English January-2011

Vol : 3 No : 34 Febrauary-2010

1. 2EDITORIAL

2. APPOINTMENT DIARY OF 3H.H.ACHARYA MAHARAJSHR

3.

SATSANG SURBHI

SATSANG BALVATIKA

BHAKTI-SUDHA

NEWS

SHIKSHAPATRI 4

4. PUSHPDOLOTSAV AND RANGKRIDA5

5. KUMBH-MAHAPARVA OF 2010 IN 6PIOUSGANGA OF HARIDWAR

6. WAVE OF PLEASURE : TAPASVI SAINTS 7

7. SHREE HARI IN MULI 8

8. SADGURU SHREE BRAHMANAND SWAMI 10

9. SEAT OF DHARMVANSHI ACHARYA 11OF SHREE SWAMINARAYAN SAMPRADAYA

THIS IS OUR TITLE 13

(1) BE PUNCTUAL & ALERT IN TIME(2) HAIL THIS TRUST!

(1) FROM THE BLESSINGS OFH.H. SHRI GADIWALA ‘HOW IS OUR LIFE?’

(2) MIRACLES OF SHREE HARI

10. :

11. 15

12. 17

13. 18

Shree Swaminarayan

C O N T E N T S

Falgun

Haribhaktas

Pooja, Bhakti

Satsang

DarshanPatotsav

Falgun Sud-3

DharmkulFalgun Sud-15 Holi

Dhuleti- PrakatyotsavSatyug

Falgun Vad-1‘Nar’, ‘Narayan’, ‘Hari’

‘Krishna’ Prakatya Fuldolotsav

Darshan PatotsavPushpdolotsav Janm-Jayanti

is the month of colours, joy and enthusiasm and therefore onlyperhaps Shreeji Maharaj would have chosen this month for invocation of theLord Shree Narnarayandev. Just before 188 years, Shreeji Maharaj invokedthe idol images of the Lord Shree Narnarayandev for the welfare of thewhole humanity and directed all the devotees and that thisForm of the Lord Shree Narnarayandev is His own form and there is nodifference between the two. Those who differentiate between the LordShree Narnarayandev and Shree Swaminarayan they have not understoodShree Swaminarayan. and worship of the Lord ShreeNarnarayandev is capable of granting emancipation and place inAkshardham. Today there are many so called learned persons inwho state that the form of the Lord Shree Narnarayandev and the LordShree Swaminarayan are different from each other and such persons whodo not believe in worshipping and performing then such personsare disobedient of the orders of the Lord. The next of the LordShree Narnarayandev would be celebrated on the pious day of

with great fervour and enthusiasm in the pious presence of H.H.ShriAcharya Maharaj and the whole .

is the pious day of . It is also the day of colours and itis a festival of colours which is being celebrated by all the devotees all overthe world. The next day is of the Lord ShreeNarnarayandev. In , the Almighty Lord granted blessings toDharmdev and Murtidevi, “I will take birth at your home in four forms.” On thepious day of on the bank of the pious river Sabarmati in theAshram of Dharmdev the Lord incarnated as and

. of the Lord Shree Narnarayandev wouldalso be celebrated in the temple premises of the Shree Swaminarayantemple, Kalupur, Ahmedabad.

It is an humble request to all the devotees to avail with their whole familythe divine benefit of and celebration of this of the LordShree Narnarayandev and of of the LordShree Narnarayandev

EditorMahant SwamiShastri Swami Harikrishnadas

FEBRUARY-2010 • 2

2. Graced Shr Prabha Hanumanji Jamiyatpura on theoccasion of .

3. Graced Shri Swaminarayan temple, Surendranagar onthe occasion of .Graced Shri Swaminarayan temple, Motera on theoccasion of .

4. Graced Shri Swaminarayan temple, Dhansuraon the occasion of .

5-6 Graced Shri Swaminarayan temple, Bhuj on theoccasion of .

7. Graced Shri Swaminarayan temple, Chuda (Muli Desh) on the occasion of.

8. Graced Shri Swaminarayan temple, Mankil (tal. Sanand).Graced the house of the devotee Shri Pravinbhai Mangaldas Patel, Navrangpura.

9. Graced Shri Swaminarayan temple, Idar on the occasion of .10. Graced Vadu village on the occasion of .11. Graced Shri Swaminarayan temple, Mansa on the occasion of .12. Graced Shri Swaminarayan temple, Vavol on the occasion of Patotsav.14-21 Graced Shri Swaminarayan temple, Mombasa on the occasion of Golden

Jubilee .22. Graced Shri Swaminarayan temple, Mayurnagar (Muli Desh) on the occasion of

.23. Graced Shri Swaminarayan temple, Torda on the occasion of .24. Graced Shri Swaminarayan temple, Jivrajpark on the occasion of .25. Graced Shri Swaminarayan temple, Naranpura on the occasion of .

Graced the house of the devotee Shri Jayantibhai Ramdas Patel (Vaduwala),Saraspur on the occasion of .

26. Graced Shri Swaminarayan temple, Patdi (Muli Desh) on the occasion of.

27. Graced Shri Swaminarayan temple, Dhariyavad (Rajasthan) on the occasion of.

28. Graced Shri Swaminarayan temple, Bhimpura on the occasion of .29. Graced Shri Swaminarayan temple, Vasna (Ahmedabad) on the occasion of

.Graced the house of the devotee Shri Arvindbhai Sendhalal Patel, Bopal.

31. Graced Shri Swaminarayan temple, Mahesana on the occasion of .Graced J.D. Aasa, Naroda on the occasion of .

Shakotsav

Shakotsav

Shakotsav

Shakotsav

Dhanurmaas

Patotsav

ShakotsavSatsang Yuva Shibir

Shakotsav

Mahotsav

Satsang SabhaPatotsav

ShakotsavPatotsav

Mahapooja

Patotsav

PatotsavPatotsav

Patotsav

PatotsavYagna

Appointment Diary of H.H. AcharyaMaharaj 1008 Shri Koshalendraprasadji

(January-2010)

FEBRUARY-2010 • 3

Text 33One shall never enter or exit

through a secret way and shall notoccupy, even temporarily any privateproperty without the permission of its

owner.

Yagnavalkya

Manusmruti

Kashi Khanda

Yogeshvara

Adhvarera Na NirgamyamPraveshtavyam |

The Lord forbids entry thorugh an‘adhvara’. Shatanand explains: AdavareretiAlpam Dhvaramdvaram – an Adhvara is asmall (or secret) way. The Lord forbids theuse of such undisclosed or secretivepathways to and form a house. Suchpathways are not for public use and so byusing such paths one commits the crime oftrespassing.

sayas, ‘One shouldnever look at a cow feeding her young. Norenter a town or house through an Adhvara.’This may also be interpreted for safetyreasons as using such passageways, whichare poorly lighted, can be a danger tooneself.

maintains that theowner’s permission should always besought before entering a bounded house ortown. forbids enteringintrusively as well as to lodge in a school foreven one night without permission. Thosewho lodge without permission can be causethe owner to become enraged, resulting inthem being thrown out. This will brew angerwithin those thrown out which will lead tot r a g i c c o n s e q u 3 e n c e s , e x p l a i n sShatanand. For this reason, the owners’permission should be taken always.

explains, ‘One shouldrenounce (stay away from) another’s bed,

The Epistle of Precepts(based on Shatanand’s Shikshapatri

Arthadipika)By Pravin S. Varsani

Shikshapatri

Our future FestivalsFa lgun S ud- 2 : -

Falgun Sud-3:-

Falgun Sud-4: -

Falgun Sud-5:-

F a l g u n S u d - 7 : -

F a l g u n S u d - 8 : -

F a l g u n V a d - 2 : -

F a l g u n V a d - 8 : -

On Tu e s d a y16/02/2010, Suvarna Jayanti (GoldenJubilee) Patotsav Mahotsav of ShreeSwaminarayan temple, Charadva.

On Wednesday17/02/2010, 188 Patotsav of the Lord ShreeNarnarayandev, Shree Swaminarayantemple, Ahmedabad.

On Thursday1 8 / 0 2 / 2 0 1 0 , P a t o t s a v o f S h r e eSwaminarayan temple, Sapawada.

On Friday 19/02/2010,Patotsav of Shree Swaminarayan temple,Kankaria and Choryasi.

O n S u n d a y21/02/2010, Patotsav Mahotsav of ShreeSwaminarayan temple, Khan. :- Nextyear Rajat Jayanti Mahotsav of the templewould be celebrated with great fervour andenthusiasm.

O n M o n d a y2 2 / 0 2 / 2 0 1 0 , P a t o t s a v o f S h r e eS w a m i n a r a y a n t e m p l e , A p p r o c h(Bapunagar).

O n T u e s d a y02/03/2010, Shree Narnarayandev Jayantiand grand Fuldolotsav by H.H. Shri LaljiMaharaj in Ahmedabad temple.

O n M o n d a y08/03/2010, Patotsav Mahotsav of ShreeRevti Baldevji Harikrishna Maharaj in ShreeSwaminarayan temple, Jetalpurdham.

th

Note

another’s seat, another’s garden (or farm),another’s house and another’s vehicle.Only if they are offered, should they beused. Also, one must never partake in anygood (except - remnants of )without the consent of its owner.

is used toindicate places that have owners. Thereforeit is logically deferred that there must existplaces which do not have owners and somay be entered without permission.

explains theses: ‘Thejungle, a river, mountains, caves, religiousplaces and holy ground. these places arewithout an owner.’

Prasad Yagna

‘Sthane Saswamike’

Vashista Muni

FEBRUARY-2010 • 4

There was chaos and lack of religion duringthe time of the Lord Shree Swaminarayan justbefore about two hundred and twenty five years.From the day of his incarnation , the Lord ShreeSwaminarayan had been eradicating these evilsand had been establishing religion in thesociety. The Lord Shree Swaminarayanobserved that, the festivals which are meant forinnocent joy and pleasure, are not beingcelebrated properly and for the purpose they aremeant for. It was also found that the people weredoing something else in the name of religion.Thus pure and serene tradition of festivals wasbeing destroyed. On the pious day ofJanmastmi- the day of incarnation of the LordShree Krishna, Lord found people playinggambling in stead of worshipping. In the name ofShivratri people were taking liquor, Ganja,Charas etc. at night. Moreover during thefestivals like Navratri and during other Yagnas,people were sacrificing the innocent and dumbanimals.

