Poojya Swamiji’s 90th Jayanti

Vijnana Bhavan (Jayanti day morning)

Amidst the regular (and not-so-regular) activities of Ashram, time was carved out to have meetings on what needed to be done, who was going to do what, etc. Ashram employees proved to be an invaluable force in making sure preparations were moving along appropriately and nothing was missed, overseen by Ma and Nutan Swamiji with the help of Ashramites. Numerous discussions were held on the Bhakti bhoj menu, the Prasada that Poojya Swamiji would give – type, size, and number. Every detail provided an insight into the level of śraddhā our spiritual Masters give to every task.

Devotees started arriving from a few days before the auspicious day. The night before the programme everyone sat around Ma in Vijnana Bhavan discussing who would do what during the event – leading roles were assigned, work processes were defined. Everyone was riding on the energy of love and devotion.

On the day before Jayanti, Ma broke the news to us (Nilesh Kumar and I) that we were the blessed ones chosen by Poojya Swamiji to perform the sacred ‘Paada Pooja’. We were surprised, but, as the profundity of Ma’s words sunk in, our hearts were overwhelmed with feeling of gratefulness, eyes brimming with tears of joy.

From then onward, our minds were pondering over the significance of this divine ceremony. Here we are, two mere mortals given an opportunity to worship the Immortal, omnipresent Lord, who is present in front of us, in a frame of human body. Verses chanted by Swamiji kept ringing in our ears, especially (Bhagavad Gita 10.8):

ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavo mattaḥ sarvaṁ pravartate .

iti matvā bhajante māṁ budhā bhāva-samanvitāḥ ..

It kept reminding us that the essence of any worship is the attitude and expression of our mind. The external paraphernalia is only a means for manifesting that inner feeling; everything we do should be soaked with the feeling of fondness and devotion for our Guru.

On the way to Vijnana Bhavan

Jayanti Morning

As Poojya Swamiji strode cheerfully through Vijnana Bhavan, and out to the terrace, to greet all who had gathered, we were awash with blessedness and gratitude that his 90-year-old body remained agile and energetic, despite having been beset with physical difficulties over the past year.

Ma began her opening address with a prayer to Swamiji himself, to always be in good health. As shishyas, our responsibility is to imbibe our Guru’s qualities, and be as he wants us to be. To receive with humility and gratitude, the Knowledge he not only lives, but whole-heartedly gifts to anyone who wants it. And to finally assimilate and bring that Knowledge into every aspect of our own daily lives.

Nutan Swamiji’s sobering message echoed Ma’s call for us to imbibe Poojya Swamiji’s qualities. Drawing examples from our Baba (Dakshinkhanda), Ramakrishna Paramahamsa and even Rabindranath Tagore, he reminded us that often when a Saint is still present in his body we do not give as much value to the association. The necessity of having functions such as this Jayanti programme is therefore for all of us to understand, appreciate and absorb the significance of our Guru’s presence. Nutan Swamiji asserted – as the characteristics of a Knower constitute the sadhana for the seekers, we must observe and VALUE the qualities represented in our Guru’s form.

Paada Pooja

[Nilesh Kumar has been associated with Poojya Swamiji since childhood through his parents Prof. Sitaram & Smt Rajeswari Sahu. Often has Swamiji mentioned the three-day train journey from Jamshedpur to Thrissur, which Nilesh undertook all by himself when he was just in 10th class. Now himself the father of a young son, Nilesh lives in California, but his mind and heart are ever at Guru’s feet. In the midst of his busy info-tech profession, Nilesh dedicatedly took up and coordinated the project of setting up the new Website for the Ashram.

Praveen’s association with Swamiji developed through ‘Mukti-sudhakaram’, Swamiji’s daily morning Malayalam telecast on Asianet channel. He has gradually become completely immersed in Guru-seva – administering the Ashram website, online database, social media platforms, in charge of the Publication department and of course always available to render physical service to the Guru.]

Paada Pooja

What is the importance of worshipping the feet of a Guru? Is there a subtle and profound implication behind it? Thoughts began to emerge, “… here is somebody who has walked the path laid out by the ancient Upanishads and reached the Supreme abode of Unaffectedness! His presence is beckoning us to follow the footsteps and reach the lofty summit of human life! Should we not bow down at his feet in gratitude?”

As the Paada Pooja began with the melodious chanting of Guru Stotras, the mind became calm. All thoughts subsided, except the one to remain natural – let our inner feeling of gratitude manifest itself through the external acts of worship. In doing so, throughout the function, the mind was floating on the waves of purity and bliss – a unique feeling of inner bath that we have never experienced before.

The chanting of 108 holy names of Poojya Swamiji was initiated by Nutan Swamiji, and followed by Ma. As the two Mahatmas chanted the names, accompanied by the chorus chanting of the hundreds of devotees, each flower petal we placed at the feet of our Gurudev was drenched with the collective feeling of devotion, love and gratitude.

At the conclusion of the Guru Archana, when it was the time for showing the aarati, the sublime verse of Kathopanishad (2.2.15) reverberated through the space:

na tatra sūryo bhāti na candra-tārakaṁ

nemā vidyuto bhānti kuto’yam-agniḥ

tameva bhāntam-anubhāti sarvaṁ

tasya bhāsā sarvam-idaṁ vibhāti …

“…here with the lamp, we are attempting to show that Presence, which cannot be illumined even by the Sun or the Stars; it is this brilliance that reveals everything!”

Offering Pranaams & receiving Prasada

Poojya Swamiji’s Jayanti Message

Swamiji’s message for this sublime occasion, delivered first in English and then in Malayalam, gave us an insight into the vastness of his personality. Swamiji hammered home that from age 23 when he took up Sannyasa, until now, 67 years later, his mind has been completely full in itself, wanting nothing. I AM NOTHING, I WANT NOTHING – pulsated through the hall, on to the terrace, past the walls of the Ashram into the surrounding stillness.

Enriching Conclusion

Offering pranaams and receiving Prasaada from Poojya Swamiji continued for more than two hours, accompanied by the divine musical recital by ‘A’ grade artists of All India Radio, Coimbatore – violin played by Swamiji’s disciple Sri G. Mohan, along with Sri G. Prakash on mridangam and Sri G. Suresh on ghatam. The joyful and exuberant performance further enhanced and elevated the feeling of fullness and buoyancy in our hearts.

Do not doubt it, we are all fortunate to have been present that day in the Ashram – a very fulfilling and enriching day. It has left a pleasant and indelible mark in our minds and hearts. Our Guru’s grace shone through so brilliantly that day, engulfing everyone with his divine blessings.!     Jai Guru.

[Poojya Swamiji’s 90th Jayanti was also celebrated in Centres across the world. Devotees from CIRD Delhi, CIRD Jamshedpur, CIRD-NA and SIRD Malaysia gathered and observed the sublime programme in their own manner – Paada Pooja by a chosen pair of devotees, Pushpasamarpanam, some of them watching Swamiji’s Jayanti message from Livestream. All were immersed in the divinity of the occasion. A week later, on May 21, a special programme was held in Sabha Niketan in honour of Swamiji’s 90th Jayanti. Nutan Swamiji and Ma accompanied Poojya Swamiji to the function, along with several Ashramites and devotees.]

Jayanti Celebration at Dakshinkhanda

In the words of geologists, Dakshinkhanda is a “kumbha-pīṭha”, which the flood-waters could never reach. That perhaps made it an ancient settlement of many scholarly people over the ages. Many from Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s lineage visited this area and made it a place of sadhana ++Read full article

To read Poojya Swamiji’s 90th Jayanti message, click here