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| Swami is all smiles as He enters the hall where all the members of the Jadhav family have gathered. |
Padapooja or Padasevanam or the worship
of the Lord’s feet has been considered as the fourth among the nine
forms of devotion. Though Swami has given the unique interpretation
of worshipping the Lord’s feet as following in the footsteps of the
Master, He also allows the devotees to actually perform worship to
His feet when they pine for and pray for it. The Jadhav family had
been blessed thus.
(Dear
reader,
If you have come directly to this post, I
would like to egg you on to enjoy the full story with its
history. Link to part 1 is given below and the link to the
next part will be at the end of each previous part. Thank
you.
 |
| As expected, it was the parents that got the opportunity to worship His feet. |
The worship of His feet began once they
had been prayerfully washed with scented water and dabbed dry with a
soft cloth. The parents of the Jadhavs began the ceremony by
offering rose petals and golden flowers at His feet. Mr. Shivajirao
Jadhav recalled later,
"We thought that our parents should get
this chance to worship His feet. But Swami was so merciful; one by
one, He allowed this coveted opportunity to all the members of our
family. The last time He was at Latur, many of our family members
were unhappy as they did not have close
darshan
to their heart’s content. But now all
are so happy."
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| A pair of wooden sandals and a pair of silver sandals were offered at the Lotus Feet. |
Swami permitted the
padapooja
to go on for about half an hour. His feet decorated with red and
gold was resplendent. Swami then moved around granting
namaskar
and blessings even to the workers, staff and servants of the
household! At about 5:20 p.m., He emerged out of this hall and once
again was by the poolside. I got a few wonderful photos from across
the pool and Swami looked at me from there too. Once in the car,
Bhagavan started His return journey to the Residence.
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| What joy to behold the beautiful, divine feet adorned thus! |
We started to follow Him but He said,
"All the boys go down and start
bhajans."
Implicit obedience was the nature of everyone among the team for
Swami always has His wisdom behind everything He says. We went to
the porch of the Vitthala temple on the first floor and started
bhajans.
Ten minutes later, as the door of the lift opened, Swami arrived
onto the makeshift dais. Bhagawan then asked Mr. Shivajirao Jadhav
to address the gathering. As this speech progressed, Swami gently
dropped the rose that the Jadhav had given Him onto the floor by
Him. I called the security guard seated nearby and told him to take
and treasure that special flower. Any
rosebud offered to the Lord
is definitely special for it has received the divine touch.
 |
| Mr.Shivajirao Jadhav addresses the huge gathering. |
Mr. Jadhav, who spoke in Marathi,
thanked Bhagawan profusely in all humility for His visit. He was
also grateful to the masses who had stepped into that pristine
surrounding sanctified by Bhagawan’s Divine Presence. To the delight
of all gathered he declared that Pandurangakshetra was in the shape
of the Divine ‘Om’ – the source of all knowledge, the seat of all
dharma.
Mr. Jadhav then reverentially reminisced the day’s events when
Bhagawan had graciously performed the
Prana Pratishtha
ritual for enlivening the divine energy
in the Ganesha, Vitthal Rakhumai and Shirdi Sai Baba idols. He had
no words to express His gratitude to Bhagawan for His grace and
earnestly prayed that each one involves themselves in spiritual and
service activities. He concluded by urging Swami to visit Hadshi as
often as He can even as the crowd clapped in joy.
After this, Swami asked Mr. Srinivasan
to speak. The rose offered by this distinguished elder was also
again slipped by Swami onto the ground. As I was going to make
another signal to the security person, Bhagawan looked at me and
with a smile told me to let it be. I was lost in thoughts again.
“This Swami never gives importance to
such ‘memorabilia collecting’ though it is a source of great joy to
the devotee. If that security guard is not blessed enough to pick up
that rose, I will definitely pocket it at the end of the day’s
function”, I thought. The guard was blessed enough indeed for within
a few minutes he noticed the rose and pocketed it!
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| A sweeping view of the gathered thousands. |
In the meanwhile, the All India
President of the Sri Sathya Sai Seva Organisation spoke on in Hindi
and declared that for 37 years Sai devotees from Lonavala and Pune
had been eagerly waiting for His arrival. They had severe faced
problems as even rains had become scarce. With Bhagawan visiting
Pune, even dry and arid lands would now become fertile, the speaker
felt. He stressed that
bhakti
is the only way to reach Swami and reiterated Swami’s teachings on
Love. Later he went on to mention about various institutions
established by Swami namely, the free University, Hospitals, and so
on. Exhorting the devotees to follow His path and making their lives
His message, he emphasized that the Sai Avatar has come for our
transformation and to help us realize our innate divinity. In the
end He appealed to all to engage in service activities in the rural
areas saying only through Grama Seva can one be blessed with the
fulfillment of doing Rama Seva.