In stead of enjoying innocently the festivalof Holi with colours, the people were foundabusing followed by throwing mud upon oneanother. The Lord Shree Hari thought that, thefestivals during which the Almighty Lord is to bepleased with worship, are being abused by thepeople and therefore first of all it is required topurify these festivals by removing evils whichhave crept into them. With such a divineintention, the Lord Shree Hari startedcelebrating festivals with bright and glorioustradition. Not only people enjoyed them muchbut they also witnessed the purity and sheer joyand innocent celebration in it. WheneverMaharaj use to celebrate any festival, he used tosend an invitation to all the devotees in thecountry as well as in abroad well in advance.The festivals of Ramnavmi, Janmastmi, Diwali

and Annakut etc. were started being celebratedwith great fervour and enthusiasm.

When the Lord Shree Swaminarayangraced Ahmedabad for Patotsav of the LordShree Narnarayandev, then Ekantik ladiesdevotees performed Poojan of Shreeji Maharaj.Thereafter on the next day early in the morningMaharaj himself performed Mahapoojan of theidol images of the Lord Shree Swaminarayan,as it was the pious birthday of the Lord ShreeNarnarayandev. Thereafter a seat was offeredto the deities in and manywere offered and was also performed.

were being performed withmusical instruments. Saints and Bhaktasstarted sprinkling everywhere.

Thereafter Maharaj took his seat upon the

Hindola Pakvaansaarti

Bhajan-Bhakti

Gulal

Pushpdolotsav and Rangkrida- Shastri Swami Abhayprakashdasji Guru

Mahant Swami Devprakashdasji (Naranghat)

Con. from page 14........

FEBRUARY-2010 • 5

KUMBH-MAHAPARVA OF 2010 INPIOUSGANGA OF HARIDWAR

- Sadhu Vrajbhushandas GuruSwami Shyamsundardasji (Haridwar)

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ç±c‡¢é Ð¢Î¢ïÎÜæU Ðèy±¢ ÐéÝüÁ¢ü‹}¢ Ý ç±Î¼ï JJHaridwar is considered to be the land of

the deities. In our country, Kumbh Mela isorganized and celebrated at four places.Haridwar, Allahabad (Prayagraj), Ujjain andNasik. This Kumbh Mela is celebrated as perthe specific position of zodiac and place of

.With the directions of H.H. Shri Acharya

Maharaj 1008 Shri KoshalendraprasadjiMaharaj and blessings and directions of H.H.Shri Mota Maharaj and co-operation andinspiration of all the saints and devotees, wehave arranged celebration of Kumbh Mela int h e p i o u s p r e s e n c e o f S h r e eR a d h a k r i s h n a d e v i n o u r S h r e eSwaminarayan temple, ShankaraacharyaChowk, Haridwar. This is the first KumbhMela of this century. This is also the firstKumbh Mela of the new state of Uttarakhandwhich is carved out from Himachal Pradesh.Thousands of devotees and Haribhakts areexpected to avail the divine benefit of thisKumbh Mela. Therefore, with the directions ofH.H. Shri Acharya Maharaj, Mahant Swami ofour temple in Haridwar has organized Katha,Varta, Dhoon, Bhajan, Group Mahapooja andGroup Janmangal Path etc. during thisKumbh Mela. It is an humble request to all thedevotees to render their services for thegrains like wheat, rice, pulses, Ghee, oil,jaggery, sugar and other grocery items of thekitchen and to avail the divine benefit ofrendering services on this pious occasion.

Nakshatra

Importance of Kumbh Maha-ParvaSnan

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(Vishnu Purana)One earns noble fruits by taking one

Kumbh Snan during this grand festival whichis equivalent to performing for 01 croreyears while sitting amidst the water of thepious river Narmada.

(Skanda Purana)One earns noble fruits by taking one

Kumbh Snan during this grand festival whichis equivalent to giving away 01 crore cows inalms.

14 January Makar Sankranti, 15January Mauni Amaas Surya Grahan, 20January Vasant Panchmi, 30 JanuaryMaghi Purnima, 12 February Maha Shivratri(First Shahi Snan), 15 March SomvatiAmaas (Second Shahi Snan), 16 MarchNavratri Prarambh, 24 March Ramnavmi,Shree Hari Jayanti & Prakatya Divas of theLord Shree Rama and the Lord ShreeSwaminarayan, 30 March Vairagi AkhadaSnan, 14 April Mesh Sankranti (Third ShahiSnan), 28 April Vaisakh Adhik MaasPurnima, 14 May Adhik Maas Purna, 16May Akshay Tritiya Purna, 20 May GangaJayanti, Samapan of Mahakumbh Mela,

Japa

DETAILS OF KUMBH SNANth th

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FEBRUARY-2010 • 6

TAPASVI SAINTS- Shastri Harijeevan Swami (Himatnagar Mahant)

Once Maharaj invited all the saints to Gadhadaon the festival of . Receiving theinvitation all the saints rushed towards Gadhadajust as all the rivers flowing towards the ocean!!!

On their way the saints graced the villageKundal. When Maharaj learnt this, he himselfgraced the village Kundal riding the horse andgraced the house of the devotee Mamaiya Patgar.At that time the saints were observing strict of

and therefore salt-less item calledwas prepared for the saints. Both the saints as wellas Maharaj accepted the meals of salt-less .

Witnessing this Sura Khachar and other Kathidevotees cherished feelings of compassiontowards the saints. Sura Khachar put down histurban and ardently requested Maharaj to look atthe lean bodies of the saints and to be merciful.Brahm-Muni was also moved observing the saints.At night Swami performed a drama in the Sabha ofKariyani. In the Sabha he made a sign with hishand as if no one is looking at him and asked for hisVina which he started playing while singing Kirtanin front of Maharaj. When Maharaj asked thereason for such strange behaviour of the saint,Mahabhuvanand Swami informed Maharaj thatdue to austere of , this swami andhis companion saints have lost their eye-sight.The merciful Maharaj granted the saints freedomfrom and all the saints wereoffered the delicious meals prepared by thedevotee Jiva Khachar.

Hutasani (Holi)

VratKhatras Thuli

Thuli

Vrata Khatrasa

Vrata of Khatrasa

Wave of Pleasure

FEBRUARY-2010 • 7

- Chandrakant Mohanlal Pathak (Gandhinagar)

While performing Snan in river Bhogavo,a young person asked a local person, “Is thereany house here where there can be a night-stay?” the local person was the devoteeHarakhji Khatri who asked, “Who are you?”the young person replied, “I am Brahmaputra,a Brahmchari, a Brahmswaroop and performSatsang of good person.” Harakhji Khatriasked, “I am asking are you a Brahmin?” theyoung person replied, “Yes, I am.” HarakhjiKhatri said, “There is one Ghela Joshi in thevillage. He is very pure and pious. You can goand stay there.”

Shree Hari inquired in the village andreached at the house of Ghela Joshi. TheBrahmin welcomed him warmly. There was ahuge neem tree in the verandah. The Brahminoffered him a seat under the tree and servedhim with a glass of water. When Mahraj tookrest, the Brahmin asked, “Whether you wouldprepare your meals yourself or would youaccept the meals from my kitchen?” the youngperson said, “Today, there is fasting ofEkadashi.” The Brahmin said, “Then I bringsomething from the village which you canhave.”

The Brahmin rushed to the village andbrought the sweet and offered it to Maharaj.Maharaj offered it first to the Lord Vishnu andthen accepted it. Amrutba, the wife of theBrahmin, offered a bowl full of fresh curd.

Any incident becomes a talk of the town ina little village. Some of the villagers came to

know that a divine Brahmchari has come to thehouse of the devotee Ghela Joshi andBrahmchari is worthy to perform . Allthe villagers started thronging together aroundthe house of Ghela Joshi. Coincidentlyanother Brahmchari came in the village and healso came to the house of the Brahmin GhelaJoshi. Since the house of the Brahmin wasvery big, he was also offered a stay in a roombeside the room of the Lord Shree Hari. Hewas also offered the meals. After some time,this Brahmchari started talking aboutPhilosophy of Atma and Paramatma in frontof the villagers.

At that time Shree Hari said that, Yogcannot be realized through mere talks. It hasto be experienced and realized by the self.And without such Siddhi one cannot haveAtma-Darshan. But it is very difficult to realizeYog in life. Thereafter Shree Hari performedChoryasi Asanas, Noli, Kunjar, Neti-Khasti,Vrajoli, Aamroli, Khechri etc. types of Yog infront of all the villagers. The villagers weresurprised to witness this. However, they werelaughing cherishing the belief that, thesethings cannot be performed by a commonman. Therefore Shree Hari said that it is verydifficult for a common man to perform all theseYogic Kriya; for them an easy method of Atma-Darshan is required to be demonstrated.

Another Brahmchari thought that hisinfluence is getting vanished in front of ShreejiMaharaj. So he resorted to Jantar-Mantar. Heasked Amrutbai to bring any brazen utensilfrom the kitchen. When a brazen glass wasbrought, this Brahmchari performed JantarMantar upon the glass and the brazen glassturned into a golden glass. Shree Hari saidthat, all these things are futile, real gold andsilver lying in Vachana (sayings) of the greatpersons. The Brahmchari retorted that, those

Darshan

SHREE HARI IN MULI

FEBRUARY-2010 • 8

who speak cannot do anything, and those whocan do, they never speak. And asked ShreejiMaharaj to do something in stead of speaking.

Shree Hari replied, “With the blessingsand powers of our Guru, we can do anything.Nothing happens in this world without our wishand desire. You may look into our mouth.”Telling this, Maharaj opened his mouth. All thevillagers also peeped into the mouth ofMaharaj and to their surprise they saw the hillsof gold and silver. They also saw the divinelight emitting from the body of Maharaj. It wasa divine experience for the villagers who werepresent on the occasion. With such divineDarshan, all the villagers slipped into thecondition of Samadhi, and during theirSamadhi, they had had Darshan of their ownpersonal gods and deities. All the villagersbowed down at the lotus like feet of ShreeHari.

Shree Hari said, “Oh, villagers! With theblessings and powers of our Guru, we havegot all the treasure without asking for thesame. But we are not interested in it. We areinterested in the worship of the Almighty Lord.”When Shree Hari touched a marble stone withhis feet, the marble stone turned into a goldenstone.

This was a very small village and so theking of the village came to know about thiswhole incident. The king came to Maharaj withhis Darbari and performed poojan, archan ofMaharaj. By observing the divine face ofMaharaj, the king could realize that this mustbe a great man. The king bowed down at thefeet of Shree Hari and offered the gifts toMaharaj. However, Maharaj talked with theking in a very simple way and while observingthe respect of a king. Maharaj also blessed allDarbaris. The Darbaris requested Maharaj togrant them of Maharaj.

