Sathya Sai Grama at Muddenahalli wore a festive look during the Navaratri festival, celebrated in grandeur and splendour from October 07 to October 15, 2021, in the presence of Sadguru Sri Madhusudan Sai. These nine days were spent in rituals, chantings, homas, pujas, etc., which filled the space and surroundings with positive vibrations and spiritual energies.

The holy offerings of the various homas and Durga puja each day and the Rudra Yajna on the last four days were combined with talks and discourses by diverse eminent seekers who explained the spiritual significance of these practices.

On October 07, Maa Durga was worshipped as Maa Shailaputri, and the Sahasra Modaka Ganapathi Homa, Navagraha Homa and the Shani Shanthi Homa were performed for the welfare of all. Then Durga Arati was offered to the beautiful idols of Mother Durga, made of river clay from Kumortuli, West Bengal. Dr Ramachandra G Bhat, Founder of Veda Vijnana Gurukulam, Karnataka and Sri Raghuvarendra Theertha Swamiji, Head of Bheemanakatte Mutt – Karnataka, were the esteemed guests that day. The Divine discourse by Sadguru Sri Madhusudan Sai encapsulated that along with the grace of human birth and an intense desire for attaining God (Liberation), the third blessing bestowed on us is the company and satsang with persons of wisdom and knowledge, like the mahapurushas (great men) who were our guests that evening. He further explained some of the main points, like the importance of chanting prayers and shlokas with devotion. One should pray to Devi to invoke the Divine Mother within. With this sense of motherliness, one can develop feelings of compassion towards other beings. This was followed by a mellifluous musical concert by Sri Nirbhay Saxena, a Hindustani classical vocalist.

On October 08, Devi was worshipped as Goddess Brahmacharini, and Pavamana Homa and Ashlesha Bali Homa were performed to cleanse, purify and remove obstacles in the path of spirituality. The evening was graced by.....

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ॐ स्वस्ति प्रजाभ्यः परिपालयन्ताम्
न्यायेन मार्गेण महीं महीशाः ।
गोब्राह्मणेभ्यश्शुभमस्तु नित्यम्
लोकास्समस्तास्सुखिनो भवन्तु ।।

Om svasti prajābhyaḥ paripālayantām ।
nyāyena mārgeṇa mahīṃ mahīśāḥ ।
go-brāhmaṇebhyaś śubham astu nityam ।
lokās samastā sukhino bhavantu ।।

(Let there be auspiciousness; let there be happiness; let the noble be protected; let dharma be protected. Let the whole world be happy and healthy).

With this prayer, we conclude Rudra Homa as well as all the Navaratri Homas and pujas on this auspicious day of Vijayadasami. 

Vijayadasami is also known as simollanghana or crossing the limits, marking when one crosses over from the limitedness of human mind and senses to enter into the realms of the spiritual Self or atman, conquering all the ten senses. As we perform Rudra Homa, Shiva puja and Durga puja, it must be remembered that the offering of homas is not just to deities but to a pratika or representation of brahman, through which we are attempting to understand the ultimate truth. 

Shiva means that which is not. Shiva refers not to the physical or a material manifestation, but to the atman which is nirguna (attributeless) and nirakara (formless). He is worshipped uniquely as lingakara (that which lies in between the formless and the attributeless). 

We must move from akara (with form) to nirakara (formless) through lingakara which has a form and is yet formless. This symbolism conveys to us the message that we must transcend our senses and the mind and reach that understanding and experience the spiritual Self that we all actually are. This is the higher idea of Vijayadasami. 

On this very auspicious day, we have performed the bhoomi puja for the Saisure production factory. Saisure is a multi-nutrition powder, especially for children and pregnant women, who suffer from malnutrition. As we conclude Navaratri, we offer this Saisure factory to Her with a prayer that She as Mother Annapoorna will feed thousands and lakhs of children everyday so that nobody stays hungry.  

The yajnas that were performed are called as dravya yajnas (sacrificing one’s possessions) but only mark the beginning of a continuation of these yajnas, where one must continue to serve one’s fellow beings as a bhuta yajna (oblations or offerings to all created beings). All actions, thoughts and words must be performed as an offering to the Divine, an ahuti into this continuing bhuta yajna, serving the jiva in all as Shiva. The world was not created for man to seek pleasures but so that God could love and see His own reflection in His creation. 

As the taittariya upanishad says that in the beginning, He alone was there and thinking that nobody knows Him, He created the world and resided within all as purusha. Therefore, the only purpose of life is to love God and serve God. Everything else is temporary. If one is not spending one’s time loving and serving the Divine, it is a sheer waste of time. Hence all karmas (actions) must be done for bhagavat prityartham or love for God, with the idea of loka kalyana and prayer for all people to be happy, healthy and without sorrow. From here on, you must offer all that you think, say and do to the Divine.  That yajna must continue.

Without Shakti, Shiva cannot act, without Lakshmi Vishnu cannot act, without Saraswati, Brahma cannot act. From today, this land which has been a Shiva kshetra thus far, will also become a Sri kshetra, Devi kshetra or land of Devi as the Shakti aspect of Shiva has descended on this place. This place will thus grow in power and becomes one of the holiest pilgrimage places in the world. In times to come also, Sathya Sai Grama will become known as Vidyanagari, where people from all over the world will come to learn atma vidya. When one realises one’s own divinity, it is the best service to society because one’s presence becomes enough and everything else happens automatically. As the sun rises, the whole creation starts working. Likewise, that spiritual sun has to rise, that realisation has to come. May you attain that glory. It is your birthright to experience Shiva tatva, both within and without. 
 

Veda is the mother of all shastras, said Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba. It came from God Himself. With a vision to contribute to the revival and worldwide propagation of Sanatana Dharma, that is enshrined in the Vedas, Sri Sathya Sai Loka Seva Veda Gurukulam has been established at Sathya Sai Grama by Sadguru Sri Madhusudan Sai.

October 10 2021, the fourth day of Navaratri marked the commencement of Sri Satya Sai Veda Gurukulam. The esteemed guests for the ceremonies were Sri T B Jayachandra and Sri Malladi Surya Kiran Sharmaji. Sadguru Sri Madhusudan Sai said that this Gurukulam is the crest jewel of the mission. That it will lead every student from Vedavida to Brahmavida.

The guiding purpose of the Gurukulam is to promote the practice and research of Vedic studies. After imbibing this knowledge, students will be encouraged to travel the world to spread the Vedantic teachings. The Gurukulam will focus on the Rig Veda and the Yajur Veda. Acharyas who are adept in these two Vedas, after having acquired their vidya at the Sri Venkateswara Veda Vigyana Peetam at Tirumala, have been chosen to teach at the Gurukulam.

Shishyas will be offered board and lodging for the entire tenure of their stay, completely free. Both Para Vidya (spiritual knowledge) and Apara Vidya (secular knowledge) will be imparted. Students will be trained for 15 years, which is the primary school to university. Academic subjects....

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Sarvaṁ khalvidaṁ brahma - All is Divine - is the supreme law that was discovered by the seers of the most ancient Indian civilisation in their highest state of absorption. This changeless and eternal principle of all existence is the ultimate truth, and it is the only answer to every possible question that was, and that will ever be asked by anyone on this planet. This eternal law is sanātana dharma, which naturally includes every inanimate object too as an expression of the same divinity.

This book is the first part of the series 'sanātana dharma Simplified', a collection of articles written for a bimonthly column of a popular newspaper by Sadguru Sri Madhusudan Sai, in an effort to simplify and clarify the fundamental concepts of sanātana dharma and its practical applications in day-to-day living, especially to the unfamiliar and the uninitiated.