Deepavali or Diwali : The Festival of Lights.

Diwali is what can unofficially be termed the national festival of India. The festivities span over 4 days, and each day has its own significance and rituals.

A rough translation of the procedure detailed above is as follows. This tells us the various things to be done on each of the four days surrounding Diwali.

Aniruddha good wishes for Diwali.
Upasana to be done during Diwali is as follows :
On Dhantrayodashi perform Nandaai Paath and the Shree Yantra Upasana.
On Narakchaturdashi  chant the Ganpati Atharvasheersha in the morning. Chanting it once reaps us the benefits of chanting a 108 times, on this day.
On Lakshmipujan(main Diwali day) : Worship the idol of Laxmi mata and the Shree Yantra. Worship the broom.
On the day of Diwali Padva, in the morning, before sunrise, take the dustpan, and making sounds(by clapping, ringing a bell etc), go to the garbage bin and offer Diwali faral (sweets etc made for Diwali) there. Then bring the broom, dip the tip in water and write the name of Sadguru on the door.
[In clarifying this with other shraddhavans, it has been realised, that the dustpan is to be taken, with sounds being made, outside the home, and the faral can also be placed under a tree.]

This document in detail describes the Pujan to be done on the day of Lakshmi Pujan, and is an extract from a story, hence the narrative is as such.

On the day of Diwali, Devyani asked Shambhavi to get a new broom. "Listen, today, the greatest respect is for this(the broom). Because the broom means, Lakshmi Mata's kunchala. Today we worship this, and then Lakshmi Mata.This broom is to be placed at the threshold of the entrance door, in the corner. It has to be offered Haldi-Kumkum(haldi-kumkum needs to be applied/put on the broom), flowers, and aarti has to be done with a diya.And later after doing namaskar to it. With deep feelings from the heart we have to say, 

Baiga bai tu majhya aajisaarkhi majhyasaathi majhyagharat raha.

Baiga bai  majhya saasusarkhi majhya pratyek goshtthit khot kaadh,

Baiga bai majhya bahinisaarkha majhya rastyatale kaante baajula saar,

Baiga bai majhya papnichya kessarkhimjhya dolyateel kachra baajula kaadh,

Majhya gharat aanandaane firat raha.

[Translation - Bai, O Bai like my grandmother live with me in my home

Bai, O Bai like my mother-in-law find faults in all my doings

Bai, O Bai like my sister, remove all the thorns from my path 

Bai, O Bai like my eyelashes, remove the dirt from my eyes

In my home live, and move around freely and happily.  ]

After saying this, respectfully, bring the broom inside."

Shambhavi dressed up in a beautiful new saree and as told by her mother, worshipped the broom. Devyani told her, this broom goes around the home and hence the house remains clean and beautiful. Wherever there is cleanliness, contentment(samadhaan) and devotion, there Lakshmi Mata lives in joy. Come now lets worship Goddess Lakshmi. Today we have to worship the kalash. Take a small chaurang or paat, and place a clean silk or cotton cloth on it. Now spread some wheat or rice grains on it, and place the kalash on it. Put some rice or wheat grains in the kalash too. And now place a tamhaan(copper plate) on the kalash and again  put wheat or rice grains on it and place a photo or idol of Lakshmi Mata on it(We can place Nandaai's photo or idol here). If we do not possess a photo or idol, a branch from a mango tree and and coconut need to be placed. Food grains are a symbol of prosperity. As advised by Devyani, Shambhavi did everything lovingly. Apply gandh and akshata to the kalash. Offer flowers to it.Now listen, offer it a gajra of jasmine.Light a lamp(diya) and offer naivedya  (food offered to deities). Now we place some money and jewellery in the tamhaan and apply haldi-kumkum to them too. And then pray to Aai (Lakshmi Mata)

Aamchyatil Aalas door kar va kartutva vaadhav,

kaayam samaadhaan thev,

bhaktibhaav vaadhu det,

kadhihi utanaar nahi maatnaar naahi,

ase aashirwaad de tu mhanje,

tu aanandaane aamchya gharat naandsheel.

[Remove my laziness and let my good deeds grow,

Let contentment stay,

Let the devotion grow,

May I never become proud or forgetful(about receiving all your blessings)

Give me these blessings,

And live in my home happily. ]

Thus together everyone prayed to Lakshmi Mata.

Happy Deepawali!

[*The links for kalash,chaurang etc are just for seeing the images, it is not a recommendation to buy from those particular websites.]