Shree Hari said, “Just look at us. Thosewho have ardent faith in us will be granted

of Mandavraiji.” Darbars sat praying

Darshan

Darshan

with closed eyes and they had butthey could not tolerate the severity of theDivine Light. Therefore, they requested togrant them of soft Form of Maharaj.In no time, there was coldness emitting fromthe Divine Light and all the Darbars had haddivine Darshan of Mandavraiji.

With this miracle, there was pleasure andjoy in the whole of the villager. At night GhelaJoshi told his wife, “Shree Hari is the AlmightyLord and it is beyond doubt. Let us offer themmeals tomorrow which is the pious day ofEkadashi. The Lord would be pleased with usand would bless us with happiness of child.”Amrutba was very much pleased with theproposal.

The next day early in the morning,Amrutba took bath, and prepared deliciousmeals with pious body and mind. Ghela Joshibrought the things of Pooja and offered hotwater to Shree Hari for bath. Mahaprabhuperformed the daily rituals. Thereafter a newcloth was offered as a seat to Maharaj andplaced a Thaal in front of Maharaj. The Thaalconsisted of various delicious items. Thehusband and wife both ardently requestedMaharaj to accept the meals. Shree Hariaccepted the meals and stated that the mealswere very beautiful.

Thereafter Ghela Joshi performed Poojaof Shree Hari and offered the gifts and boweddown at the feet of Shree Hari. When Maharajasked him if he wished anything. The devoteeGhela Joshi requested that they may begranted the happiness of a son. Maharajblessed and said that he would have threesons and the elder son would continue andpreserve the family. Ghela Joshi was verymuch pleased and once again bowed down atthe lotus like feet of Shreeji Maharaj. This is anincident of Samvant 1859 the year in which forthe first time Shree Hari had graced the piousland of Muli Desh.

Darshan

Darshan

FEBRUARY-2010 • 9

Brahmanand Swami was born on the pious dayof Vasant Panchmi Samvat 1828 (A.D. 1772) at theresidence of Barot Shambhudan and Laluba atvillage ‘Khan’ in Shirohi district at the foothills ofMount Abu. His name was ‘Ladudanji’ and he was avery bright child with an attractive face.

On the strength of his great intellectual powers,the child completed his study in Gujarati in a veryshort span of time. All the expenses of his furtherstudies in ‘ ’ were borne by the KingRana of Udepur. He had undertaken in-depthstudies of Pingal and Sanskrit Shastras at villageDhamadk (Kachchh). He was also awarded withmany prizes and honours and had also earned thetitle ‘Raj-Kavi’ (The State Poet’).

In Bhuj he came to meet the Lord ShreeSahjanand Swami. With Darshan of Maharaj hiseyes were wet with pleasure. While going towardsGadhada, he had thought in his mind that, he wouldbelieve Maharaj to be Almighty God if he would getDarshan of in the lotus like

of Maharaj. When he had hadDarshan of this, he uttered spontaneously thefollowing :

Since then he had developed firm faith inMaharaj, abandoned the precious costumes andornaments received by him offered them at the lotuslike feet of Maharaj and expressed his desire in frontof Maharaj to obtain Diksha. Maharaj granted himDiksha and his name was re-christened as‘Brahmanand Swami’.

Brahmanand Swami had made in-depthstudies of Marvadi, Vrajbhasha, Kachchhi, Gujarati,Sanskrit etc. languages. His poetic powers and theart of extempore were exceptional and unique. Healso knew the experiments of .

One finds Bhakti, Gyan, Vairagya, Tapa,Sanyam and Sahupadesh in the Kirtans and Padascreated by Brahmanand Swami. Style of expressionof emotions, affections, expression of the tenderfeelings and tender sensations was unique in hisKirtans.

Brahmanand Swami had taken great pains forconstruction of temples of our Sampradayas at the

Pingal Shastra

Charanarvind

Kirtan

Shatavadhan

Sol Chinha

‘‘yksLke ½ze hu ÄLÞ yksLke ½ze......’’

• ‘÷xfk¤k íkkhu ÷xfu hu, ÷uh¾zk nwt ÷ku¼kýe hu...’• ‘hu rþh Mkkxu LkxðhLku ðheyu..........’• ‘hu Mkøkðý nrhðhLkwt Mkk[wt,

çkesw Mkðuo ûký¼tøkwh fk[wt.......’

famous places of pilgrimage like Vadtal, Junagadh,Muli etc. Shree Hari and Brahmanand Swami werelike friends. In ‘ ’ Maharaj has stated,

Brahmanand Swami had constant Darshan ofMaharaj in all the three states of his consciousness.He had created about 17 scriptures and more than10,000 Kirtan. One finds the strong waves of Loveand Affection in the ocean of heart of BrahmanandSwami and it is found well expressed in all of hisPadas. One of his Padas Brahmanand Swami hasexpressed his feelings as under:

With the inspiration and blessings of H.H. ShriAcharya Maharaj Shree Tejendraprasadji Maharaj,a temple of our Shree Swaminarayan isconstructed at village ‘Khan’ the birthplace ofBrahmanand Swami. This temple would complete25 years next year. With the directions andblessings of H.H. Shri Acharya Maharaj, RajatJayanti Mahotsav (Silver Jubilee) would becelebrated the next year with all fervour andenthusiasm. Let this village ‘Khan’ may prove to bea Valley of Satsang forever!!!

Vachanamrut“Brahmanand Swami is Yati like Hanumanji…”

‘‘yk íkLk htøk Ãkíktøk Mkhe¾ku,òíkk ðkh Lk ÷køkuS;

yMktÏÞ økÞk ÄLk MktÃkr¥k {u÷e,íkkhe LksÁt ykøkuS...’’

- Prof. Mahadev Dhoriyani (Rajkot)

Sadguru Shree Brahmanand Swami

FEBRUARY-2010 • 10

Almighty Lord Shree Swaminarayan incarnatedon this earth in human form and established

. The Lord also suggested a noble pathof Sadachar & Sadvartan (noble conduct & nobledeeds) to the people of this world. For the welfare andemancipation of his followers the Lord himselfperformed three mysterious i.e.establishment of (i) The Scriptures (ii) Temples ofDeities and (iii) Seat of . Many people in thisworld introduce themselves as

etc. nowadays in theuniversities the degrees of

conferred upon thestudents Moreover, at many places Sanyasis anddevotees shouldering domestic duties and also theladies devotees perform duties as Acharya. But theseat of Acharya in Shree SwaminarayanSampradaya is the best and unique due to its manyidiosyncrasies.

Shree Sahjanand Swami established the Seat ofDharmvanshi Acharya as the Guru of all the devoteesand Haribhaktas. For smooth administration ofSampradaya, the Lord himself established two seatsat Ahmedabad-Shree Narnarayandev Desh and atVadtal- Shree Laxminarayandev Desh. The Lordhimself has got written andinsisted the devotees to remain scrupulously underthe directions of . Nowhere inthis world, the Lord himself has established the seat of

. It is with a noble intention of protectingand preserving that the Lord established theSeat of in and established

as the Guru of the ladies devotees.Narayan, who is Grihasthashrami, has been

established as of . Amongall , Vyasji is considered to be ofall and of all , and Vyasjihimself was a . Even great MuniVash is tha and Yagnva lkya j i we re a l so

. Moreover, Janak-videhi- the guru ofShukdevji was also Grihasthshrami. Manu, Atri,Vishnu, Harik, Yagnavalkya, Angiya, Yam,Aapstamb, Vyas, Katyayan, Samvart, Parashar,Brihaspati, Shankh, Ushanas, Daksh, Likhit, Satatap,Gautam and Vashista are the great twentypersonalities of Vedic period which preachedhumanism through the scriptures. All of them were

.

SanatanVedic Dharma

Sankalps-

AcharyaGyanacharya,

Yogacharya, DharmacharyaNyayacharya,

Sahityacharya, Vyakaranacharya.

Desh-Vibhag Lekh

Dharmvanshi Acharya

Dharma-PadaDharma

Acharya GrihasthashramGadiwala

Aadya-Guru SampradayaSampradayas Gurugurus Acharya acharyas

Grihasthshrami

Grihasthshrami

Grihasthshramis

Whether future Acharya should be selectedfrom amongst Tyagis or Grihasthshramis? Whetherselection to be made from Dharmkul or to thinkotherwise? In order to decide on these questions,Shree Hari conducted a huge Sabha of Tyagis andGrihasthshramis in Vadtal. Following the healthytradition of Democracy, the opinions were invited andcalled for on the issue. But, on the behalf of all thedevotees and Tyagis, Shree Muktanand Swami,popularly known as ‘ ’ prayed withfolded hands to Shree Hari:

Muktanand Swami also said,

Mother of Satsang“Dharmdev was

Grihasthshrami and he was granted by ShreeRamanand Swami a special right of makingdisciples by granting Diksha and also to preachthem the scriptures. In fact Tyagis should abstainfrom woman, wealth, honour and temptationsarising from five senses. A person sitting on theseat of Acharya has chances of all these thingsand therefore it is not proper to select a Tyagi forthe seat of Acharya.”

- Prof. Suryakant Bhatt (Bhuj)

Seat of Dharmvanshi Acharya of Shree Swaminarayan Sampradaya


“Oh Lord, please select as a tradition a nobleGrihasthshrami person from Dharmkul which isin the interest of all of us.”

The fame and name of Shree SwaminarayanSampradaya was spreading across the State ofGujarat like anything and therefore with a view tohave smooth administration of the Sampradaya onlytwo seats of Acharya were established by the LordShree Swaminarayan himself at Ahmedabad ofShree Narnarayandev Desh and at Vadtal of ShreeLaxminarayandev Desh. After 45 years of the time ofthe Lord Shree Swaminarayan on this earth, twoBritishers Sir Monier Williams, an erudite person inSanskrit and Henry George Briggs, the greathistorian, had come to the visit of India. They haverecorded that, during the last quarter of the 18century, there were about one thousand ,three hundred , three hundred

, two hundred and more thanfive lacs families in Shree Swaminarayan

.The unique thing about Desh-Vibhag Lekh got

written by the Lord Shree Swaminarayan is that,there is description of who can be Acharya ofSampradaya. In the self-written ‘ ’ thereis reference of Acharya on both Gadis- ShreeAyodhyaprasadji Maharaj as Acharya on the seat ofShree Narnarayandev Desh Gadi and ShreeRaghuvirjiprasadji Maharaj on the seat of ShreeLaxminarayandev Desh Gadi. There is also a specialreference of the duties and the rules to be performedand observed by H.H. Shri Acharya Maharaj andH.H. Shri Gadiwalashri. They have to invariablyfollow the rules prescribed for the Grihasthis and theyhave also to accept and observe all other rules. Themethod of selection of Acharya of Sampradaya isalso very unique. Only the present Acharya canselect and appoint the next Acharya of theSampradaya. If he has a son, who is religious andcapable in all respect, then he can grant this seat ofAcharya to him after obtaining written sanction of thedevout and honest leading devotees, Tyagi andGrihasthi Haribhaktas of Sampradaya.

