This day (6th May 2011) being Easwaramma Day and the 13th day after Bhagawan shed His mortal coil and stayed established as the all-pervading Universal Consciousness, a special function was arranged in the Sri Sathya Sai Hill View Stadium to serve the special guests who had assembled in tens of thousands from the nearby villages. These guests who provide us the opportunity to serve are no less than Narayana Himself and hence this function is rightly named as Maha Narayana Seva. On this auspicious day this activity was also carried out in many centres of the Sri Sathya Sai Seva Organisations around the world.
Elaborate arrangements were made in the stadium to feed the Narayanas in an orderly manner. The stadium was barricaded well so that the Narayanas could sit comfortably and partake of the Prasadam and receive clothes. The Seva Dals of Sri Sathya Sai Seva Organisations and the Police force from the local administration manned the important locations in the stadium and helped in the smooth conduct of the function.
The function began at 9.30 hrs. with the lighting of lamp in the dais of the stadium. Two huge photographs, one of Bhagawan and another of Mother Easwaramma was placed on the dais. A beautiful cut-out of Bhagawan serving the Narayanas in the Hill View Stadium was arranged as a backdrop. The Narayanas were allowed in the stadium from 7.00 hrs. to 9.30 hrs. People had lined up outside the stadium as early as 6.00 hrs in the morning to gain entry. The Narayanas were served a laddu, Puliohara (Tamarind rice), water sachets, clothes, Vibhuti Prasadam and a photograph of Bhagawan.
All the Trustees of Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust were present on this occasion. The function concluded at 10.00 hrs with the offering of Aarati.
Meanwhile, at the Mother Easwaramma Samadhi, special prayers and offerings were conducted in the morning that was attended by the family members of Bhagawan's physical frame, students and other devotees.
Evening Session:
The evening session had three elders sharing their experience with the devotees. Prof. Anil Kumar who introduced the speakers of the day, hailed Mother Easwaramma by paraphrasing Bhagawan's own declaration that, "Rama, Krishna, Shivaji or Gandhi became what they were because of their mothers. Same way, I am Sathya Sai today because of Easwaramma!"
The first speaker was Prof. G. Venkataraman, the 5th Vice Chancellor of Bhagawan's University and the Director of Radio Sai Global Harmony. Prof. Venkataraman spoke about how all who gathered are writing a public exam this day. "We had an inspiring and loving teacher to guide us throughout but the teacher can't be with us during the exam. We have to make our teacher proud by performing with flying colours in this exam", he insisted. He then reminded the assembly of a past discourse when Bhagawan admonished devotees for running after Moksha when the fellow human beings were suffering. Bhagawan thundered that His devotees should run to the help of his fellow brothers so that God would run behind them to grant Moksha. However the professor cautioned the gathering that it is our heart which should lead the head and not vice versa.
Sri B N Narasimhamurthy, the warden of the Brindavan campus was the next speaker. He recollected the words of John the beloved disciple of Jesus, "You would have me speak of Jesus, but how can I lure the passion-song of the world into a hollowed reed? Could you conceive a majesty too kind to be majestic? And a beauty too radiant to seem beautiful? Could you hear in your dreams a voice shy of its own rapture?". Recaptulating the last moments of Lord Krishna and Shirdi Sai , the speaker attempted to console the devotees of the Permanence of the Avatars.
The third speaker Sri V.S.R. Murthy, is the managing director of a private firm in Hyderabad. He addressed the gathering in Telugu. Starting with hailing Mother Easwaramma mentioning about her requests to her son that led to Bhagawan staying in Prasanthi Nilayam and transforming this forlorn village into an international township with a university of repute and a super specialty hospital, the speaker drew drew attention to how Bhagawan, the Avatar of the age, set us all an example by always listening to His mother, nourishing His motherland and elevating His mother tongue to a language of God. He further narrated a personal interaction he had with Bhagawan. Bhagawan had said that any home in which a small photo of His is placed, where bhajans are sung, where the residents leave all burdens to Him and live life in surrender, Bhagawan would take complete care of the family for many generations.
Prof. Anil Kumar thanked the speakers and made special mention of the morning's Maha Narayana Seva which happened with such auspiciousness that one felt Bhagawan walking between the lines and served every guest Himself. He then introduced the artistes for the evening. The Malladi Brothers who have given many scintillating concerts in the Divine Presence in the recent years sang many favourite numbers of Bhagawan. They also shared some interactions they had with Bhagawan during their first performance in front of the Lord in Kodaikanal. They started their concert with Ram Bhakthi Samrajyam. When they sang "Janula Madhya Tirugade Jagapathi", there were few dry eyes in the hall. They concluded the concert with the famous song, "O Rama Ne Naamam Yemmi Ruchi Ra..."
The concert was followed by Bhajans during which prasadam was distributed to the assembly. The programme concluded with Mangala Aarathi at 1935 hrs.