Falguniveera Pathak - Australia Tour, Navratri 2013

Dandiya Queen Falguniveera Pathak, toured Australia just before Navratri in September 2013. With the widespread Bapu parivaar in Australia, there were Bapu bhakts in almost every show she did, and she kindly met everyone who went to her show. It was wonderful having her here, and we hope she has a longer tour next time, and we can all meet her.

Here are some pictures from the tour.

Falguniveera was able to visit the Melbourne Upasana Kendra, and spent time doing Gunasankirtan and talking about Bapu to the shraddhavans there.

                                         

 An enthusiastic group of shraddhavans went to her show in Sydney, and she met with them backstage.

 And below are photos clicked by shraddhavans who attended her super hit shows in Brisbane and Perth.

We loved having you down under Falguniveera, and hope to see you perform here more often.

Sai Satcharit Parayan Saptah - Shravan 2013

Our beloved Bapu teaches us how to reach a spiritual pinnacle, while leading our family life, and performing all our worldly duties with true sincerity. It is Bapu who has brought alive in our lives, many rituals, that we have either been performing or have seen people observe without awareness of its significance or understanding of its true meaning . He tells us what really matters and why. He makes it easy for a common person to achieve, what took saints and ascetics severe penance. Bapu's love for us is immeasurable, and hence we can never understand why He showers the most precious jewels on us. We can only hope to assimilate a small portion of it. One of the simplest ways to progress in our spiritual journey as adviced by Bappa, is parayan of pavitra grantha (study of holy books). The Sai Satcharit, is a book very close to the heart of every Bapu bhakt, and Bapu Himself stresses what a treasure trove of spiritual guidance the granth is.

This holy month of Shravan as a small part of our attempts in following Bapu's guidance, the Bapu Parivaar in Australia decided to do a samuhik parayan(collective study) of the Sai Satcharit. Across 6 major cities of Australia, we did a Satcharit Saptah. Starting from Perth and following through with Adelaide, Melbourne, Canberra, Sydney and Brisbane, the parayan flowed through from coast to coast across the country-continent of Australia. It is Bapu's kripa alone, which allowed the parayan to run smoothly and complete its course properly. Since each day many shraddhavans had to read the adhyays allocated to them, the coordination was a matter of concern, but Bapu ensured that it all fell into place perfectly. And it is only by His tremendous grace and blessings that we completed the Saptah. It began on Thursday, the 15th of August 2013, and the uddyapan  was done on 22nd of August, the following Thursday. The udyapan  was performed by all who took part in the parayan.

The uddyapan done by all of us

We are all Ambadnya that Bapu, that He enabled us to perform this parayan in this auspicious month of shravan.

Guru Pournima Celebrations in Perth Upasna Centre

The Guru Pournima is a full moon day in the month of Ashadh and is one of the most auspicious day. The 'Chaturmasa' begins from this day onwards. The role of Guru is very important in the evolution of a human being. The worship of Guru is performed on this sacred day. The worship of Guru can be done in the form of his feet/image or both along with satsangs and praises of the Guru for the whole day.

This event was celebrated  with full enthusiasm, joy and surrender a the lotus feet of our dear Bapu by all the devotees in Perth on the 27th July 2013. We had planned a schedule for this event one week in advance. Also we had received a copy of a document through email by Vaibhavsinh about the details of this event. All the veeras including Jyotiveera,Jigalveera,Kalpanaveera and myself had kindly volunteered for distribution and sharing of the catering in order to organize lunch and snacks for everyone.The event was started sharp at 11:00 a.m. by doing the Poojan of P.P. Bapu's image. We then follwed the sequence and the Guru Pournima Upasna was finished by 2:00pm by doing the aarti of our Sadguru.
We then played the Gajar CD and enjoyed chanting it. The event was concluded by everyone having lunch together while sharing their experiences and talks about our Sadguru. The following shraddhavans were able to participate in this event.

Jyoti Veera/Sureshsinh Aitawade
Jigaveera/Vipulsinh Mistry (accompanied by their Parents who came from India)
Leenaveera/Abhaysinh Kanade
Kalpanaveera/Prashantsinh Tupe
Rohansinh Jadhav

Junior Shraddhavans
Baby Ria
Baby Tirtha
Baby Sarah
Baby Prisha
Parthasinh

 

 

 

 

Guru Pournima celebration 2013 @ Melbourne

Guru bhavaha param tirtham 

Anya tirtham nirarthakam 

Sarva tirthashrayam Devi 

Padangushte cha vartate

ll Om Bramha Vishnu Maheshwarebhyaha namaha ll 

On the auspicious occasion of Guru Pournima, we, at Melbourne Upasana Kendra, celebrated the boundless grace of our beloved Sadguru, P. P. Shree Aniruddha Bapu!!!

