Sri Yagam Day 2

Today morning the Ashram at 222 Dey Road, Cranbury, NJ was filled with the vibrant, rich tones of Vedic chanting. The entire scene of the Ya:ga Sa:la was enchanting, with the yellow clad swamis (ruthwiks) sitting around the homa kundas, offering the oblations simultaneously as per the chanting of the hymns by the yajnacharya Sri Madhusudanacharya, and the ya:gam sponsors sitting around the perimeter of their respective altars chanting the given manthras. Swamiji arrived at the ya:gasa:la holding his tridandam, resplendent with the dwadasa pundras, glowing with a blessing smile. The devotees had a marvelous darsan of Swamiji. After the mangala:sasanam to the Kodandarama perumal, the rithwiks offered the beginning hymns of veda and slokas of sasthras, itihasas and Upanishads at His feet. Sriyagam and Nakshatra homas, and Vainatheya Ishti were started as per the schedule. After that Swamiji spoke on the importance of today ie.Gurupurnima.

Many devotees who arrived from far and wide listened to HH with rapt attention. “Lord in the deity form is all powerful and all knowledgeable Supreme personality. We do every activity for His sake. That is what our mentors and masters taught us. We try to be more sincere while doing our activities. If our words are supported by our heart and our actions follow this, Lord will surely take care of us. Today, Lord starts his ‘yoga nidra’ lying in the milk ocean. His sleep is not the normal sleep. God spends these four months in yoganidra, with a constant thought process to save us, to save our souls from this egoistic ‘samsara’. His innumerable incarnations have become futile with our nature of evading his evident help. Acharyas offer mangalasasanams to Him. During these four months, people who believe that God is in their hearts, try to take care of the Lord by serving Him, following Him, and understanding our spiritual knowledge with the grace of God and Acharyas. When it’s not easy to stay in one place for four months our rishis exempted us from this and recommended us to stay for at least two months - any two month period. If not two months, they even relaxed the stay in Chaturmasyam for one month taking one week as one month. It’s a very auspicious day today, not just because of the beginning of Chaturmasyam, today is also the birth star (thirunakshathram) of great acharyas such as Aalavandar- Ramanujaswami’s acharya and another acharya Pundarikaksha. People worship their guru on this day, and dedicate themselves to their gurus, seeking their guidance.

Tirtha goshti followed to the large number of devotees. The yajamanis who participated in the Nakshatra homa took the sankalpam and participated in the worship. Today in the Ishti sala, Vainatheya Ishti was conducted. Swamiji, talking about this particular Ishti, said, “A naga is a snake with multiple heads while a sarpa is a snake with a single head. People having kuja dosham won’t have kids. A kuja (planet) is a sort of na:ga. The snakes are scared of Garuda and run away on sensing his presence. When Ra:ma and Lakshmana fell unconscious under the influence of na:gaasthra, Garuda was remembered. On listening to Garuda’s sound, the snakes slithered away. In this Ishti, Garuda manthra is chanted and people who perform this Ishti will be relieved of kuja dosha and be blessed with righteous children,” concluded Sri Swamiji.

Today in the pravachana mandapam, Pedda Jeeyar Swamiji was worshipped, as today is the birthday of Veda Vya:sa Bhagavan, who divided the mass of Vedas into four, authored 18 pura:na:s and the Bramha Su:tras as well, and propogated them through his disciples. Swamiji mentioned the necessity of devotion towards God and guru as well. The grace of Guru opens up all the hidden secrets of nature. His compassion is like the enjoyable, pleasant light of a full moon. HH’s advice to all of us was this - do not be a stubborn Duryodhana – he never did a right thing
even though he knew it was right, and he never stopped doing wrong things, though he knew they were wrong. Then how can we be saved? There are compassionate gurus and a:cha:rya:s who explain the realities of the world, reveal the secrets of the Sa:stra:s, and explain about the grace of God. A:cha:rya never ignores us; He tries to put us in the right path and lead us on towards the goal of liberation. After Swamiji’s message, the ruthwiks worshipped the Pa:duka:s of Pedda Jeeyar Swami, with ‘nava kalasa snapanam’, and did Ashto:thara Sathanama Pu:ja. Swamiji fondly remembered his A:cha:rya’s amazing activities and endeavors all through His life, and shared His experiences with the devotees. Pu:rnahuti was performed in the Ishti Sa:la and the main Ya:ga Sa:la under HH’s guidance.

Devotees enjoyed a tasty prasa:dam that was served. After several scorching and tiresome days, the rain god Varuna showed his happiness with pouring rain, and
a pleasant breeze. The culminations of the day’s events began in the evening with Vishnu Sahasrana:ma pa:ra:yana, followed by Swamiji’s pravachanam. Swamiji explained the three realities, nature, souls, and God, and explained how we are hooked to nature, how Lord comes in various avata:ra:s to deliver us, and how we evade him. It is wrong to blame God for our misfortunes and troubles. We are responsible for our plight. Surrender to a Guru, and he will pull us out from the clutches of samsa:ra. Dr. Samudra:la Ranga Ra:ma:nuja:cha:rya Swami elaborated on karma and its origin, quoting from Bhagavad Ra:ma:nuja:charya’s works.

In the mass prayer for world peace, the Lord in the form of A:cha:rya is praised for his perseverance and compassion. Everyone in the pravachana mandapam pleaded the Lord to strengthen our faith, help them preserve and adore the greatness of the Manthra, and spread His greatness all around the world. Today being Guru Pu:rnima, all the devotees reverently performed Pa:da Pu:ja to the lotus feet of our A:cha:rya, Swamiji. Though the schedule was hectic, HH patiently distributed sri:pada tirtham to the vast number of devotees present and blessed them. The day’s events were concluded with Pu:rna:huti and conclusion of today’s parayanas. Devotees had the yaga prasadam and attended the tadiyaradhana. Swamiji blessed all the devotees that the grace of
a:cha:ryas will forever be showered on us.