If Acharya of Sampradaya has more than oneson then it is not as a rule that only an elder son canbe granted the seat of Acharya. The more capableand suitable son can be granted this seat of Acharya.However, seat of Acharya cannot be granted from thefamily of the daughters. If Acharya has a son, who isnot capable, or if Acharya has no son, then any malemember of the Dharmkul, who is capable in allrespects, then such a person of Dharmkul can be

th

SadhusBrahmcharis

Parshads Hajuri SevaksGrihasthi

Sampradaya

Shiksha-Patri

granted and offered the seat of Acharya afterobtaining written sanction of the honestGrihasthshrami and Tyagis. A person as Acharyamust from the family of Dharmdev only and selectionmust be made from only amongst the male membersof Dharmkul. Moreover the minor age of such aperson does not be construed as an obstacle in suchselection.

Diksha and Guru Mantra to Sankhya Yogi ladiesand other ladies devotees can be granted only by thewife of Acharya that means only by H.H. ShriGadiwalashri. The seat of Acharya is very pious andgreat in all respects because it is the Other Form ofShree Hari. The Lord Shree Hari himself has pouredHis own divinity into this pious seat of Acharya.Establishing the seat of Acharya is not political innature; in fact it is transferring the Seat of Religion. Acommon human soul cannot shoulder the religiousresponsibilities attached with Dharm-Gadi. InVachanamrit-16 of Gadhada Middle Chapter, theLord Shree Swaminarayan himself has stated, “Lordis H.H. Protector of Religion.” Acharya is also theForm of the Lord and therefore he is also known asH.H. Protector of Religion. Shree Hari hasestablished this Seat of Acharya for the purpose ofprotection of religion only. As a permanentremembrance to this direction of the Lord, Acharya isknown as H.H. Protector of Religion. The word‘Shree’ means ‘wealth’ means the devotee of theAlmighty Lord. As per the Hindu Scriptures thenumber ‘9’ is considered to be very pious and acomplete number. Therefore ‘1008’ is written beforehis name. In Shloka-84 of ‘ ’ Shree Harihas described that Acharya is the Other Form ofShree Hari only and therefore He should be paidspecial reverence & cherished special respect.

This Sampradaya is no Guru-oriented. Acharyadoes not join the devotees or Haribhaktas intohimself. He always joins the devotees directly to theAlmighty Lord Shree Hari. By preserving andscrupulously following the directions, all thedevotees and saints can obtain the pleasure of ShreeHari. Only Acharya has got the legitimate right toperform invocation ritual of the idol images. This rightis reserved with Acharya only. This pious seat ofAcharya was established by the Lord Shree himselfon the pious day of Kartik Sud-11 Vikram Samvat1882 in Vadtal and a necessary documentation wascarried out and in this regard the Lekh, signatures ofthe witness besides the consent of the evidences onthe day of Magsar Sud015, Vikram Samvat 1883 inDarbar of Dada Ebhal in Gadhda.

Shiksha Patri


THIS IS OUR TITLEA very lean body, so much so that one can

even count the bones from the body. Black-brown hair, age 18 years and a personality soattractive that everyone would stop to have aglimpse of it. On the pious day of Shravan Sud-10 Samvat 1856 Nilkanthvarni was climbing thegreat mountain Girnar of Junagah. All the saintsand Sanyasis were granted the benefit ofDarshan.

After Nilkanthvarni graced the peak ofDatatreya, he came to Jayaga of Dharmdasnear Godhavav. Here incessant service ofoffering the meals was going on. With a nobleview to grace such pious places and persons,Nilkanthvarni would accept just an iota of themeals.

In this place of offerings, all the saints andSadhus used to come regularly for the meals.Nilkanthvarni took his seat in a row. Meanwhileone Vairagi Bava and made Nilkanthvarni tostand up to give him his seat. This happenedwith Nilkanthvarni at other place, too. ButNilkanthvarni was cherishing the noble aim thathe should grace such place and person so thatthousands of people who come at the place forthe meals, can get emancipation. Therefore,Nilkanthvarni took his seat at other place butthere also it was repeated. Thus, the Lord had tomove seven times.

Nilkanthvarni could not take the meals buthe left the place without any grudge towardsanybody and came to the temple of LordHatkeshwar. He was followed by one Sanyasi ofthe age of sixty years who had witnessed therude behaviour of Sadhus with Nilkanthvarni.This Sanyasi was so much moved from withinthat even he did not take the meals.Nilkanthvarni took his seat in the premises ofthe temple. This Sanyasi liked the nature andattitude of Nilkanthvarni very much andtherefore he stayed there with Nilkanthvarni.Meanwhile one Nagar devotee of the LordHatkeshwar came to the temple for Darshan.The Sanyasi called him and asked him to offerthe meals to that Balbrahmchari.

Immediately the Nagar devotee came to

Nilkanthvarni, bowed down at the lotus like feetand he experienced tremendous peace withinhimself. With folded hands the devoteerequested Nilkanthvarni to accept his attentionand meals. The Lord granted the request.

The Nagar devotee rushed to his home,got prepared the delicious dish and returned tothe temple and offered the dish toNilkanthvarni. Nilkanthvarni accepted thePrasad from it and gave away the whole mealsto Sanyasi and also offered the Prasad to thedevotee, who was very much moved whileaccepting the Prasad. The mind of the devoteewas filled up with the thoughts of Nilkanthvarnithroughout the day. At night during his sleep,Nilkanthvarni granted him Darshan in the formof the Lord Shiva. Here in the temple, Sanyasiperformed Satsang with Nilkanthvarni. Simplematters, narrated in simple style wereinternalized by Sanyasi very easily and withoutmuch efforts. He stayed with Nilkanthvarni tillBhutnath and Khengarvav places of theHimalayas.

From there, this Sanyasi had come toGujarat and here he coincidentally met with theLord as Varnivesh. While taking leave Maharaj,the Sanyasi had requested that just likeHatkeshwar temple, the Lord may also offerhim the meals at the end time of his life. And theLord blessed him.

From there both of them separated. It wasthe year of Samvat 1874. It is the time whenHarivar was staying in Gadhpur from Jeth toAaso Maas. Maharaj was staying in Akshar-Auradi after performing Sandya Aarti. Kathawas being narrated during the pious Chatur-Maas. Maharaj was sitting in the Katha amongmany saints and devotees. Maharaj wasnarrating His Own Form and all the saints andthe devotees sitting in the Sabha were listeningto him patiently. During the Katha, Maharaj put

- Atul Bhanuprasad Pothiwala (Ahmedabad)

Satsang Surbhi


a complex question of Philosophy before theSabha and asked to find out its answer andwent away from the place for a while. Thedevotee Damodar of Ahmedabad was waitingfor Maharaj holding a lantern in his hand.

Both of them came to the residence ofBhakta Dada. Meanwhile someone knockedthe door. On opening the door, a Sanyasi insaffron garb just fell down unconscious at thedoorstep. He had been searching for the placeof Nilkanth Swaminarayan. He had come toGadhada from the Himalayas.

He was the same Sanyasi who hadaccompanied Nilkanthvarni in Hatkeshwartemple. In the light of the lantern, Shreeji Mharajrecognized Sanyasi, brought a glass of waterand offered him the water. Still Sanyasi waslying with closed eyes. Maharaj asked DamodarBhakta to bring a loaf from Laduba.

Immediately Laduba prepared the loaf,poured Ghee into it and also gave some (avegetable item prepared from edible leaves

Bhaji

grown in the field). Maharaj offered the meals toSanyasi alongwith a cup of milk. Sanyasiaccepted the meals, opened his eyes as he gotsome strength.

On opening his eyes, Sanyasi inquiredabout Lord Nilkanth Swaminarayan. Maharajsmiled and introduced himself. Sanyasi wasvery much pleased with surprise to see a grownup and young Nilkanthvarni in front of his eyes.

Maharaj introduced Sanyasi to DamodarBhakta and asked him to arrange for theresidence for Sanyasi and returned to Sabha.During the Sabha, Maharaj inquired about thehealth of Sanyasi, it was learnt that Sanyasi hadpassed away to Akshardham. Maharaj askedthe devotees to make arrangement of thefuneral ritual of Sanyasi next day in the morningwhich was attended by the saints and devoteesin large number. In the Sabha Shreeji Maharajsaid that, all the devotees who once jointhemselves with the Almighty Lord, the Lordhelps them to cross the ocean of Maya.

throne. Meanwhile the great devotee Jobanand Kuberbhai etc. devotees brought the potsfull of saffron colour water and filled up the bigtanks with colourful water. The devotees of thevillage brought big gunny-bags filled up withGulal and started playing with Maharaj bysprinkling these colours. Maharaj also sprinkledthe colours upon the devotees and all startedplaying with colours.

Rampratapbhai and Iccharambhai,Muktanand Swami and Gopalanand Swami,Brahmanand Swami and Nityanand Swwami,Shatanand Swami and Satchitdanand Swami,Sura Khachar and Somla Khachar, AlaiyaKhachar and Bhaguji, Vasta Khachar andZinabhai, Pragji Purani and Mayaram Bhatt,Jobanpagi and Kuberbhai- all started playingwith colours.

Somla Khachar poured the pot of colourfulwater upon Sura Khachar and Sura Khacarsmeared the whole body and face of SomlaKhachar with red . Observing thisGulal

Brahmanand Swami went away fromNityanand Swami and held Sura Khachar andsmeared his face with red colour. Sura Khachartook hold of Brahmanand Swami and threwGulal upon his face. The colour went into theeyes and Swamiji could not see anything. Withclosed eyes Swami tried to catch Sura Khachar.Maharaj was observing all these. At lastMaharaj came there and poured the whole potof colours upon the head of Sura Khachar.Thus, all the saints and devotees and Maharajplayed Holi with colours joyously and thereafterperformed in the pious water of the riverSabarmati on Naranghat.

In this way, Maharaj granted us a traditionof innocent and joyous celebration of thefestivals by removing all the evils from thesefestivals. We are also celebrating our festivals inthe same tradition which is established byMaharaj and let us preserve our this greattradition.

Snan

Con. on page 5 Pushpdolotsav and Rangkrida


- Compiler Shastri Harikehsavdasji (Gandhinagar)

BE PUNCTUAL & ALERT IN TIME-Shastri Haripriyadas (Gandhinagar)Time is the most precious wealth in this

human life. A student who fails in hisexamination realizes the value of lost of his oneyear. When one labourer does not get thewages for the hard work of the day, he realizesthe value of one day. A student appearing in theexamination realizes the value of one hour. Apassenger missing the train realizes the value ofone minute and a player losing the gold medal inthe Olympic Games realizes the value of onesecond.

