Guru Pournima festivities in Plano - On the Eve of Guru Pournima!

Om Jai Sai Ram! Blessed are those who seek refuge in his feet! They will be liberated from the fear of samsara. I am unqualified to sing the glories of one, whom even the Vedas cannot describe completely, for the Sadguru is parabrahma himself, from whom the vedas have originated. I am writing this post on the eve of Guru pournima (The auspicious full moon day on which worship is offered to the Sadguru). I shall write something about what transpired today in this post.

Today is Thursday, a day considered most auspicious by the devotees of Samartha Sadguru Sainath. The devotees who can render service to the holy and lotus feet of Sainath on this day are most fortunate. I myslef, had the good fortune, by the grace of Lord Sainath to visit his temple at Plano in Texas. I met Mr.Pandya,who started this temple in Plano. He told me that grand festivities will take place at the temple, just like they do in Shirdi during Guru poornima.

I will meander here a little. In Shirdi totally 3 festivals are celebrated with great pomp and celebration. They are Ramanavami, Guru Pournima and Vijayadhashami (Baba's Punyatithi). RamaNavami and Urus festival were celebrated in Shirdi since somewhere around 1910 CE. Hindus and Muslims used to participate in two processions and used to work in unison. They forget their cultural and religious barriars and celebrate this festival like brothers! Guru Pournima was also another important festival which is celebrated with great pomp in Shirdi. It is that special day on which the devotee offers worship to his Guru and beseeches the Guru to lead him to true bliss. Lastly, Vijaydhashami or Dussera during which Baba took Mahasamadhi.

Coming back to Guru Pournima, it is indeed that special day on which spiritual aspirants worship thier preceptors. This is the full moon day of the month of Ashada. It is sacred to the memory of the great Sage Veda Vyasa or Shri Krishna Dvaipayana. According to Shree Swami Shivananda, the great saint of Rishikesh, The full moon day of Ashada heralds the Chaturmasa, which brings the much awaited monsoon rains. The land will be parched from the summer heat, and to quench this, the water evoperated from different water bodies and is stored as water in clouds manifests in plentiful showers and brings fresh life everywhere. Likewise, during this time, the spiritual aspirant must put all the knowledge that he has obtained by the grace of the Guru into practice. His dry and morbid life will be spiritually enriched by the grace of the Guru.

So there I was, near the temple with Mr.Pandya, who told me that all the special celebrations that take place at Shirdi will also take place at the temple in Plano by Sainath's grace. As we were nearing the temple, he told me "Look towards your left! There are cars from left to right on both sides of the parking lot. They are all coming to the temple!". I was stunned. For there were several cars all around. And then when I went inside the temple, there were several bhaktas standing in there getting ready for the aarthi. I was pleased. For the scene reminded me of the Sai Baba temple in Tyagarajnagar near my house in Bangalore. The atmosphere was charged with divinity. Standing there, all the sweet leelas of Baba were passing through my mind. And when I saw the beautiful moorthi of Baba, I saw great granduer and splendor in it and I was convinced once again that Sainath is Pandarinath himself (Lord Vitthala). By looking at the crowd, I was reminded of a prophetic saying of Baba, which is "Men will flock to me like ants". Verily the devotees were flocked like ants in there. It was like devotees flocked around Vitthala at Pandarapur. Verily Sainath is Pandarinath and Shirdi is Pandharpur.

Bow to Shri Sai! Peace Be to all!