A Report from Narayanashrama Tapovanam
Gurupoornima
is a very special occasion for our Ashram. Devotees
await this time of the year eagerly to be in close
proximity of their beloved Guru. This is followed by
an intense 6-day Retreat.
This
year nearly 80 participants were lovingly hosted. A
lot of care and attention was given to make their
stay comfortable and pleasant. Preparations had
started well in advance, and finally the day dawned.
The activities started in the backdrop of melodious
sound of “prithvee sagandhaa“ from the Samaadhi
Mandir.
The invocation touched the very
core, and even the heavens could not contain
themselves and came down as torrential showers to
participate in the festivities.
The
Ashram looked majestic atop the hill. The rays of
the rising sun spread and caressed the gently
swaying coconut trees. The whole place was aglow
adorned with beautiful decorations, so joyously put
up by the village children and devotees the night
before.
Maa
in her characteristic loving way explained the
significance of the day’s function, after offering
her pranams – "namo namaste gurave mahaatmane".
Her soulful rendering of the shlokas generated a
most sublime atmosphere and set the tone for the
day. Nutan Swamiji enlightened us about the ancient
tradition of offering worship to the Guru-paramparaa,
starting from the Creator Brahmaa and Narayana. The
worship commenced with Nutan Swamiji chanting the
traditional Guru-paramparaa shlokas. Sri Bharat
& Smt Savita Wakhlu (devotees of Poojya Swamiji
from USA) performed the paada pooja to Poojya
Swamiji on behalf of all those present.
How
blessed were we to witness such a holy sight – our
Gurudev seated in the centre, near the photo of his
Gurudev and that of the paramparaa; Swamiji’s
disciples, Nutan Swamiji and Maa, were on either
side; and we, devotees seated at the lotus feet of
our beloved Guru. Our whole being was soaked in a
feeling of blessedness at being a part of this great
spiritual family. Our minds and hearts vibrated with
the blessings of our spiritual ancestors. Have we
understood the significance of Guru-Sishya
relationship – one wonders!
The
essence of Swamiji’s message on this occasion was
on renunciation, vairaagya and Vaanaprastha, and how
these can be cultivated in the mind. With these
inspirational words resounding in everyone’s ears,
all present received prasaada from Swamiji.
Even
though the minds wanted to be absorbed in Swamiji’s
words, it was not the time for this luxury. Our dear
Swamiji is by nature a very active person. Can we
devotees be left behind? So, from the absorbed
atmosphere of the Vijnaana Bhavan we move on to the
activity field of the Annakshetra! Over 300 people
were given bhakti bhojana. This marked the end of
the day’s festivities. But, for the participants
of the Retreat, the journey had just begun – the
journey of the mind.
The
Retreat began on the 12th July and culminated on the
17th with the Anna vastra-Daana-Satra. The day
started with Poojya Swamiji briefly speaking to us
after the Pushpa-samarpanam. During the
Prabhaata-rashmih Swamiji elaborated on the concept of renunciation as the
true nature and expression of the Soul. We still somehow seem to have distanced
ourselves from our very Being.
In
the Bhagavadgeeta talks, Swamiji beautifully
elucidated the message of the Geeta as applied to our daily life.
Lord Krishna’s message thousands of years ago became as relevant to us today
as it was then to Arjuna.
The
interactional saadhana about which Swamiji has been
explaining to us all these years, formed the base for
Nutan Swamiji’s sessions, titled “Intensifying
Saadhana in Daily Life”. Emphasis
was on the saadhana of bhava-shuddhih. If the bhaava is purified, then whatever
expressions (thoughts, words or actions) arise from the mind, will automatically be
pure. We understood that we need to shift the focus from the thoughts, words
and actions to the bhaava giving rise to them.
Poojya
Swamiji’s message was beautifully complemented by
Nutan Swamiji’s class. Interspersed with personal examples
from his life as a saadhaka, the class was very inspirational. Concepts which
so far seemed out of reach were now not so unachievable.
Poojya
Swamiji’s exposition on vairaagya and
renunciation, along with Vaanaprastha, started sowing tender
seeds in the minds of the listeners. During the leisure time, devotees would
enthusiastically discuss the whole concept of
Vaanaprastha sometimes in a lighter
vein too. Based on the Sreemad Bhaagavatam, Swamiji read out portions pertaining
to Vaanaprastha during the night satsangs. Interesting queries were put forth.