On Ashadh Sud-10 Vikram Samvat 1849Shree Ghanshyam Maharaj left home early inthe morning. Ghanshyam Maharaj went to theforests of Himalayas and lost the way. After theroaming of three days, fell down on the fourthday. Lord stood up slowly, went to the riverflowing from the Himalayas and drank water oncompletion of Pooja. In the evening,Ghanshyam Maharaj took rest under one shadytree. This shady tress was a residence of oneBhairav- the master of all evil spirits. The voicesof the ferocious animals like tiger and the night-birds like owl were coming from all directions. Itwas the dark night of Janmastmi. There wereroaring all around followed by the lightning in thecloudy sky. Shree Hari was resting under theshading tree closing his eyes and rememberingHanumanji. Hanumanji came there and satbeside Ghanshyam Maharaj.

Meanwhile Bhairav came there. His eyeswere blood-red and holding a strange pointedweapon in his hand. His teeth were pointed andcoming out of his mouth giving him a frightfullook. His voice was like braying of a donkey andheight was like a camel. When he came there,and roared loudly. Hanumanji also replied him inequally roaring voice. With the voice ofHanumanji, all the four directions startedechoing and the evil spirits were startedshivering. Little Ghanshyam woke up from

. When Bhairav asked the evil spirits toSamadhi

Satsang Balvatikaeat up the monkey and the young boy,Hanumanji took a huge and gigantic shape andstruck upon the head of Bhairav. Vomitingblood from the mouth, Bhairav managed to runaway from the place. Observing this, all otherevil spirit simply ran away and hid themselvesbehind the shady trees and caves of the forest.The whole night Hanumanji stayed with ShreeHari and in the morning brought the fruits andoffered them to Shree Hari and then went away.

Hanumanji is a devout in his services andalso a soldier in protecting others. If we peepinto the great epic Ramayana, Hanumanji hasperformed all the tasks well in time. Punctualityis the virtue, one should learn from Hanumanji.He searched out Sitaji in time, crossed theocean in time, burnt the golden Sri Lanka intime, brought the herbal medicines fromDronachal hill of the Himalayas for thewounded and unconscious Laxmanji andsaved his life in time, came to Ayodhya andconveyed the message of arrival of Lord ShreeRama to Bharatji in time. Similarly, Hanumanjipunished Bhairav in time and brought the fruitsfor Ghanshyam Maharaj in time. Thereforethose who understand the importance of time,they should not be lazy in worshipping andrendering services. One should understand theimportance of time and should perform Bhakti-Bhajan-Niyam-Pooja besides his studies andshould earn the pleasure of the Almighty Lord.

Dear children-friends, today in everyhouse and on every writs we find one clock andwatch; yet the daily schedule of the people isvery chaotic. This clock or watch is merely as ashow-piece. But let us understand theimportance of time, and also the importance ofperforming our work and duties in time and behappy in our life.

•

-There is a beautiful incident of village

Botad. To perform Satsang in the youth and topreserve it consistently is just like walking onthe edge of the sword. It was a time when thesaints used to propagate Satsang even whiletolerating the harassment of the evil andcrooked persons. One young man namedBhaga Doshi became a devotee with theSatsang of the saints. Everyday he used toperform Nityapooja, Path, Stotra, Katha-Varta

Sadhu Shrirang Maharaj (Gandhinagar)HAIL THIS TRUST!


devotee Bhaga Doshi for the meals to thesaints. On the contrary, Maharaj asked him totake back the things and beg pardon of hisfather for not obtaining his permission. Theyoung devotee hesitated for a while; but he wasobedient of all the directions of Maharaj.

Bhaga Doshi returned home, sat in a cornerand started crying. His father asked him thereason for his crying. Bhaga Doshi confessedthat, he had not asked for his permission prior tooffering the grocery items to Maharaj. He alsosaid that, Lord Shree Swaminarayan had askedhim to beg pardon of his father and refused toaccept the things for which no permission wasobtained from home.

These words of Bhaga Doshi piercedthrough the heart of his father. He repented forhis adamant and rude behaviour. Now he wasconfirmed that Shree Swaminarayan wasgenuine Lord. So the father asked the son totake the grocery items and both the father andthe son came to Lord Shree Swaminarayan,bowed down at the feet of Maharaj and becamean ardent Satsangi.

Those devotees who are ardent devoteesof the Almighty Lord and who follow as per thedirections of the Lord, they never come acrossany unhappiness in their lives. Sometimes, itmay appear very difficult and arduous to followthe directions but one should cherish the faiththat:

The devotees who remain underdirections of Maharaj with firm faith, theybecome happy in all respects in their lives.

“nwt nrhLkku nrh {{hûkf, yu ¼hkUMkku òÞ Lkrn,su nrh fhþu íku {{rníkLkwt, yu rðïkMk íkòÞ Lkrn.”

etc. But his own father did not like all this. Heused to oppose these rituals and insist his son toabandon them telling that it was not theirreligion. The father also threatened to cut offtheir relations, if his son would not abandonthese rituals.

The young devotee Bhaga Doshi continuedwith his Bhajans and all other rituals of Satsangand did not listen to his father. The fatherresorted to all types of tricks and efforts but invain. Day by day the anger of the father wasincreasing. During that time, Shreeji Maharajgraced the village Botad.

Immediately the young devotee BhagaDoshi rushed to Maharaj, performed DandvatPranam and started Satsang with Maharaj.Meanwhile all other devotees brought thegrocery items as offering to Maharaj andobtained the permission of Maharaj for offeringthe meals to the saints. One by one thedevotees were sanctioned permission to offerthe meals to the saints. The young devoteeBhaga Doshi also thought to offer the meals tothe saint; but he remembered the rudebehaviour and attitude of his father towardsSampradaya and Satsang. He was puzzled aswhat to do.

One day he brought the grocery itemswithout obtaining permission of his father andoffered them at the feet of Maharaj. Theomniscient Maharaj asked him whether he hadobtained the permission of his father. Thedevotee confessed that he had not obtained thepermission. So Maharaj refused to accept theitems and did not give permission to the young

All were surprised. The next day the saintscame to the residence of the devotee Fulbaiaccepted the meals which was offered toThakorji. After the meals, Fulbai offered thembeautiful clothes. When the saints went away tothe temple, Fulbai took her seat on the floor,closed her eyes and started chanting the nameof Shree Hari. After some time, she passedaway to Akshardham. Lord ShreeSwaminarayan and the saints are so great thatthey fulfill all the desires and wishes of theirardent devotees even by performing suchmiracles!!!

to the saints, but since the Lord came to takeher, her wish to offer the meals to the saints hasremained unfulfilled. Immediately, Maharajasked her to return to the earth lest the peoplewould burn her body.

Here on the earth, the relatives andneighbours made all the arrangements toperform funeral ritual of the dead body of thedevotee Fulbai. All of a sudden, Fulbai wakesup, opens her eyes, narrated everything to therelatives and the neighbours and asked them tocall the saints so that she can fulfill her desire.

Con. on page 17 Bhakti-Sudha


religion and the Almighty Lord. Their life stylehas become perverted. There has not remainedany purity in their meals, food, clothes andconsequently in their thoughts. Not giving dueimportance to the deed of humanity, Darshan ofLord and satsang of the Saints people havestarted living an idle life saturated with artificialcomforts. It is during such critical time that, theLord Shree Swaminarayan has shown mercyupon all of us and has performed many divinemiracles with a noble view of grantinghappiness and emancipation to all the humanbeings. Here is one such miracle.

Many satsangi devotees were residing inDhunva village of Bundel Khand. Once saintsgraced the village for the purpose of .Devotee Fulbai was also living in this village.She prepared the meals and the clothes to offerto the saints. Thereafter she sent a message ofinvitation to the saints through one devotee ofthe village. The saints accepted the invitationand sent the message accordingly. Fulbai wasvery much happy with acceptance of herinvitation.

After some time devotee MadhubhaiBrahmin- one of the leading devotees of thevillage- came to the saints and ardentlyrequested the saints to accept his invitation forthe meals. Devotee Madhubhai was verylearned person and also an ardent devotee.The saints accepted the invitation. Madhubhaiwas very much happy with the acceptance ofhis invitation.

The saints thought that, now they shouldsend a message to the devotee Fulbai that herinvitation has been postponed for a day asinvitation of the devotee Madhubhai has beenaccepted. The message was conveyed to heraccordingly. At night on the same day, Fulbai,who was very old, passed away toAkshardham.

In Akshardham she had divine Darshan ofthe Lord Shree Sahjanand Swami along withMuktas and Paramhamsas. Maharaj asked herwhether any of her wishes had remainedunfulfilled of her human life on the earth.Devotee Fulbai told that, she had kepteverything ready to offer the meals and clothes

Satsang

Bhakti-Sudha

Con. from page 16........

FROM THE BLESSINGS OF H.H. SHRIGADIWALA ‘HOW IS OUR LIFE?’

MIRACLES OF SHREE HARI

-Life is a result of happiness and

unhappiness. That means a cycle of nobledeed and sins, affection towards happinessand reaction against unhappiness, good-badetc. keeps going on in our present life. In thishuman life ‘ ’ (Noble deeds) and ‘ ’(sins) are two seeds,

and four inner selfetc. are the

branches. And as a result of this grown up tree,fruits of ‘ ’ (Noble deeds) and ‘ ’(sins) grow to the tree.

It is for a person to decide which type offruit he selects from the tree. That means thefruits are the result of our own action and deed.If we would perform good deeds then the treewill yield good fruits and if we would commitsins then the tree will yield the fruitsaccordingly. Thus, one can achieve theAlmighty Lord in his life through his nobledeeds. Therefore there is no need to search forthe Lord anywhere outside. The Lord is hereonly within ourselves. But to identify Him, wewill have to overcome our four inner enemiescalled etc. if we canwin over them then only we will be able toperform of the Almighty Lord withinourselves. And we can achieveduring this life time only.

Many a question arises in our heart how is? is very peaceful

and bright. Its brightness is more than the lightof more than one crore suns. And the DivineLight emitting from the Almighty Lord is muchmore than this Akshardham!!! Lord ShreeSwaminarayan, and Hisare divine. They are beyond

. Thus, when a person attains, he obtains the divine form and

then he can render his incessant services to theAlmighty Lord. After the destruction of thewhole universe, the Divine World of

survives. And therefore if a manmakes sincere and devout efforts then he canget .

