weeks before the function. The Ashram atmosphere was already festive, with the two significant functions held on May 02 and May 05. Many devotees from various places had come to participate in the functions.

The children from the Cultural Heritage Class and the inmates of the Ashram had decorated the Vijnaana Bhavan with fragrant garlands and elegant kolam. They conducted a devotional bhajan session before the programme. The paada-pooja was performed by Smt Manjir and Sri Salil Bhowmik of Kolkata.

In his message, Swamiji emphasized the need for householders to understand and assimilate the significance of the fourth order of life, Sannyaasa, and contribute to the society by gifting their children to sannyaasa-ashram. About 350 devotees took part in the bhakti-bhojanam.

CIRD - Delhi: For nearly 2 weeks, devotees of Poojya Swamiji in Delhi had been planning eagerly and devotedly for the function to be held on the occasion of their beloved Gurudev’s Jayanti.

On the 13th, CIRD was buzzing with activity right from 5:00 a.m. – decorating the Satsang Hall, arranging the books counter, setting up the Annakshetra, and many more activities related to the day’s function.

Just around 7:00 a.m., Nutan Swamiji called from the Ashram and suggested that a live session with Swamiji can be arranged over the telephone lines. For us, this was a wonderful surprise! Some of the devotees ran around to set up the equipment so that everyone could hear their beloved

Gurudev clearly. At around 7:40 a.m., the programme commenced with Sanjay, Kavita and Rima leading the chorus chanting of the Guru Stotras. Following this, Guru-arcanaa was performed by Smt Usha Dharmadhikari, Smt Sangeeta Gupta and Smt Anuja Chouhan.

Immediately after this, Poojya Swamiji spoke from Thrissur. We felt Swamiji was sitting right in front! Talking about Shankaracharya, who left his widowed mother to meet his Guru, Govindapaada, Swamiji recollected, in a voice laced with deep gratitude, how he also got the great refuge at the feet of Baba, his own Gurudev. Like Shankara, who, following his Gurudev’s instructions, spread the knowledge across the length and breadth of India, Swamiji too has spent fifty years of his life awakening the people of the country and abroad. In this effort, which stemmed from a purely selfless desire for the upliftment of the society, he has felt satisfaction, he said. Lastly, Swamiji exhorted more people to come and participate in this mission.

After Poojya Swamiji’s talk, Saadhvi Haripriyaaji spoke for a few minutes on one of the shlokas from the Bhagavadgeetaa. Then the Audio CD of Maa’s lively and vivid narration of the May 5th function was played, which made us feel virtually transported to the Town Hall at Thrissur. The photographs taken during the session were put up outside the Satsang hall for all to see. The newspaper coverage of the May 5th function and the special supplement in Mathrubhumi about Poojya Swamiji (released on 05 May, 2007) were also displayed.

About 100 devotees, including the thirty children of the Cultural Heritage class, participated in the function. The beautiful rangoli at the altar in the Satsang Hall, photographs and newspaper cuttings with Poojya Swamiji’s beaming pictures at the entrance, everyone’s collective participation in the preparations for the whole event, Maa’s vivid narration, and above all, Poojya Swamiji’s deep emotional talk, made the occasion very sublime, inspiring and fulfilling!

CIRD Malaysia: This year Poojya Swamiji’s Jayanti was celebrated with much enthusiasm and vigour according to directions received from the Ashram. Planning for this day had started more than four weeks ago as we asked for suggestions from devotees after the regular Sunday and Thursday satsangs. We had expected about 50 devotees, but to our delight the final number reached 62!

The programme commenced with paada-puja conducted by five devotees: Nadarajah and Manohari from Seremban, and Veelayudan, Gnaneswari, and Sotheeswari from Kuala Lumpur. All the women came in light coloured sarees while the men wore dhotis. Uncle Ramaswamy Iyer led the chanting of the 108 n¡m¡val¢. Everyone was given a copy of the naamaavali so that they could recite along with Uncle Ramaswamy. After the paada-puja, the rest of the devotees offered flowers at Poojya Swamiji’s lotus feet to the chorus chanting of “Om Namah Sadaa shiivaaya, Om Namo Naaraayanaaya” by all of us.

Copies of Poojya Swamiji’s message were distributed to everybody. After Malati read out the message, Unnikrishnan discussed the main points. Then a video of a 20 minute interview Poojya Swamiji had in September 2006 with Astro Vaanavil, the local T.V. channel, was shown.

All of us felt that Swamiji was in our presence giving us Vedanta in a nutshell. While the paada-puja and subsequent programmes were going on in the satsang hall, preparations in the Annakshetra were in full swing. After the bhojana-pavitreekaranam (sanctifying the food) in front of Swamiji’s photograph, bhakti-bhojanam was served to all at 12.00 noon. All the devotees who spoke to us expressed that the atmosphere was sublime and peaceful being “in the company” of Swamiji. The day was also an opportunity for many to reflect on Swamiji’s perennial advice.

Brahma Vidya Centre (Jamshedpur): The programme began with the blowing of the auspicious conch reverberating through the large hall at Madrasi Sammelani. More than 150 devotees and well-wishers had assembled. It was heartening to see the whole group seated in neat rows, looking towards the large photograph of Poojya Swamiji, resplendent amidst the decoration of flowers.

The significance of the occasion was well brought out by Smt Manju Tripathy. The assembled devotees felt closer to their Gurudev as Manju shared with them the news of special events that took place in Thrissur on the occasion of the 50th year of Swamiji’s sannyaasa.

Smt Lalitha Krishnaswamy was invited to light the auspicious lamp. As the flame of the lamp glowed in divine aura, the sound of ‘Vande gurunaam caranaaravinde…’ echoed from the devotees.

The flower petals offered during the Guru-arcana by Sri Anirudh and Smt Malti Singh, carried the heartfelt prayers of all the devotees around.

Sri Sarvesh Khanna, a deeply spiritual person and an ardent supporter of BVC, was invited to begin the Daana Satra, which has become an important part of the celebrations and a popular event in the city. The long queue of recipients proceeded towards the counters where they were gifted packets of rice and cloth. 225 persons had been given coupons but many more had arrived, some ladies with children and a few old persons helped along by others. The volunteers served them prasaadam and water. As they moved forward, some of them joined in the chanting of ‘Hare Rama Hare Krishna…’ echoing through the hall. For a short while, their dull, watery eyes, gleamed with happiness at the thought that society had not forgotten them – at least for one day.

Brahma Vidya Centre (Pune): Almost all of Swamiji’s devotees in Pune were present for the occasion. The program started with the chanting of “Janmaanekashaataih…”. On behalf of Swamiji’s devotees, Smt Anita and Sri DK Shrivastava performed Guru-arcanaa. Smt Divya and Smt Gayatri chanted Ashtottara-shata-naamaavali. After the Pushpasamarpanam, there was a very sublime and beautiful session of naama japa for about thirty minutes.

Poojya Swamiji’s Jayanti message was read out by Smt Gayatri Nishith. Photocopies of the message were distributed to all present.

      Gurupoornima & Retreat programmes: As announced in the May issue, the Gurupoornima & Retreat Programmes will be conducted between July 29 and Aug 04

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