Even as Mr. Srinivasan was winding-up,
Swami looked at Nishikant as if confirming with him if he was fully
ready to speak. He had fixed him as the speaker in the afternoon and
seemed to feel personally responsible for his success. I was touched
at His concern and receiving a ‘Yes’ from Nishikant, Swami asked him
to begin. He too, spoke in Marathi and started by narrating
experiences of his life.
Dating back to the times of Shirdi Sai
Baba the stories of Nishikant Barodekar went thus:
In 1912 on one occasion when his great
grand uncle and aunt were travelling by train, the condition of
their 3 year old daughter who was suffering from typhoid
deteriorated greatly. So they alighted at Kopergaon and someone
there guided them to go to Shirdi. Once they did this pilgrimage,
their daughter was completely cured. Years later, in 1965 the same
girl who had by then, become a famous singer, Mrs. Heerabai, was
going to be felicitated by renowned artists and other dignitaries at
a function to be held in her honour on her 60th birthday. On the
very same day Swami called for her to perform before in His divine
presence. Without a second thought, Mrs. Heerabai decided to skip
the function and landed in Puttaparthi. Once she was in His
presence, Swami told her that she had seen Him before, clearly
referring to her first encounter with Him during Bhagawan’s Shirdi
sojourn.
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| Nishikant Barodekar is blessed by Bhagawan with an emerald ring after his speech. |
At another time Mrs. Heerabai had been
invited by the Government of India to perform before a group of
foreign delegates. Once again, Swami asked for her exactly on the
same day and like before she declined the invitation and rushed to
His presence. A few days after she returned from Puttaparthi, came a
cheque for her from the State congratulating her for her splendid
performance at the all important event! Clearly, Bhagawan had
Himself assumed her form and delighted the audience at the
prestigious event.
Finally, Mr. Nishikant recalled his own
experience. Once his guru, from whom he was learning Tabla, asked
him to perform in his place owing to his ill-health. Extremely
nervous, Nishikant thought of Bhagawan and His advice to contemplate
on Him. No sooner he did this, Swami graced him with His divine
darshan
and needless to say, his performance was a great success!
The moment he closed his talk, a beaming
Swami blessed him with a ring even as everyone applauded. Next,
Swami Himself rose to speak much to everyone’s joy. Here is a note
about the translation that day which was unique.
There were actually two translators,
Prof. Anil Kumar for Telugu to English and Mr. Bhagawat for English
to Marathi. The styles of both these people were so distinct and
different. While the inimitable Prof. Anil Kumar was at his
vociferous and enthusiastic best, Mr. Bhagawat seemed cool and
collected! There were times when Swami who is generally accompanied
by a single translator would often start speaking just as the
Professor would end making the task of the Marathi translator even
more challenging. But then, who can stop the flow of the Divine
Ganges? However, after about 5-6 sentences Swami seemingly would
'remember' that there has to be Marathi translation and it must be
said to the credit of Mr. Bhagavat that he did an excellent job of
summing up what the Lord had said in the past few sentences. The
whole experience was novel and interesting. This is what Bhagavan
said in His discourse:
In the land of Bharat, real beauty lies
in tolerance and forbearance.
Is there a feeling more nectarous than
what one has towards one’s own mother?
How much ever you may know, there is
always much more to learn
As knowledge which is infinite
Bharat is most sacred – it is a land of
Divinity. Everyone born here has done a lot of meritorious deeds in
their past lives.
What is the purpose of this human life?
It is gifted to earn God’s grace. The person who receives His grace
in abundance can bring transformation in society. Modern society is
full of anxiety and restlessness. Wherever you go, whatever you
encounter, you only find misery. We have witnessed several natural
calamities recently. These have nothing to do with God; it is
because of man’s own mistakes and makings. God teaches only Dharma
(righteousness). He never wants you to walk the path of adharma
(unrighteousness).
Satyam Vada, Dharmam Chara – always
speak the truth and follow righteousness.
We cannot escape from reflection,
reaction and resound. Therefore we should know that God is one. We
give many names to the One and the same God. All are indeed one.
Therefore, in the whole world, there is only One in existence.
There is the same consciousness in all
beings - Ekam Sath, Vipraha Bahuda Vadanti.
We feel we are miserable. If you ask
yourself, you will know that the grief is of your own making and not
related to God in the least. Therefore, never think that everything
is given by God. In fact everything comes back to us because of our
own thought process. God only confers bliss on all of us which is
not dual, ethereal, and one without a second. If we make deep
enquiries into our Vedanta, we realize that God gives us nothing.
Pain or pleasure is what we gift ourselves with. We are mistaken if
we think that someone else is responsible for our joys and sorrows.
Help Ever, Hurt Never; Love All; Have
faith in everyone.
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| The hovering para-motorist was a feature throughout the evening. |
Therefore, whoever you may come across,
have deep faith that they are all God’s forms. Man fails to
understand this truth. It is not proper on our part to ridicule or
hate anyone. Love is the only royal path that takes you closer to
God.
