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Mahashivarathri Celebrations
8th and 9th March, 2005
The festival of
Mahashivarathri is one of the most important festivals in India.
It falls on the 14th day of the (Krishna Paksha) dark fortnight
of the Magha month of the Hindu calendar. The very word
'Shivarathri' means auspicious night. All over the country,
people throng Shiva temples and spend the night in worship and
contemplation of the Divine. Lord Shiva is worshipped as
Yogiswara and is regarded as an ideal Yogi and renunciant.
Hence, on this day, His devotees join Him, as it were, in His
austerities and forego food and sleep as homage to this prince
among Yogis.
Bhagawan arriving in Sai Kulwant
Hall
The Mahashivrathri
celebrations at Prasanthi Nilayam commenced on the morning of
8th March. Bhagawan filled the hearts of the thousands who had
gathered in Sai Kulwant hall with the joy of beholding His
divine form on this auspicious day. After ascending the dais,
Bhagawan blessed Prof. Anil Kumar, lecturer at the Sri Sathya
Sai Institute of Higher Learning, to address the gathering.
Prof. Anil Kumar
began by narrating an incident that took place when he was with
Bhagawan in Kodaikanal. On this occasion, he was seated close to
Bhagawan when, to his surprise, He noticed what seemed to be the
imprint left by an anklet around Swami's left foot. He was even
more puzzled to see that His right foot did not have a similar
mark. Mystified, he prayed to Bhagawan to reveal the
significance of this. Bhagawan explained that what he was
witnessing was the vision of Bhagawan as Lord Ardhanareeswara,
the divine principle in which both Lord Shiva and Mother Parvati
are present, Lord Shiva forming the right half of the body and
Mother Parvati or Shakti being the left part. Bhagawan had
revealed many years ago that He is the manifestation of
Shiva-Shakti, and Prof. Anil Kumar was privileged to experience
the truth of that declaration for himself. Prof. Anil Kumar's
talk was followed by speeches by Dr. Narendranath Reddy and Sri
G.K.Raman, who shared their experiences with the assembly of
devotees.
Dr. Narendranath Reddy addressing
the gathering
Bhagawan, in His
divine discourse, explained the meaning of Shivarathri, saying
that the word Shiva signifies auspiciousness. Thus, the night of
Shivarathri is one that is spiritually beneficial to devotees.
He also stated that the principle of Shiva is present in
everyone and pervades the entire universe. After Bhagawan
concluded His discourse, He sat down and then with a wave of His
hand he materialized a gold chain. He asked the students, "What
does this contain?" The students replied, "Gold". He waved His
hand again and, to everyone's surprise and wonder, there was a
gold ring in His hand in place of the chain. This time too,
Bhagawan asked what the ring was made of, and the students
answered in one voice, "Gold, Swami". He called one of the
students to the dais and inserted the ring into his finger.
Again there was the circular motion of His hand and a gold chain
appeared. It was indeed an awe-inspiring sight to see Bhagawan
create and recreate matter in so casual a manner. But, there
seemed to be a deeper significance to His actions; Bhagawan was
demonstrating what He had just mentioned in the discourse, that
the same divine principle is present in all. The ornaments may
all appear different, yet they are all made from the same
material, gold. Similarly, though names and forms may vary, the
Atma (Self) is the same in everyone. After Bhagawan's discourse,
the students of Bhagawan's school and university sang stotrams
(hymns) like Vishwanathashtakam and Bilvashtakam and devotional
songs propitiating Lord Shiva.
Shri S.V.Giri addressing the
gathering
In the afternoon,
two eminent speakers addressed the gathering at Sai Kulwant
hall. The first speaker was Sri S.V.Giri,
former Vice-Chancellor of Sri
Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning. He spoke on the
significance of the various names of Lord Shiva. Lord Shiva is
known as Ardhanareeswara i.e. both the masculine and feminine
principles are equally present in Him. This truth is evident in
Bhagawan's life too, for He treats men and women equally, and
exhorts that women should be given their due respect by society.
