Brindavan Roundup 2004
A slew of activities
brought the month of May to a close and auspiciously ushered in
the month of June.
On May 20th, 2004,
Swami had clothes distributed to the Bhajan
singers at Bangalore as a sign of His appreciation for their
service to Him. These group of singers, both men and women,
practice assiduously the year round, so that they could sing for
their Lord when He is resident in Brindavan for 2 or 3 months
during the summer. They lead the Bhajans
on Thursday morning and on Sundays. This group was initially
formed by Swami Himself and He nourished and took an active part
in training them in the early years.
On
May 27th, 2004, the Bala Vikas
children of the education wing of the Sri Sathya Sai Seva
Organizations, Karnataka region staged a drama entitled “Shiva
Bhakte” in the Divine Presence at the Sai Kishan Kalyana Mantap in
Brindavan, Bangalore. This drama outlines the story of Malamma, of
the Hemareddy family. She is an ardent devotee of Lord
Mallikarjuna and sees Him in everyone. Her in-laws do not like her
habit of always feeding the beggars who come to the door, and send
her away to live alone in the forest, away from the rest of the
family. Reaping the fruit of their bad actions, their crop fails.
Malamma however, prays ardently to Lord Mallikarjuna to show mercy
to the Hemareddy family. The Lord grants her prayer and they reap
a golden harvest. Malamma’s relatives apologise and lovingly take
her back in their midst.
Once a woman,
having heard that Malamma was able to reap a bountiful harvest
after sowing grains of sand as she had given away the seeds to the
needy, tries to do the same but was disappointed. Because only
true devotion is rewarded by the Lord. All the depth of feeling
was brought out by the children and thoroughly enjoyed by one and
all.
On May 28th, 2004,
Sai Gitanjali, celebrated their 7th anniversary in the Divine
Presence. The Sai Gitanjali Center was opened by Swami in 1997 to
provide a building for educational activities, run a library,
provide vocational guidance and specialized medical consultancy,
and run a literary center, all free of charge. After a morning of
enchanting Bhajans in the Divine
Presence, prasadam was distributed to
all.
June
3rd signaled a milestone in the lives of the young students of the
Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning. This day marked the
beginning of the academic year. The boys welcomed Swami to Sai
Ramesh Hall to the sonorous sounds of Vedic chants. One could see
that Swami was visibly pleased. The Vedic chants were followed by
melodious bhajans sung by the
students. At the conclusion of the morning festivities, the joy
was shared with all devotees by the distribution of sumptuous
prasadam to all present. The students
then walked to the Institute building from Sai Ramesh Hall to
begin their academic year. And yes, they all prayed to Lord
Ganesha (Whom they had nicely dressed up earlier) in front of the
Institute building to remove all obstacles from their path in this
new academic year.
The evening of June
3rd saw the performance of yet another drama entitled “Naradana
Nataka” by the members and children of Sai Darshan. Sai Darshan
works for the upliftment of the slum children of Bangalore who
acted in this play also. The play centered around Sathyabhama’s
jealousy and Indra’s selfishness. Satyabhama covets the Parijatha
flower at any cost because she hears that Rukmini has received one
such flower at the hands of Krishna. Krishna fulfils her wish.
However, when the time comes to part with the Parijatha tree,
Indra forgets Krishna’s Divinity and all the help he has received
from Krishna and calls Him a common thief.
It is Sage Narada
who creates the entire drama to open the eyes of Rukmini and
Sathyabhama and to show us mortals the lessons to be drawn from
the “leelas” of Divinity which are continuing even to this day.
Swami was
pleased
with the performance of these slum children and manifested a
golden chain for the young boy who played the part of Sage Narada.
On morning of June
5th, 2004, Swami inaugurated an exhibition entitled ‘Educare, the
Vedas of the 21st century’. After inaugurating the exhibition, He
went around the exhibits and blessed all the organizers. He also
sat and watched an entire computer presentation specially prepared
for Him.
On June 7th, 2004,
Swami left Brindavan and departed to Puttaparthi.
Source:
Radio Sai E-Magazine,
July 1st, 2004
http://www.radiosai.org/Journals/Vol_02/13July01/07_Brindavan_Roundup/brindavan.htm
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