•

In this Kaliyug, people have forgotten

Kotak Varsha Natvarlal (Ghodasar)

- Sankhya Yogi Kanchanba (Dhrangadhra)

Punya Paap‘Satva, Rajas and Tama’

are three roots. Tens senses of ‘Shrotra, Tvak,Chakhsu, Rasanai, Dhran, Vakra, Pani, Paad,Vavu, Upastha ‘Mana,Buddhi, Chitta and Ahamkar’

Punya Paap

‘Kam, Krodh, Lobh, Maan’

DarshanAkshardham

Akshardham Akshardham

Akshardham MuktasJiv, Ishwar, Maya

and BrahmaAkshardham

Akshardham

Akshardham


Shrimad Bhagwat Panchanh Parayan inAhmedabad Temple

Padyatra from Narayanghat Temple toNarnarayandev Temple

In the pious company of the Lord ShreeNarnarayandev and H.H. Shri DharmvanshiAcharya Maharaj, with the directions of H.H. ShriAcharya Maharaj and guidance of Mahant ofAhmedabad temple Sadguru Shastri SwamiHarikrishnadasji, Shrimad Bhagwat PanchanhParayan was organized from 18/01/2010 to22/01/2010 by the devotees Parshad MahadadevBhagat Guru Mahobatsinh Bhagat and HajuriParshad Vanraj Bhagat Guru Shamal Bhagat inthe memory of Aksharnivasi Parshad ShriMahobatsinhji Bhagat, who passed away on02/01/2010. Devotee Mahobatsinhji Bhagat hadbeen rendering services as Parshad to Dharmkulfor the last five generations. Shastri SwamiRamkrishnadasji (Koteshwar Gurukul) andShastri Swami Ghanshyamprakashdasji(Mahant, Mansa temple) were the spokespersono f . S h a s t r i S w a m i S w a m iBhaktivallabhdasji was the spokesperson of

. On the first day and the last dayThaal was offered to Thakorji, Dharmvansi andthe saints. On the concluding day of the Parayan,Shastri Swami Nirgundasji, Mahant Swami ofAhmedabad temple, Brahmchari SwamiVasudevanandji etc. saints had recalled andpraised the great services rendered by theAksharnivasi Parshad. At last H.H. Shri MotaMaharaj had recalled many incidents of ‘Darbar’of Aksharnivasi Bhagatji and had praised theservices rendered by him to Dharmkul and hadblessed his disciple Mahadev Bhagat. On thisoccasion, many saints and devotees hadremained present. (Ajitsinh Darbar)

On the pious day of Posh VAd-11 Ekadashi,01/01/2010 during the pious Dhanur Maas, H.H.Shri Acharya Maharaj performed Mangla Aarti ofThakorji at 5.15 hours in the morning andinaugurated Padyatra of Darshan of the LordS h r e e N a r n a r a y a n d e v f r o m S h r e eSwaminarayan temple, Naranghat to ShreeSwaminarayan temple, Kalupur Naranghat

P a r a y a n

Samhita-Path

Mahant Swami DEvprakashdasji, Nana P.P.Swami and other 12 saints and more than 4000Haribhaktas had joined the Padyatra which wasconcluded with Darshan of Shangaar Aarti of theLord Shree Narnarayandev.

(Shastri Abhayprakashdas)

With the directions of H.H. Shri AcharyaMaharaj 1008 Shri Koshalendraprasadji Maharajaand with the pleasure of H.H. Shri Lalji Maharaj108 Shri Vrajendraprasadji Maharaj, the firstYuva Sneh Satsang Milan was organized in thepious presence of H.H. Shri Acharya Maharaj onSunday 10/01/2010 from 8.00 to 12.00 in ShreeNarnarayan Vadi. Many young devotees fromvarious villages of the State of Gujarat hadparticipated in Satsang Sneh Milan. SaduguruShastri Swami Ramkrishnadasji (KoteshwarGurukul) had insisted all the devotees to renderservices and perform Satsang while remainingunder the directions of Dharmkul. ThereafterSadguru Shastri Swami Nirgundasji (AsaravaGurukul) had explained Niyam, Nishchay,Paksha, Aagya and Upasana were explained withthe principles of our Sampradaya. SadguruShastri Swami Harikrishnadasji, the MahantSwami of Kalupur temple had praised the servicesbeing rendered by the young devotees of thevillage Vadu.

At last H.H. Shri Acharya Maharaj had gracedthe village and had inspired all the devoteesthrough His pious presence. He had also narratedthe famous example of the mischievous monkeyand had stressed the importance of firmness ofmind which helps in imbibing the principles of realSatsang and had also blessed all the devotees.Sadguru Shastri Swami VishwaswaroopdasjiGuru Sadguru Swami Suryaprakashdasji hadbeautiful services during this Yuva Shibir. NanaP.P. Sabha (Narayanghat temple) had conductedthe whole Sabha and Sadguru Brahmchari SwamiPoojari Rajeshwaranandji (Poojari of ShreeNarnarayandev) and Kothari J.K. Swami etc.saints had also participated in Yuva Shibir of

Sneh Satsang Sammelan at Vadu ofDandhavya Pradesh


Shree Narnarayandev Yuvak Mandal, Vadu.(Shastri Abhishekprasaddas, Vadnagar)

Sankhyayogi Zaverba rendering services toSankhyayogi Surajba had organized ShrimadSatsangibhushan Panchanh Parayan from0 8 / 0 1 / 2 0 1 0 t o 1 2 / 0 1 / 2 0 1 0 i n S h r e eSwaminarayan temple (ladies), Vavol. SadguruShastri Swami Narayanvallabhdasji, VadnagarGurukul, was the spokesperson of Parayan. H.H.Shri Gadiwala and H.H. Shri Mota Gadiwala hadalso graced the Parayan. On 11/01/2010 H.H. ShriMota Maharaj Shri Tejendraprasadji Maharaj hadgraced the village Vavol and had blessed allSatsangi Haribhaktas. On this occasion, Mahantof Ahmedabad temple Sadguru Shastri SwamiHarikrishnadasji and Mahant of Naranghat templeSadguru Swami Devprakashdasji had lighted thelamp and had inaugurated the Parayan. MahantSwami of Ahmedabad temple had praised theservices of Satsang Samaj of village Vavol.Accepting the invitation of the host devotee family,H.H. Shri Acharya Maharaj 1008 ShriKoshalendraprasadji Maharaj had graced theParayan on 12/01/2010. A grand Samaiyu of H.H.Shri Acharya Maharaj was performed by all thesatsangi devotees of the village. Thereafter H.H.Shri Acharya Maharaj graced the temples of ladiesdevotees and performed Aarti of Thakorji,performed concluding aarti of Parayan and hadalso performed poojan of the spokesperson of theParayan. On behalf of the host of the KathaSankhyayogi Zaverba and also on behalf ofAksharnivasi devotee Patel Kalidas Charutbhaiand Aksharnivasi devotee Patel Popatlal Kalidas,devotee Shri Chimanbhai Kalidas Patel andKantibhai Kalida Patel and Mahendrabhai KalidasPatell and Keshabhai Kalidas Pate andRamanbhai Kalidas Patel and Ramanbhai KalidasPatel etc. devotees had performed ofH.H .Shri Acharya Maharaj. Shastri SwamiNarayanvallabhdasji had delivered a speech inthe Sabha organized on the occasion. ThereafterH.H. Shri Acharya Maharaj had praisedof the devotees of the village. Sadguru ShastriSwami Abhishekprasaddasji and Sadguru ShastriSwami Vishwaswaroopdasji had conducted theSabha. (Shastri Swami Narayanvallabhdasji)

Shree Swaminarayan temple, Vavol

poojan-aarti

Satsang

Shree Swaminarayan temple, Kankaria

Shrimad Bhagwat Panchanh Parayan inMotera

With the directions of H.H. Shri AcharyaMaharaj, Dhanur Maas Dhoon Mahotsav wascelebrated in the pious company of BalswaroopKastbhanjandev in Shree Swaminaryan temple,Kankaria. On 02/01/2010 with the blessings ofH.H. Shri Acharya Maharaj, many devotees hadavailed the benefit of ‘ ’. H.H.Shri Gadiwala had graced the occasion andavailed to the ladies devotees benefit of

. On the pious day ofwas organized from Kankaria

temple to Ahmedabad temple wherein thousandsof devotees had participated along with thesaints. In ‘Khichdi Mahotsav’ of Makar Sankrantithousands of devotees had participated. Saintshad explained the importance of ‘

’. This occasion was celebrated withgreat fervour in the presence of Mahant SwamiGuruprasaddasji, Swami Anand Swami, ShastriYagyaprakashdasji and Poojari Dev Swami.

(Gaurangbhai Patel)

With the blessings of H.H. Shri AcharyaMaharaj and inspiration of Shastri Nana P.P.Swami, Shrimad Bhagwat Panchanh Parayanwas organized from 24/12/2009 to 28/12/2009 inthe temple premises of the Lord ShreeSomeshwar Mahadev.

With the noble intention of the devotee G.S.Kamlaben Kantibhai Patel his son Devotee ShriDharmeshbhai Kantibhai Patel was the host ofthe Parayan in the memory and first Punya-Tithiof his father. Thousands of devotees had availedthe benefit of Parayan.

On the occasion of concluding ceremony ofParayan, H.H.Shri Mota Maharaj had graced theParayan along with the saints. The whole hostfamily and the devotees of the village wereblessed. Mahant of Ahmedabad temple SadguruShastri Swami Harikrishnadasji, Mahant SadguruS h a s t r i S w a m i A t m p r a k a s h d a s j i o fJetalpurdham, Mahant Swami Devprakashdasjiof Naranghat temple, Brahmchari SwamiRajeshwaranandj i and Mahant SwamiGuruprasdasji of Kankaria temple had arrived onthis occasion. Accepting the invitation of ladiesdevotees, H.H. Shri Gadiwala had also graced

Khichdi Mahotsav

DivineDarshan Ekadashi PoshVad-11, Padyatra

KhichdiMahotsav


the Parayan. at night the programme ofwas organized wherein the famous

artists Shyam-Saumil Munshi had renderedbeautiful Kirtans. On 28/12/2009, H.H. ShriAcharya Maharaj had graced the concluding ritualof the Parayan and had blessed the whole Sabha.The Sabha was conducted by ShastriChaitanyaswaroopdasji. (Vrajbhushandas)

With the directions and blessings of H.H.ShriAcharya Maharaj and H.H. Shri Mota Maharaj andthe whole Dharmkul and with the inspiration ofMahant Swami Devprakashdasji and Nana P.P.Swami of Naranghat temple, ShrimadShikshapatri Bhashya Navanh (Night) Parayanwas organized from 26/12/2009 to 03/01/2010.Sadguru Shastri Swami Ramkrishnadasji(Koteshwar Gurukul) was the spokesperson of theParayan. Large number of devotees had availedthe benefit of this Parayan. The occasion ofconcluding ceremony of Parayan of divineShakotsav were graced by H.H. Shri AcharyaMaharaj. A grand Shobha-yatra was alsoorganized on this occasion. The chief hostdevotee Shri Dwarkadas Ishwarbhai Patel anddevotee Shri Bharatbhai Prabhudas Patel hadperformed aarti and poojan of H.H. Shri AcharyaMaharaj and had obtained the blessings. SadguruShastri Swami Harikrishnadasji Mahant Swami ofAhmedabad temple and Sadguru Shastri SwamiNirgundasji had delivered very inspirationalspeeches. At last H.H. Shri Acharya Maharajblessed the whole Sabha. Thousands of devoteeshad participated in Shakotsav organized on theoccasion. Shree Narnarayandev Yuvak Mandalhad rendered very inspirational services on theseoccasions. The Sabha was conducted by ShastriSwami Chaitanyaswaroopdas (Koteshwar).


