Jai Srimannarayana…!
In the y:agasala, homam started under the direct supervision of Sri Chinna Jeeyar after the nithya a:ra:dhana under the leadership of Madhusudanacharya. The daily Parayans by the pundits were started in the presence of Lord in the ya:gasala. Today in the Ishtisala Nambi Venu Gopala Swami and Madhusu:danacha:rya Swami performed Vishwakse:na Ishti.
Everyone in this world aspires for success. We need Vishwakse:na’s grace to get rid of enemies and be blessed with victory. Vishwakse:na is the ruler of Vaikuntthapura. While Vishnu is the sustainer of the universe, Vishwaksena is the one who takes care of Vishnu and is the ruler of his royal palace. He is the Commander -in – Chief of the armed forces. He takes care of everything by just pointing his fore finger. So he is very dear to the Lord and Lord is the dearest to him. Lord suggested Vishwakse:na Ishti to Brahma to realize our goals.
Nambi Venu Gopala Swami highlighted the beauty of ‘Varna and Ashrama’ system that existed in Vedic civilization. He explained that Vedic yajna:s have the power to yield whatever one desires. He gave an analogy of – how one can taste the sweetness of sugar irrespective of an individual,s belief or understanding about the taste of sugar, so also one need not understand the meaning of the mantra to enjoy the benefits of any yajna. Explaining the vedic civilization, he told how there used to be a dedicated, rishis and munis, that lived in the woods surrounding the cities performing yajnas selflessly and dedicating the fruits of the same for the welfare of the society at large. This induced piety in the rulers as well as the people’s consciousness. As a result, the rulers complied with dharma and ruled accordingly without corruption and abusing common people which resulted in communal and social harmony. This promoted peace and prosperity in the whole society.
Significance of Vishwaksena Ishti:
One time, demi-gods approached Lord Vishnu for help to fight against demons. Lord Vishnu, sent a commander named Chandra from vaikunta to help demi-gods. Chandra surpassing Lord’s expectations devastated the demons army and protected demi-gods. Satisfied with Chandra’s performance, Lord awarded him the post of Commander-in-chief of Vaikunta Loka giving him the name of VishwakSe:na. This position is so unique as Vishwakse:na protects the city of the ONE who protects the whole universe, Narayana.
He further explained the unique position of Vishwaksena and Vishista:dwaita Philosophy by narrating a short story. One time, a devotee goes to vaikunta and initiates a conversation with the door keepers, Jaya and Vijaya, praising their elevated position. The doorkeepers, although acknowledged their blessed position, informed that although present in Vaikunta, they never looked inside the palace due to their duty of safeguarding the palace. They mention the elevated position of pure devotees like Narada, four kumaras and others who have access to the inner quarter of vaikunta unlike themselves. The devotee then goes to Narada and the four kumara praising their blessed position. Narada and the four kumaras, though acknowledge their position, inform him that even they cannot go into the private quarters when the Lord is with Lakshmi. Further, they informed the exalted position of Vishwakse:na who has continuous access to the whole of the vaikunta irrespective of time and place. The devotee then goes to Vishwakse:na praising his position. Vishwakse:na, though although acknowledged his high ranked position, informed the devotee that he hardly gets any personal time to spend with their lordships, as he is busy taking care of all the administrative affairs and security measures to protect of Vaikunta. Thus, he expressed the superior position of the bird carrier of Narayana, who is always in close association with their Lordships Narayana and Lakshmi. So, the devotee goes to Garuda and praises his highly position. Garuda, although acknowledged his blessed position, informed the devotee that, he only gets to touch the lord when the lord is desirous of attending any true devotees’ call. Thus, Garuda, explained the devotee that Lakshmi Devi is more blessed as she is never in separation with the lord because she is always massaging the lotus feet of the lord. The devotee then goes to Lakshmi devi, glorifying the supremely exalted position of her. Although, Lakshmi devi accepted her glory, informed the devotee that, Lord A:diSesha is even elevated and blessed than herself, as Lakshmi devi gets to touch only the Lords feet, where as Anantha Sesha, transforms himself into a bed, an umbrella, shoes, garments ornaments, garlands and many other forms to serve the lord in whatever extent possible. Then, overwhelmed with the supreme position of A:di Sesha, the devotee goes to A:di Sesha glorifying him. Adi: Shesha although acknowledged his uniquely blessed position, informs the devotee how he had appeared on earth as Ramanuja:charya Swami to please the lord to establish Vishista:dwaita philosophy. A:di Se:sha conveys, although, everybody awaits his attention, he constantly awaits the arrival of devotees who accept and follow the Vishista:dwaita Philosophy. Venu Gopala Swami thus concluded his explanation.
Justice N. Narasimha Reddy attended todays Ishti.
‘Nava Kalasha Sna:panam’ took place inside the temple as a part of the consecration. The holy water sanctified as part of this ceremony, is used to bathe and sanctify the deities.
In the Pravachana Mandap today HH conducted the Sri Ranganatha puja. Talking on the occasion, HH Sri Chinna Jeeyar Swamiji enlightened on the need of ‘worship’.
“Why do we do puja? Is He there? If he is there where is he? If we want to do puja, how long should we do?
Sasthras say he is present there in five places. He who is present in us is known as ‘antharya:mi’. He is also there in the temple as the ‘archa murthi’. He is in us, so this body becomes his temple. We decorate his temple because he stays there. In the same manner you can beautify yourself thinking you are decorating his temple. While doing the office work or cooking in the kitchen, think you are doing His work. When you deal with people, think you are dealing with Him. When you feed others – think you are feeding Him. When you take bath or fill your stomach, do it with the feeling that you are bathing Him or filling His stomach. When you buy things, feel you are buying it to cater to His needs. In doing so, everything goes on in the same manner. Nothing changes, except your thinking pattern. But this makes all the difference. This is what is called WORSHIP. Then decide for yourself how long you need to do puja or how long did you do puja.
At home, we keep a place of worship and keep our Lord there and worship Him. There we need not ask for anything. But when we participate in the mass pujas, we can pray for the good of all. If everything is fine with everyone, peace automatically prevails in the society.”
Thus Swamiji enlightened the assembled masses on the Karma, Jnana, Bhakthi yogas in a nutshell in the simplest of terms. Everyone sitting there became excited and inspired contemplating on how to train themselves to put it into practice.
People flooded the health camp, which is a huge success. Close to ten thousand devotees have been treated so far, according to one of the doctors providing the service. The health camp consisted of Acu-pressure and Homoeopathic doctors in addition to regular Allopathic doctors.
In the evening, Vishwa Druk blind organization performed a musical concert Annamacharya Keertanas. Keyboard, Tabla and other musical instruments were also used. It was unbelievable to watch the visually challenged people giving such an amazing performance. Later on, Devi Gauri performed classical dance. Justice Svaroop Reddy and N Surya Prakash Rao Chairman of Surya News papers attended the function.