The appellation Neelakanta that is given to Lord Shiva is
equally applicable to Bhagawan, for just as Lord Shiva swallowed
the poison Halahala to save the world from its noxious fumes,
Bhagawan too is prepared to undergo any amount of physical
hardship to protect His devotees and ensure their welfare. After
the erudite exposition by Sri S.V.Giri, Bhagawan blessed Sri
A.V. Gokak, who recently assumed the office of the
Vice-Chancellor of Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning,
to speak. Sri Gokak stated that the Lingam, the symbol of Lord
Shiva, signifies that divine
consciousness from which all has emerged and into which
everything shall finally merge. In the very same way, he said,
the various faiths and religions of the world find their
consummation at the Lotus Feet of Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba.
He concluded by saying that people should abandon narrow
mindedness and intolerance of other religions and progress
towards that ultimate state where the one who meditates realizes
that he is one with the object of his meditation.
Shri A. V. Gokhak, Vice
Chancellor, SSSIHL
Bhagawan, in His
discourse, elaborated on various aspects of Lord Shiva. He said
that the glory of God is beyond comprehension and cannot be
adequately described by words. Bhagawan exhorted everyone to
spend the auspicious night of Shivaratri in contemplation of God
through the singing of Bhajans, instead of whiling it away in
idle pastimes. After the discourse, Bhagawan permitted the
bhajans to commence.
The bhajans continued uninterrupted through the night. Bhajan
groups from Sai centers in Bangalore, Delhi and Mumbai as well
as from overseas too joined in leading the bhajans. Sai Kulwant
hall reverberated to this outpouring of devotion that filled the
atmosphere with sacred vibrations. Ekadasha Rudra Parayana,
where the Rudram, the Vedic mantra in praise of Lord Shiva is
chanted eleven times interspersed by stanzas from Chamakam, was
also performed.
On the morning of 9th at 6.30 a.m., Bhagawan entered Sai Kulwant
hall allowing everyone to feast their eyes on the beautiful form
of their Lord. At about 7.00 a.m. Bhagawan accepted arati thus
bringing the bhajans to a close. Bhagawan graciously permitted
the prasadam (sacramental food) of pulihora (tamarind rice) and
laddus to be distributed to the gathering. It was a
heart-warming sight to watch all members of the Sai family,
without distinction of class, race or nation, sitting under one
roof and relishing the prasadam provided by their beloved Mother
Sai.
The Divine Discourse
That evening,
Bhagawan granted His divine discourse, in which He spoke about
the devotion of Karnam Subbamma, who had recognised Bhagawan's
divinity even when He was still a young boy. She was the wife of
the Karnam (landlord) of Puttaparthi village and was very fond
of young Sathya. As more and more people began to recognise
Bhagawan's divinity and
began flocking to Puttaparthi, she would lovingly look after
their welfare and serve them. She had prayed to Bhagawan to
satisfy her one desire - to receive sanctified water from His
hands during her final moments, and Bhagawan gave her His word.
Many years later, Subbamma was on her deathbed, but Bhagawan was
in faraway Madras. By the time Bhagawan returned to Puttaparthi,
she had already breathed her last and the corpse had begun to
decay. But, Bhagawan's word is Truth and has to be fulfilled.
Bhagawan rushed to her bedside, and softly called out to her,
"Subbamma, Subbamma". Wonder of wonders! the eyes flew open and
they beheld the form of her Lord. From His hands poured the
sacred water into her lips and Subbamma joined the ranks of the
released. Bhagawan narrated some more incidents from His
childhood in His enchanting voice and filled the gathering with
bliss.
At the conclusion of the discourse, arati was offered to
Bhagawan and thus the Mahashivarathri celebrations drew to a
close.
Jai Sai Ram!
Source:
http://www.srisathyasai.org.in/pages/shivarathri_05_report.htm
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