With the directions of H.H. Shri AcharyaMaharaj and inspiration of the saints of Biliya andVali (Rajasthan), a beautiful Katha was organizedfrom 25/11/2009 to 29/11/2009 in ShreeSwaminarayan temple in connection withShatabdi Mahotsav of Shree Kastbhanjandev.Shastri Swami Chandraprakashdasji of Biliya wasthe spokesperson of the Katha. Many saints hadarrived at this place on the occasion. H.H. Shri

Bhajan-Sandhya

Parayan at night at Motera

Shree Swaminarayan temple, Dangarva

Acharya Maharaj had graced the occasion andhad blessed all the devotees. Haribhaktas ofDangarva and settled in Ahmedabad had alsoorganized a Padyatra on this occasion followedby a grand Yagna. Many devotees had availedthe benefit of Darshan on this occasion.

(Chhanalal Patel)

With the directions of H.H. Shri AcharyaMaharaj and inspiration of Shri P.P. Swami ofJetalpurdham and devotee Shri Ghanshyambhaiof Shiyal village on 08/01/2010 H.H. Shri AcharyaMaharaj had graced the village Mankol situatedon the bank of the Nal-lake near Sanand. In theSabha organized on the occasion, P.P. Swami,Nana P.P. Swami etc. saints had explained theimportance of the Lord Shree Narnarayandevand H.H. Shri Acharya Maharaj. In the Sabhamany new people had become the devotees ofour Sampradaya by accepting Kanti from H.H.Shri Acharya Maharaj. H.H. Shri AcharyaMaharaj had also graced the houses of thedevotee Shri Kalubhai Rajubhai Solanki and hissons devotees Shri Hasmukhbhai and Anilbhaiand other Haribhaktas. On this occasion servicesof the devotee Shri Arvindbhai Kanjibhai(Shiyalwala) was inspirational; Shri ShyamSwami, Brahmchari Rajeshwaranandji, J.K.Swami, Muni Swami and V.P. Swami ofJetalpurdham had arrived on this occasion.

(Chimanbhai Patel, Bhatwala)

With the directions of H.H. Shri AcharyaMaharaj and inspiration of Sadguru SwamiDevprakashdasji and Mahant Shastri SwamiPurushottamprakashdasj i , on Saturday02/01/2010 in the evening, Grand Shakotsav wasperformed by H.H. Shri Acharya Maharaj on thebank of the pious river Sabarmati. Devotees ShriSankalchandbhai Chhagandas Pate throughdevotee Jayantibhai, devotee Shri Prakashbhaiand Dasrathbhai (Super Marble Viharwala) werethe hosts of this Shakotsav and the devotees ShriKeshubhai Rudjibhai Chauhan, throughdevotees VFijay, Kalpesh and Ronak (valsad)etc. family was the co-host on this occasion.,Shastri Swami Ramkrishnadasji (Koteshwar

Village Mankol, Sanand

CELEBRATION OF SHAKOTSAV IN OURTEMPLES

Shree Swaminarayan temple, Narayanghat


Gurukul) had explained the importance ofShakotsav.

On this occasion Sadguru Shastri SwamiHarikrishnadasji, Shastri Swami Nirgundasji,Shastri Swami Narayanvallabhdasji of Vadnagar,Mahant Shastri Swami Shreeiprakashdasji ofNarayanpura, Kahant Swami Guruprasaddasji ofKankaria and Anand Swami etc. saints haddelivered beautiful speeches on this occasion.Shree Narnarayandev Yuvak Mandal hadrendered inspirational services on this occasion.


On 09/01/2010, H.H. Shri Acharya Maharaj1008 Shri Koshalendraprasadji Maharaj hadperformed Shakotsav in the pious presence ofShree Gopinathji Harikrishna Maharaj. In theSabha organized on the occasion, MahantSwami Jagdishprasaddasji and many saintsarrived from various places and also the hostfamily had performed poojan of H.H. Shri AcharyaMaharaj and had obtained the blessings. Whileconducting the Sabha, Shastri SwamiHarijivandasji had informed the Sabha that oneShibir of the whole Sabarkantha ShreeNarnarayandev Yuvak Mandal is organized on21/02/2010. At last H.H. Shri Acharya Maharajhad blessed the whole Sabha. All the Haribhaktasof Sabarkantha had availed the benefit of DivineShakotsav. (Sadhu Satyasankalpdas)

With the directions of H.H. Shri AcharyaMaharaj, on 06/01/2010, grand Shakotsav wasperformed by H.H. Shri Lalji Maharaj in NaranpuraPragatinagar Community Hall. The host devoteeShri Gandabhai Kalidas Patel had performedpoojan-archan-aarti of H.H. Shri Lalji Maharaj andhad obtained the blessings.

In the Sabha organized on the occasion, ShriMahant Shastri Swami Harikrishnadasji(Ahmedabad), Mahant Swami Devprakashdasjiand Nana P.P. Swami (Narayanghat), MahantShastri Swami Shreejiprakashdasji (Naranpura),Shastri Swami Ramkrishnadasji (Koteshwar),Swami Jagatprakashdasj i and SwamiSwyamprakashdasji (Jaidevpura) etc. saints haddelivered inspirational speeches. At last H.H. ShriLalji Maharaj had graced the Sabha. About morethan 2000 devotees had availed the benefit of this

Shree Swaminaryan temple, Idar

Shree Swaminarayan temple, Ghatlodiya

Divine Shakotsav. (Shaileshbhai Patel)

With the directions of H.H. Shri AcharyaMaharaj pious Dhanur Maas was celebrated withgreat fervour and enthusiasm. On this occasionKatha of Shrimad Bhagwat Dasam Skanda wasnarrated by Shastri Vrajvallabhdasji. On Sunday27/12/2009, grand Shakotsav was celebratedwhose divine benefit was availed by manydevotees. (Pravinbhai Upadhyay)

With the directions of H.H. Shri AcharyaMaharaj, on 29/12/2009, grand Shakotsav wascelebrated in Kalol Shrinagar temple. DevoteeJasu Bhagat, Poojari Hitendra Bhagat andSankhyayogi ladies devotees had renderedservices on this occasion whose benefit wasavailed by many devotees from the nearbyvillages. (Dharmabhai Patel)

With the directions of H.H. Shri AcharyaMaharaj, on 20/12/2009, grand Shakotsav wascelebrated on the bank of the lake Vaghroda ofPrasadi with the inspiration of Parshad JasuBhagat and by the devotees Shri ArvindbhaiGandabhai Patel and Ghanshyambhai. Manydevotees of nearby ten villages had availed thebenefit of this Divine Shakotsav.

(Patel Ranchhodbhai)

With the directions of H.H. Shri AcharyaMaharaj and with the inspiration of Shastri SwamiVasudevcharandasji, on 04/01/2010, grandS h a k o t s a v w a s o r g a n i z e d i n S h r e eSwaminarayan temple, Dhansura. The devoteeShri Maharbhai Hirabhai Patel family was the hostof the . H.H. Shri Acharya Maharaj hadgraced this occasion along with BrahmchariRajeshwaranandji, Mahant P.P. Swami ofNaranghat temple, J.K. Swami, Mahant Swami ofIdar and Vishwavallabh Swami etc. saints whohad delivered inspirational speeches on thisoccasion. At last H.H. Shri Acharya Maharaj hadblessed the Sabha. On this occasionSatyasankalpdas of Idar, Sukhnanddas, ShreejiSwami and Paresh Bhagat had rendered theirservices. (Somabhai Patel)

Shree Swaminarayan temple, Bopal

Kalol Shrinagar Temple

Karjisan temple

Dhansura Temple

Shakotsav


MULI DESH

Samaiyo of Vasant Panchmi in Mulidham

Grand Shakotsav in Surendranagar temple

I n the p ious p resence o f ShreeRadhakrishnadev Harikrishna Maharaj and H.H.Shri Mota Maharaj Shree TejendraprasadjiMaharaj, Samaiyo of Vasant Panchmi wascelebrated with great fervour and enthusiasm inShree Swaminarayan temple, Mulidham.

At 6.30 hours in the morning, H.H. Shri MotaMaharaj performed Shodashopchar Mahabhishekof Shree Radhakrishnadev Harikrishna Maharaj inVedic ritual. In the Sabha organized on theoccasion, H.H. Shri Mota Maharaj gave veryrelevant examples and blessed the devotees ofZalavad. At 12.000 hours in the noon, after manyyears, H.H. Shri Mota Maharaj played Rangotsavwith the saints and Haribhaktas. In this Samaiyamore than 50,000 devotees had remained presentas it was reported by many devotees.

Mahant Swami Narayanprasaddasji of Mulitemple and other saints had made beautifularrangements during the Samaiya. On theoccasion of Patotsav-Abhishek, PoojariJayprakashdasji of Shree Radhakrishnadev hadmade beautiful arrangements.

(Sadhu Premswaroopdasji)

On 03/01/2010, grand Shakotsav wascelebrated by H.H. Shri Acharya Maharaj in ShreeSwaminarayan temple, Surendranagar of Muli-Desh.

In the Sabha organized on the occasion,Mahant Shastri Swami Harikrishnadaji, RamSwami of Dhrangadhra, Shreeji Swami ofNaranpura, Satyasankalpdas, Jishnu Swami,Bhaktihari Swami, Shreeji Swami (Halvad), RajuSwami from Ahmedabad, Suryaprakash Swamifrom Muli, K.P. Swami from Ratanpar and manyother saints had arrived on this occasion. Thelearned saints had praised both Shakotsav as wellas Satsang of Zalawad. At last H.H. Shri AcharyaMaharaj had blessed the Sabha.