‘Vaanaprastha’ which we thought meant wandering in the forest, took on a
new dimension. Our dear Swamiji has a special knack of bridging the gap of age-old
tradition, which with the passage of generations may begin to lose its
practicality, and put it in a rational and moderated way, so as not to lose
even the least relevance in the modern era.
The
Retreat was coming to an end. On the 17th morning,
with the concluding session in the Vijnaana Bhavan, the
focus shifted to the Kaananam Guest House, where the annual
Anna-vastra Daana
Satra was to take place. This forms an extremely important activity. The
devotees are pitched together to take up different jobs – packing rice, making
paayasam, making arrangements for the distribution etc. When a large group works
together, dynamics is bound to develop, and this gave enough opportunity to the
saadhakas to put their interactional saadhana into practice.
The
first timers were dumbfounded with the frantic speed
with which everything happened. One cannot imagine the
sheer quantity of paayasam that is cooked, to be distributed to 3,500 recipients!
A lot of attention is given to every minute detail. Serpentine queues of recipients
started forming from morning. In all 3,500 families received rice, cloth and
paayasam.
Poojya Swamiji has been telling us to develop a dimension wherein we serve the first
to the last person with the same respectful attitude. There was a lot to learn
seeing Swamiji on his feet from 3 o’clock to 7 o’clock distributing the packets
from his own hand till the last man received the
daana.
From
time immemorial, the torch of Brahmavidya has been
passed down from the Guru to the Sishya. Witnessing it
kept aflame is surely an extremely humbling and enriching experience. What better
offering can one make to our beloved Guru, than to resolve to intensify our
saadhanaa, so that we may be worthy of being his disciples. A fervent prayer rises
from the heart. May we be able to contribute to this great lineage in whatever
measure we can.
Kavita Gupta
A Report from Jamshedpur
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
arcanaa. 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.
Dipa Sengupta
A Report from CIRD, Vasundhara (near Delhi)
On
the 11th morning at CIRD, Delhi, the Gurupoornima
programme started a little late. The generator played
truant at the last moment. We did test it the last Sunday, but not the previous night.
We remembered Poojya Swamiji’s emphasis on thoroughness in every little
work, and reprimanded ourselves for the laxity.
After
a very short introduction on the significance of
Gurupoornima, we started the function chanting Janmaaneka-sataih... followed by
Ashtottara-sata-naamaavali
– 108 holy epithets in adoration of
our Poojya Gurudev. Sri Bhargava and Smt Neera performed the
arcanaa on
behalf of all the devotees. Saadhvi Haripriyaji, with her devotion filled words,
extolled all to see God in Gurudev Himself. An audio recording of one of the
morning messages (Prabhaata-rashmih) was played, in which Poojya Swamiji had
explained about the power of the mind.
Thereafter,
we had Poojya Gurudev’s powerful message read out
in both English and Hindi, where he had underlined
the importance of the Gurupoornima event. A copy of the message was
distributed to all as they entered.
The
programme ended with devotees offering flowers at
the photo of Poojya Swamiji. Saadhvi Haripriyaji
distributed prasaada with choral naama-sankeertana
filling the atmosphere. About 100
people had assembled, including some from the nearby juggis (slum areas). It is
wonderful to note that in this land of India, we still have a large number of devout
people who make it a point to remember their Gurus on this great day. Indeed, if
this is a blessed land, it may only be for this reason.
Sanjay
Chakravarty
A Report from Pune
The
Gurupoornima function took place at the residence of
Sri Mahesh and Smt Divya. The programme started at 6 pm
with bhajans and naama-sankeertana. Sri and Smt Bhagavan Prasad offered
flowers at Poojya Swamiji’s photo while Sri Rajgopalan chanted
ashthottara-sata-naamavali.
Then
we read out Poojya Swamiji’s message on the
significance of Gurupoornima. For the Daana Satra conducted after
the event, 25 families including their children were invited from the nearby slum as
recipients. We performed aarati chanting na
tatra sooryo bhaati … …. The
whole atmosphere was filled with divinity.
This
time around 110 people were present. Initially, we
were very worried whether the function will take place
properly, but many new people came up to help us in organizing the event. Everybody
participated in arranging the programme. How we wished Poojya Swamiji could see
their faces radiating with love and satisfaction at the end of the
function! We all felt fortunate that we got the opportunity to conduct an event like
this.
Divya Menon
