The second day of the Shree Swaminarayan Temple Kera Sashtipurti Mahotsav began with His Divine Holiness Acharya Swamishree visiting the home of the principle sponsors of the day’s recitals (of the Shree Swaminarayan Gadi Granth scripture). The disciples offered poojan to Lord Shree Swaminarayanbapa Swamibapa and Acharya Swamishree while He was sat upon an ornate golden chariot. They then drew the chariot through the narrow streets towards the sabha mandap – hundreds lined the streets for this divine darshan.
Upon arriving at the Sinhasan in the sabha mandap, Acharya Swamishree received the ‘chaab’ offerings from the parayan (scripture recital) sponsors, before showering His divine ashirwad on all.
His Divine Holiness Acharya Swamishree’s Ashirwad
Today is the second day of our Mahotsav. Yesterday evening, disciples performed dances to please Bapa. Seeing such great performances, Swaminarayanbapa Swamibapa became extremely pleased.
We are very fortunate to have the darshan of the ever merciful Lord Shree Swaminarayan. The only reason that the atmosphere of this Mahotsav is so blissful, is due to the grace of Lord Shree Swaminarayan. The Lord has said in the 5th Vachnamrut of the Jetalpur section, that if his disciple is destined to endure the pain of one scorpion sting, He will take the pain of a thousand scorpions instead, but will not let His disciple endure the pain.
While we are celebrating the Kera Shashtipurti Mahotsav, we can remember Gurudev Jeevanpran Swamibapa’s divine mercy. When Swamibapa used to visit Kera and stay in the old temple, there was no well there for Swamibapa to draw water out to have a bath. Disciples had to walk miles to fetch water for Swamibapa to have a bath.
Swamibapa commanded His disciples to dig a well in the Temple. When disciples started digging the well, there was no water but only hard stone. No matter what tools were used, the stone didn’t break. The diggers lost hope and stopped work.
The digging had also stopped for 10 prior years due to the opposition from those against the Satsang. Swamibapa reassured the disciples and encouraged them to dig. When they started digging again, sweet holy water emerged. People could fetch water just by standing outside the well; such was the ample amounts of water emerging from the well. The diggers were amazed to see such a miracle!
Even though the well was in the grounds of the Mandir, anyone could fetch this holy water. Swamibapa was so merciful that He encouraged the water be given to all so that more people could become blessed by drinking this holy water.
The morning’s sabha concluded and everyone received Prasad lunch.
Later that afternoon, Acharya Swamishree went to the village of Surajpur to provide relief for the cows of the local area. As part of the charitable contributions made by Maninagar Shree Swaminarayan Gadi Sanstha during this five-day Mahotsav, the local cows have been and will be constantly fed throughout each day.
Evening - Kirtan Bhakti
The second evening was a night of kirtan bhakti – devotional singing – directed by renowned producer Rajendra Pala. Crowds gathered from several hours in advance to ensure they didn’t miss out. Acharya Swamishree arrived promptly at 830pm to a rapturous welcome from the capacity congregation. The kirtans sang included:
Prathna - divya jeevan ni jyot jagavo
Avya Avya Avya Hariji, mare mandire avya re
Vala mare vaso vaso re
Shreeji vijay na dhwajo farkavjo
Man vasyo mare murali varo chhel chagalo
Sakhi ri Ghanshyam
Naina re le lobharna
Sahajanand Hari no re
Taru choggu avine ne mara chitt ma
Suno vadhungi navali batian
Mare avanisha Ghanshyam
The evening’s finale was of an especially composed kirtan, “Thank you.” Before the kirtan began, the sabha was reminded that we should be thankful to the Lord for giving us a birth within the supreme Karan Satsang, to Jeevanpran Swamibapa for giving us our beloved Acharya Swamishree, and to Acharya Swamishree for inspiring such magnificent festivals – the mere memory of which grants aatyantik moksh.
During the kirtan, sants and disciples rose to their feet and danced in bliss as the singers encouraged everyone to join in. The already ecstatic atmosphere exploded with joy as Acharya Swamishree took to the stage and personally conducted the crowd’s dancing.
Despite the late finish, Acharya Swamishree took the time to give darshan to the loving disciples who would be working through the night to prepare the next day’s Prasad.
Day 2 Morning - Shree Ghanshyam Maharaj Shashtipurti Mahotsav, Kera
Day 2 Evening - Shree Ghanshyam Maharaj Shashtipurti Mahotsav, Kera
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