All noble souls merged in God because of
their incessant love for Him. Sakkubai repeatedly chanted “Ranga,
Ranga, Ranga”. Everybody insulted her including her husband who
persecuted her. Ultimately, she merged in God. She always said “I am
not different from Ranga”. In all the three states of awareness, she
thought of only Ranga. It is only God who speaks, walks, and listens
to every activity.
We go by name and form and identify a
particular thing as a snake or scorpion. God is indeed in every
creature and has given skills to each of them to protect themselves.
The scorpion stings in self-defence and not with an intention to
hurt. In a dense forest, a lion hurts only if challenged. Everything
therefore is reaction, reflection, and resound. Bad actions lead to
unpleasant results. So do good. All that you face are consequences
of our thought processes. Therefore be pure in your thinking. A
human being should have human values. Today, men are treated like
dogs. In fact all defects and mistakes lie within man. That is why
it is absolutely necessary that we correct our own follies and not
search for them in others.
People mocked at those who were involved
in the rescue of flood victims. In the same way, the whole community
castigated Sakkubai who constantly chanted the name of Krishna. They
were finally taught a lesson by the Lord. God is an ocean of love.
Out of gross injustice and utter ignorance, we don’t understand
ourselves and blame divinity. The good or bad that we face is the
consequence of our own doing. We therefore have to correct ourselves
within.
The Christians believe in the Cross; cut
the ‘I’ and it becomes a cross. The ego has to be killed. Once we
get rid of this ego, we can then realise the real self. Man today is
knowledgeable in all aspects of life. He is conquering space and is
prepared to count the stars but fails in simple things. Love is the
undercurrent of everything. There are different kinds of sweets, but
the sugar is one. The Upanishads say that whomsoever you salute, it
reaches God. Understand your own mind and realise your own mistakes.
Help Ever. Hurt Never. He is a true man
who knows this fundamental truth and has morality and character. If
you understand this, you will never put the other person to
suffering. Recognise the unity in diversity. God is only One, He is
Atma or Consciousness, and has no name or form. It is the Spirit or
Cconsciousness which permeates all beings. Several lights exist, but
current is one. We may undertake different spiritual activities but
it all comes back to oneness. If you recognise this, you will have
peace and bliss. You are Atma, the only One eternal. God is only one
– never think that He is many. When we face difficulties, we chant
many names. But when we don’t have any problems, we forget God. We
should cling on to ‘Soham’. In fact this is the name given to
everyone at the time of birth. We will redeem our lives, working for
liberation, if we know the divine principle and divine nature.
 |
| It was late in the evening when the discourse concluded and Bhagawan received Aarthi. |
Many people speak of Swami differently.
It is their imagination; all of this should be dispensed with. If
only the politicians know the Truth, the nation will be a better
place. Do not follow politics. There is no relation between what the
politician says and does. Follow only that person who does good!
This is the message of Baba to all of us today.
The whole world should be happy. Let all
the beings live in joy. You will acquire this bliss through love. We
say ‘Peace, peace, peace’. Where is this peace? There is only pieces
outside.
As I sat on the steps to the grand
temple, listening to Swami, the security guard called me and said,
"There is an ant on Swami's lap! What should we do?"
As he spoke to me, Swami saw me. What
was I to answer? Being an embodiment of sweetness, it was but
natural that He attracted ants (whom does He not draw?). I just sat
straight and told the guard to look ahead. Sitting in such a
prominent position and being caught talking by Swami is not an
experience that one usually pines for! Swami also seemed to have
left the matter there once I sat motionless and quiet. The ant
crawled on Him for a while and then on its own, left having
fulfilled its desire maybe!
Swami completed the discourse and wanted
the mike to be removed. As I moved ahead to do this He looked at me
and said,
"Tell the boys to do
bhajans."
So a Vitthala
bhajan
began and as it progressed to the second speed, Swami signaled to me
again and mentioned,
"Let them sing fast - Vitthala, Vitthala....Panduranga,
Panduranga." I conveyed this to the singers (It was only later when
I thought about it I realized that Swami wanted the
bhajan
to proceed to the third speed too! Ah! I prayed then for forgiveness
and better understanding). Midway in the next
bhajan,
Swami asked for
aarthi.
As I clicked away I saw Swami blessing
all the thousands gathered who were all positively charged at this
shower of nectarous words and grace. It was now 7:50 p.m. and Swami
moved down the lift towards His car. There were many devotees who
had sat by the side of the temple to have a glimpse of Him from
close quarters as He left for the Residence. All the students made a
security belt around the car as always to ensure that sudden
outbursts of devotion did not turn to disasters of indiscipline.
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| A quick discussion on the evening's proceedings before dinner. |
As Swami arrived, dinner was ready at
the Residence. Bhagawan called the elders to sit by Him and the
conversation then centered on Swami's discourse, AIP's talk in Hindi
and Nishikant's speech in Marathi. After taking a bite or two, Swami
told all of us to occupy the tables. He then moved up the lift and
retired for the day. Meanwhile, I collected a few pictures on a DVD
to be sent to Pune for printing. It was another blissful sleep that
night, the second one at Hadshi.
to be continued in
Part 7.
