User talk:Kishore joshi

SAMVITSATRA: It was the 20th of October. An auspicious day heralding the ' Kojagari Poornima', the brightest of the full moons. While the sky outside turned silvery as a radiant moon beamed down, two Resplendent Suns adorned the Shri Chitrapur Math, Pune. Devotees who thronged the Math were blessed by the very presence of Param Poojya Iswaranand Giri Maharaj and Param Poojya Sadyojat Shankarashram Swamiji. The evening started with the children's enthralling ' Gaan - vrinda' which had the devotees clapping in unison. An inspiring bhajan taught by Bade Swamiji, "Aaya sadguru aaya, beethar soya alak jagaya………." was followed by an equally inspiring 'Aashirvachan'. Late in the night, Param Poojya Sadyojat Shankarashram Swamiji performed the Shri Lakshmi Pujan. This was, then an auspicious beginning to the Samvit Satra. The day that begins at the crack of dawn with the 'Suprabhatam' is bound to be filled with joy…...and so it was on each day during the Samvit Satra. Exercise and conducted Meditation, Swadhyay in the morning, Mahapooja and Teerth - Vitarana in the noon and Pravachan by Param Poojya Iswaranand Giriji Maharaj in the evening on "SAMVIT- SADHANA " and before we knew it was the end of yet another glorious day. On the 24th of October, Param Poojya Iswaranand Giri Maharaj and Param Poojya Sadyojat Shankarashram Swamiji addressed a well attended public meeting at the Nehru Memorial Hall. Speaking on " Creative Mind", Bade Swamiji enlightened the sadhakas in His inimitable way. The Aashirvachans were preceded by a ' Bharatnatyam - Nritya' by Kum. Pratiti Bantwal.

Samvit- Satra was a wholesome spiritual treat for all the sadhakas and promises a definite path in the right direction in our life when we imbibe the teachings of our Guruvarya and follow sincerely the 'Samvit- Sadhana' way of life.

DIWALI - UTSAV : When all the little ones, toddlers to teenagers are up late in the night, with lamps, flowers and smiles, sparklers in hand and sparkles in their eyes, to welcome their beloved Dayya-Swamiji ……….Oh, what a way to begin the Diwali-utsav ! Param Poojya Swamiji was thus welcomed to Punyanagari on the night of the 1st November 2002.

Punyanagari's children and blessed are they, to have received so much in terms of Satsang during the course of Poojya Swamiji's stay here during the Diwali-utsav. Each day heralded joy and happiness. On Narakachaturdashi evening, children enacted " VAJRA-DEEP", a Konkani musical play depicting nine stories linked to Diwali. In the morning, teenagers met Swamiji to discuss on ' How to keep up Indian tradition despite the western influence"

On the evening of amavasya the following day, " SHRI MAHA LAKSHMI-AVATARAN' a beautiful dance ballet in Hindi by children had the devotees in raptures . This was followed by the Shri Lakshmi Pujan performed by Param Poojya Swamiji.

" PAURANIC - VESHOTSAV" on the 5th of November had folks ranging from a year old to eighty years old enthusiastically participating in costumes from the Puranas. We had a ten-headed Ravana, a toothless Shabari, toddlers depicting the Dashavatara , an evil looking enormous Mahishasura and a radiant Devi to slay him, a very talkative Narada-Muni, Shakuntala and Draupadi, Ahalya and Sita…………The enthusiasm with which everyone participated was highly infectious !

On the 6th of November, Poojya Swamiji performed the ' Bhoomi-Pujan' at the Shri Shant Sukhada site at Kamshet. Little children from that area performed the ' lezim', sang a bhajan and danced to express their love and reverence for Swamiji. In the Aashirvachan, Swamiji extolled the good work done by the trustees for the underprivileged.

On the 7th, tiny tots met Swamiji for a tiny 'vimarsh' on " Discipline…..is it necessary at all ?" Swamiji drew the little ones to participate in the discussion. While the first few moments had long gaps of silence, soon the tiny tots were jabbering away nineteen to the dozen. Eventually, it took an ice-cream to cool them down ! That evening, children enacted " TIME-MACHINE", a humorous play in English.

On the 8th, when the eastern sky turned pink and golden, enthusiastic devotees gathered at the Math to start off for the Vanbhojan. The venue was the 'vana',(forest) of course ! Bhajans and bhajan antakshari made the travelling fun. Devotees were bundled in buses of different shapes and sizes ! ( the one filled with kids was the tiniest, slowest and of course the noisiest ). The venue was breathtaking. Literally because we had to walk uphill, and it WAS breathtaking ! Thick bamboo forest, a chattering brook, a shallow pond to wallow around, tasty, yummy paav-bhaji for lunch, Pauranic -Kreedotsav that had devotees doing Pauranic Dumb-charades and Pauranic Name-hunting , which all ended with, as some wise person said, Pauranic-Tea !! It was a beautiful day…………….Swamiji's presence made it so.

On the morning of 9th, a thought provoking Vimarsh on " Shradha and Vishwas" churned out different facets of shradha and Swamiji's intense probing had all the devotees engrossed in the ' Manthan ' ……….long after the session is over, thoughts arise, questions crawl up, answers are sought, and yet once again thoughts churn making one wonder, is Vimarsh only a beginning? That evening our hearts blossomed with deep pride as our Mathadipathi and Sadguru presided over the inaugural function of the All India Vedic Meet at a distinguished public gathering at the Y.B. Chavan Sabhagriha under the auspices of the Ved Bhavan. Stalwarts like Lata Mangeshkar, Manohar Joshi, Speaker of the Lok-Sabha, Ram Shewalkar, a renowned philosopher and Shri Ghaisas Guruji of the Ved Bhavan expressed the importance of the study of the Vedas. Param Poojya Swamiji addressing in Hindi explained the nuances of the Upadesha Panchakam of Adi Shankaracharya. The next morning Ved Bhavan honoured Swamiji by performing Guru Pujan.

SAMUHIK GURU PUJAN: Sunday evening 4 p.m. and the Shri Chitrapur Math, Pune reverberates with shlokas and the Shri Guru Bhajan stotra as devotees perform the Shri Guru Pujan and so it was on the 10th when over forty devotees performed together the sacred Guru Pujan. This has become one endearing feature of our Math looked forward to by so many sadhakas…..after all, it is indeed a Blessing to be able to perform the Puja at such a sacred punyakshetra.

In the concluding Sabha in our Math that evening, it was touching to hear children expressing their profound love and reverence to Swamiji by singing aloud their invitation to Swamiji to come back for every Diwali and more !