With the inspiration of Mahant SwamiPremjivandasji, the whole Mahotsav wascelebrated with great enthusiasm. PoojariShantiprakash Swami, Poojari Hbakti Swami anddevotee Kanu Bhagat had rendered greatservices on this occasion.

Devotees Shri Kantibhai Joitaram Patel,

Ahmedabad, Navinbhai Mandaliya, Morbi,Manojbhai Parmar of Surendranagar, BharatbhaiPatel of Rajkot, Vallabhbhai and Pinakinbhai andMahendrabhai Patel of Surendranagar and manyother unknown devotees had rendered theirservices on the occasion of Shakotsav. More than16,000 Haribhaktas had enjoyed Shakotsav.

(Shailendrasinh Zala)

With the directions of H.H. Shri AcharyaMaharaj and inspiration of Mahant SwamiPremjivandasji, on 07/01/2010 Patotsav-Annakutand Shakotsav were celebrated by H.H. ShriAcharya Maharaj.

Swami Krishnavallabhdasji, SatyasankalpSwami, Shanti Swami, K.P. Swami, JishnuSwami etc. saints from Surendranagar hadarrived on this occasion. In the Sabha organizedon the occasion, H.H. Shri Acharya Maharaj hadpreached the noble conduct and had blessed thewhole Sabha. Kothari Ghanshyambhai, Dr.Bharatbhai Kheradiya and Rajubhai Soni hadrendered beautiful services on this occasion.


With the directions of H.H. Shri AcharyaMaharaj and inspiration of Mahant SwamiPremjivandasji (Surendranagar), on 09/12/2009Patotsav of Shree Swaminarayan temple(ladies), Akhiyana was celebrated. Akhiyana isthe birth place of Sadguru Shri HarinarayandasjiSwami. H.H. Shri Acharya Maharaj 1008 ShriKoshalendraprasadji Maharaj had performedPatotsav. On this occasion Annakut andShakotsav were also organized. Ram Swami ofDhrangadhra and Shastri Satyasankalpdasji ofMuli had explained the importance of festival. Atlast H.H. Shri Acharya Maharaj had blessed thewhole Sabha. The Sabha was conducted bySwami Krishnavallabhdasji.


Considering the request of the devotees ofthe village, after acquiring the land for

Celebration of Patotsav ShreeSwaminarayan temple (ladies), Chuda

Celebration of Patotsav of ShreeSwaminarayan temple (ladies), Akhiyana

Inauguration of Shree Swaminarayantemple, Devipur


construction of Shree Swaminarayan temple, H.H.Shri Acharya Maharaj graced the Bhoomi Poojanritual at village Devipur situated near Charadva.Bhoomi Poojan and Shakotsav Mahotsav wereorganized. On this occasion Sadguru ShastriSwami Harikrishnadasji from Ahmedabad, ShreejiSwami from Halvad and P.P. Swami had deliveredinspirational speeches. More than 7,000 to 8,000devotees had availed the benefit of this occasion.At last H.H. Shri Acharya Maharaj had blessed thewhole Sabha. Under the guidance of SwamiKrishnavallabhdasji, young devotees of Devipurand Charadva had rendered beautiful services.(Shree Narnarayandev Yuvak Mandal, Charadva)

On the occasion of 4 Patotsav of ShreeSwaminarayan temple, Jetpar-Machchhu, grandShakotsav was organized. H.H. Shri AcharyaMaharaj had graced the occasion and hadperformed aarti of Thakorji in the temple.

ShastriSwami Harikrishnadasji of Ahmedabd

Patotsav in village Jetpur-Machchhuth

temple, Mahant DEvprakahshdasj i o fNarayanghat and Shreeji Swami of Muli haddelivered inspirations speeches in the Sabhaorganized on the occasion. At last H.H. ShriAcharya Maharaj had blessed the Sabha. TheS a b h a w a s c o n d u c t e d b y S w a m iKrishnavallabhdas of Surendranagar.

(Shree Narnarayandev Yuvak Mandal, Jetpar)

With the blessings of H.H. Shri Gadiwala andH.H. Shri Mota Gadiwala, and inspiration ofSankhyayogi Kanchanba, Sankhyayogi Hirabaand Sankhyayogi Bhagwatiba, on the bank oflake Jogasar, grand Shakotsav was celebratedby Shree Swaminarayan temple, Ghanchiwada,Dhrangadhra. Many devotees had availed itsbenefit. Sankhyayogi ladies devotees hadexplained the importance of Shree Hari andDharmkul. (Jayashri S. Zinzuwadia)

Shree Swaminarayan temple, Dhrangadhra(Ghanchiwada)

OVERSEAS NEWS

Shree Swaminarayan temple, Colonia

Shakotsav in Toronto Canada temple

With the directions of H.H. Shri AcharyaMaharaj and H.H. Shri Mota Maharaj, in the Sabhaof Ekadashi organized on 12 December 2009 wasgraced by H.H. Shri Binduraja, Shri Suvratkumarand Shri Saumyakumar. Shastri SwamiDharmvallabhdasji and Shastri Harinandandasfrom Cleveland and J.P. Swami from Chicago hadarrived on the occasion. The saints had explainedthe importance of Ekadashi whose benefit wasavailed by many devotees. (Pravinbhai)

With the directions of H.H. Shri AcharyaMaharaj and H.H. Shri Mota Maharaj, on Sunday03/01/2010 grand Shakotsav was performed infront of Thakorji in Shre Swaminarayan temple.Beautiful Shangaar was also offered to Thakorji onthis occasion. The host Haribhaktas had availedthe benefit of rendering services. Shastri SwamiSAtyaswaroopdas had explained the importanceof the Almighty Lord and Dharmkul and Shakotsavwith examples on 01/01/2010 the first day of thenew year, a beautiful cultural programme of thechildren was also organized. The participating

th

children devotees were given away the prizes bythe devotee Shri Dashrathbhai Chaudhary. Thew e b s i t e o f T o r o n t o t e m p l e i s

(Bhailalbhai Patel)

With the directions of H.H. Shri AcharyaMaharaj and H.H. Shri Mota Maharaj, on Friday11 December 2009 a Satsang Sabha wasorganized in the evening from 7.30 to 10.30.Shastri Vishwaprakashdasji had arrived in theSabha from Cherry Hill and had narrated

. Large number of devotees had availed thebenefit of Satsang. (Kanubhai Patel)

With the directions of H.H. Shri AcharyaMaharaj and H.H. Shri Mota Maharaj and with theinspirat ion of Mahant Shastr i SwamiAnandjivandasji everyday Dhoon was performedduring the pious Dhanur Maas. On the pious dayof Makar-Sankranti, Swami had explained theimportance of alms which was warmly welcomedby all the devotees. Here all the festivals of ourSampradaya are celebrated with great fervourand enthusiasm and Anand Swami beautifully

www.issocanada.orgWashington D.C. (I.S.S.O., Chapter)

Shree Swaminarayan temple, Hyustan

th

Katha-Varta


AKSHARVAASShree Swaminarayan temple, Kalupur

Mahadevnagar (Lilapur, Tal. Lakhtar)

Ahmedabad-

Kuha -

– Parshad Shri Mahobatsinh Bhaggat (GuruParshad Kesar Bhagat) who had been rendering services to Dharmkul for five generations,passed away to Akshardham on Posh Vad-2 (02-12-2009) while chanting the name of ShriHari. With this there has been great loss of a devoted Parshad in Ahmedabad, ShreeNarnarayandev Desh.

– Devotee Shri GAneshbhai RAnchhodbhaiPatel passed away to divine abode of God (19/01/2010) amidst the chants of Mahamantra.

Devotee Shri Jayantilal Jivanlal Soni (Sundariyanawala) passed away toAkshardham (01/01/2010) while chanting the name of Shri Hari.

Devotee Shri Rikinbhai Bipinbhai Patel, passed away to divine abode of God(17/01/2010) while chanting the name of Shri Hari.

Editor, Printer and Publisher : Mahant Shastri Swami Harikrishnadasji for Shree Swaminarayan Temple Kalupur, Ahmedabad.Printed at Shree Swaminarayan Printing press, Shree Swaminarayan Temple, Kalupur, Ahmedabad (GUJARAT) Pin-380 001 and

Published at and for Shree Swaminarayan Temple, Kalupur, Ahmedabad (GUJARAT) Pin-380 001.

With the directions and blessings of H.H. Shri Acharya Maharajand H.H. Shri Mota Maharaj devotee Shri Khimji Vaghjiani, has beenrendering services of our Sampradaya and Satsang in Australia formany years. He is also CEO and C-founder of the Solar-Gem, one ofthe leading technology companies in Australia. Solar-Gem providesmodular solar-powered off-grid lighting and electricity systems, pre-pay tariffing systems, and high-efficiency LED lighting modulestargeting the 1.6 billion people without access to power. This Solar-Gem company of our devotee won the 2010 Australian InnovationShoot out Competition which was recently organized in January-2010in USA. As the winner of the 2010 Innovation Shoot Out, Solar-Gemreceived a prize package designed to help it launch its business in theUnited States. Support includes legal, financial and marketingconsultation worth approximately $40,000.

SOLAR-GEM WINS 2010 AUSTRALIANINNOVATION SHOOT OUT

narrates to all Haribhaktas.(Rameshbhai Patel)

With the directions of H.H. Shri AcharyaMaharaj and H.H. Shri Mota Maharaj, ShastriSwami Nirgundasji of Ahmedabad and MahantMuni Swami of Dholka have established a Mandalon the pious day of Vijaya Dashmi- thePrakatyotsav of H.H. Shri Acharya Maharaj. Manydevotees are settled here. about more than 50devotees regularly attend the Satsang Sabha ofSunday and also guides the next and newgeneration to join it. (Rameshbhai Patel)

Katha-Varta

Satsang Sabha in our new temple, Piyoria(I.S.S.O. Chapter) (America)

Sane Joshe (I.S.S.O. Chapter) (U.S.A.)With the directions of H.H. Shri Acharya

Maharaj and H.H. Shri Mota Maharaj, ShastriDharmkishor Swami of Los Angeles temple hadarrived and had explained the importance of thescripture Shiksha-Patri on the pious day of

. This Sabha wasorganized at the residence of the devoteesRajeshbhai and Dhrumanben in the eveningwherein Dhoon, Kirtan and Katha of the Miraclesof Shree Hari were performed. Katha and Kirtanwere also performed on the pious day ofMakarsankranti. Another Sabha was alsoorganized at the residence of Madhubhai andChetnaben. (Prashant Dholakiya)

Shiksha-Patrai Jayanti


Documents

English January-2011