Navaratri 1998 - Report of day two

The 2nd day of the 1998 Devi Navaratri celebrations involved the worship of Raja Rajeshwari Devi

The morning Sangeetha Seva was a Carnatic `Vocal concert by an eminent and veteran musician Nada Nidhi Sri Nedanoori Krishna Murthy. His purity and classical style of rendering was very appealing. The coup de piece was the Raga Lalita based Sri Swamiji's Bhajan "Lalite Lalite Sri Lalite". Sri Swamiji, was so moved that He asked the song to be sung again.

In the afternoon Sri Sanjay Subramaniam an upcoming artist rendered a Carnatic vocal concert.

Speech of His Holiness on the second day of the Navaratri celebrations date - 22nd September 1998.

Sri Swamiji gave the following message after the second day¹s Puja with Sri Raja Rajeshwari as the presiding deity.

Message:

Listen to a new song on Shrunkhala Devi, who is a Saraswati, the Goddess of learning. The tune of the song is also in Raga "Saraswati".

Meaning of the song:

"Oh Shrunkhala Devi, you bestow countless boons which cause all aspects of auspiciousness. Also, you enlighten the devotee with Divine Knowledge. You are worshipped in Pradyumna state (which is now known as West Bengal in India. The temple of the Goddess Shrunkhala is situated near Calcutta, on the bank of river Hoogly). You are worshipped in Sringeri, as Sharada You are adored by Truth - Knowledge - Bliss (SAT - CHIT - ANANDA).

Let us look at the mythological story of the temple. Thousands of years ago, there was an young sage by name Rushyashrunga who was very ritualistic and scholarly. He was so much attuned to spiritualism that he did not even look any female. In a nearby kingdom, a severe famine set in. The ruler of the kingdom was advised by the learned people to try to bring sage Rushyashrunga, whose very presence would cause the required rains. Somehow, by great difficulty the young sage was brought to the famine-affected kingdom and everyone felt happy due to the desired rainfall, just on the arrival of Rushyashrunga Thereafter there were optimum rains. The sage was married to the princess. The couple stayed in the kingdom. Once, the sage Rushyashrunga toured in south India. During that period he worshipped the Saraswati at Shringeri for sometime. At the same place - Shringeri, after thousands of years, Adi Shankaracharya (famous for his doctrine of Advaita - MONISM) established a temple of Saraswati. She is now well known as Shringeri Sharada Devi After narrating the story, Sri Swamiji rendered a fine song on Chamundi Devi, the family deity of the Royal family of Mysore as also the people of Karnataka at large.

The cloth Sri Swamiji is wearing was given by a devotee 30 years ago. He was the director of the silk factory in Mysore. He was the son of Gowramma who is here today. Swamiji wanted silk clothe that was spun from the silk worms that had met natural death. A nonviolent way of producing silk clothes. It was a daunting task as, to find silk clothe in such quantity (five metres) was a tough task. One had to carefully check for silk cocoon in which the silk worm would have died naturally. It took him two years and he finally presented this silk clothe. Swamiji was taken to the silk factory to present this clothe. This clothe has come out after 30 years. It was a labour of love. I cherish those gifts, which have been given with purity of devotion and love. A million rupees given with dented feeling is garbage to me." Purity of Love and Devotion is very important.