Hari Om !!!

Gurupornima Utsav - Sydney-2013

GURU-KRIPA-“AMRUT” PAAYO MERE BHAI.

The Full moon day (Pournima) of the month of Aashaad is widely renowned as Guru Pournima all over India. It is an occasion to maximally receive the unconditional love of our Sadguru. The Sydney Upasana Kendra celebrated Gurupournima on 27^th July 2013 with much fervor and devotion.

Mr Dineshsinh Nagwekar was kind enough for his residence “ Aniruddha” to be used for the occasion and the program was meticulously planned in conjunction with useful guidance from Mr Vaibhavsinh Karnik from Mumbai.

The schedule for the day was as below:

·       Padukaa Poojan of Sadguru Shri Aniruddha Bapu’s Chinmay Padukaa.

Gurupournima program as circulated by the CCC which comprised of

• Recitation of Aniruddha Kawach  once.
• Chanting of the Sadguru taarak mantra (108 times)
• Chanting of the Shri Gurukshetram Mantra (24 times)
•  Chanting of the Aniruddha Chalisa and Aniruddha Paath  once each.
•   MahaAarti
•   Satsang

The afternoon and evening session comprised of Gunasankirtan, Information on the various activities initiated by Sadguru Shri Aniruddha Bapu and Anubhav kathan.

 Shraddhavaans had gathered at the venue on the previous evening for decoration and arranging the lights. A beautiful vibrant rangoli depicting Tripurari Trivikram chinha was imprinted at the doorstep. It was a delight for the eyes as one walked in.

 Some Shradhhavaans contributed by decorating, making garlands and naivedya.

The morning session commenced with Paduka poojan which was carried out by Vinayaveera and  Vineetsinh Pasarnikar ably guided by Mahendrasinh Londhe in the process. 

We had a few new Shraddhavans attending the event and it definitely seemed to be a novelty for them as was evident from their curious looks.

During the paduka Poojan , Aniruddha chalisa was sung five times as required to complete the poojan. All Shradhhavans sung the hymn fervently for their beloved Sadguru and the intensity of the positive vibrations was experienced by all. 

 

This was followed by aarti and Naivedya. 

After a break for lunch, the next session of chanting commenced where Aniruddha Kavach, Aniruddha Chalisa and Aniruddha Paath was recited along with chanting of Shri Gurukshetra Mantra and  Sadguru Taarak mantra. 

The chanting concluded with Maaharti and a sanctified Satsang led by Rajeshsinh Chavan and ably supported by others.

 The next session was organized with a view to inform more  people about our Bapu and disseminate His teachings and our experiences.

 First up was an incredible Keertan by Rajeshsinh Chavan in which he stressed the need for a sadguru in our lives. He spoke fluently with a famous Marathi hymn Omkaar Swaroopa Sadguru Samartha as a background citing perfect examples in vintage Keertan style. The entire audience was enthralled and seemed to have enjoyed it.

This was followed by a gunsasankirtan of our Bapu carried out by Vinayaveera Pasarnikar in which she informed all the newer attendees about who He is and what He has done till now. Similarly information on Ramnaam bank and all the books and granthas written by Bapu was given and the books were kept on display for the new Shraddhavan.

This was followed by   anubhav kathan where shraddhavans narrated experiences of instances in their life where they felt that Bapu’s Grace solved their problems. Dineshsinh Nagwekar recollected how he found an important file associated with his house misplaced 7 years ago without which it was not possible to sell it. Nishikantsinh Bhalerao narrated an extraordinary experience of his brother who felt Bapu cured him of his chronic back ache in his dream. Similarly Sapnaveera Londhe narrated a touching experience in which she dreamt that her father who was in india suffering from an ailment was cured by Bapu . This was later confirmed next morning when he told her that his pain is now cured. Dr Atulsinh Prabhu described the unbelievable changes he witnessed in patients whilst working at the Vyasan mukti “ deaddiction centre run by our sanstha .While others were personal experiences on one hand Dr Atulsinh narrated  how he witnessed Bapu’s Grace experienced by many people in a group.  Vineetsinh Pasarnikar narrated his experience of an unexpected new job and promotion at a time when all other prospects seemed bleak.

We concluded the days program with recitation of Shree Ram Raksha and everyone was certainly showered with lots of blessings from our beloved sadguru mauli, who is our Only true Friend. Words fall short in expressing  our gratitude, certainly Guruchi Krupa hi 

Guru Pournima as is rightly penned by Yogindrasinh Joshi.  Amhi Ambadnya ahot Bapu!!!

 (This post is written by Dr. Atulsinh Prabhu.)