SAMVIT SATRA - A REPORT
-by Priti Panemanglor
(Click to see the photos(5 nos) - Credits Gourang Kodical)
The
evening sun shone across the calm waters of the Pashan lake. In the distance one could see
the Pune city skyline. But, no one was interested at that sight. Each of the children
present there was engrossed in watching and identifying the birds that waddled in the
placid waters or suddenly flew out of the bushes surrounding the lake. As Kutty mam
(Krishnanand Heblekar) and Jyoti pachi (Jyoti Divgi) explained to the group present how
they could identify each bird, the enthusiasm grew as they saw Coots, Pond herons, Cattle
Egrets, Lapwings, Beeeaters, Moorhens and Spotbills. Each one tried to commune with nature
at this beautiful spot, but none could contain their joy about the arrival of their
Beloved Swamiji. His arrival added a sense of serenity to the surroundings and the
children gathered around excitedly telling Him and showing Him some of the birds they
could identify.
Param Poojya Sadyojat Shankarashram Swamiji had arrived at the Shri
Chitrapur Math, Pune to celebrate Sankranti with the people of Pune and scores of other
sadhakas who had come from Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and other places. H.H.
Iswaranand Giriji Maharaj was also in Pune to bless us with His presence during Sankranti
and the Samvit Satra. The coming week was to usher a period wherein all of us were to
partake of the ambrosia that was to be offered to us by P.P Iswaranand Giriji Maharaj and
P.P Sadyojat Shankarashram Swamiji.
On Sankranti, the ever enthusisatic children tried their best to fly
kites, but succeeded only in the evening as the wind had not picked up in the morning.
P.P. Sadyojat Shankarashram Swamiji performed a samohik Pooja to Lord Surya which was
followed by the morning Maha pooja to our Beloved Lord Bhavanishankar. That evening we
were blessed with a Sankranti ashirvachan from both P.P. Iswaranand Giriji Maharaj and
P.P. Sadyojat Shankarashram Swamiji, in a hall that was packed to capacity. All the
sadhakas who had come in large numbers to attend the Samvit Satra, were briefed about the
programme to be held during the next few days. Later that evening there was a scintilating
Kathak dance recital by Kum. Sharvari Jamenis, a student of the renowned Smt Rohini Bhate,
who charmed the audience with her grace and prowess in the ancient dance style
The Samvit Satra began on the 15th of January 2002, at the Shri
Chitrapur Math, Pune. It was really heartening to see the number of sadhakas arriving
there early in the morning at 5.30 a.m. braving the cold, clad in all their woollens.
Every morning at 6 a.m the hall echoed with the Suprabhatam, when each of the devotees
coaxed Lord Bhavanishankar to wake up and bring "mangalam" to every activity.
After the Pratah Smaranam, there was a short exercise session in which the participants
had to follow a stretching and warming up routine. After this P.P. Sadyojat Shankarashram
Swamiji guided the group to meditate upon the 'anahata chakra' which is the seat of our
Istadevata. The mantras which He used for the Bhoota Shuddi and then the invocation to the
GuruShakti guided each and every sadhaka present there to the 'antah pura' of his/her
existence.There was a visible change on the faces of each one, probably of the result of a
touch of the divine.
After a small break for breakfast, the group would gather again to
chant Stotras, which have become a part of our being, before P.P. Swamiji would arrive
again in the hall for a Swadhyaya/Vimarsha/Paramarsh session. He took up the study of the
18th chapter of the Bhagawat Geeta, which contains the essence of the entire teaching of
the Geeta. He expounded the verses, extolling the virtues of a bhakta, the necessity to do
Yagna, Dana and Tapa to bring about 'antakarana shuddi', and the importance of Karmayoga
which is a pre-requisite and a sure path to Jnanam and the ultimate goal of Moksham. The
entire teaching was very meaningful as every session involved some vimarsha and also the
clearing of doubts in the minds of the sadhakas through paramarsha.
Around noon, sadhakas sang bhajans and involved themselves in the
Mahapooja offered to Lord Bhavanishankar by the Vaidiks. The presence of the Lord bedecked
with beautiful flowers, along with the chanting of the vedic mantras by the Vaidiks,
created an atmosphere where each sadhaka was filled with feeling of surrender to that
supreme power that he/she was a part of .
After a break for lunch and tea, the group got together again for a
programme called, "Antarangini". During this session there were interesting
games, a bhajan antakshari, an Antarangini Quiz conducted by Udaya Mavinkurve, Sant
Sahajanand a 'Sangeetika" by Malini Madiman and group from Bangalore. On one of the
days, Anand Nayampalli of Pune quizzed all the sadhakas in a Sanskriti Parichay
Pratiyogita. One of the afternoons, a group of young children from Pune presented a
programme called Saints of India, where each of them moved the audience to tears with
their rendering of bhajans composed by the saints, this was followed by the Chitrapur
Choir by a group of youngsters from Pune, a musical repertoire of bhajans and rashtriya
geet, with the accompaniment of a guitar, keyboards and tabla. On Sunday, there was a
Samhohik Guru Poojan, when about 50 sadhakas performed pooja!
As the evening dawned each sadhaka waited eagerly for the arrival of
P.P. Iswaranand Giriji Maharaj at the Math. Every evening of the Samvit Satra, the hall of
the Math was packed to capacity. Swamiji had the audience in rapt attention as He rendered
the teaching of the Vasishta Geeta, a text where Sage Vasishta enlightened Rama about the
reality of oneself. The original 'Yoga Vasishta Maharamayana' is said to contain 30,000
verses! Poojya Swamiji has very intelligently selected 130 of the most important verses of
the text, to make it simpler for the common man. Each day was a revelation as He explained
the four qualifications of an 'adhikari', 'Shama', 'Vichara', 'Santosha' and 'Sadhu
Sangama', the 'dwarapalas' to Moksha. Then Poojya Swamiji went on to explain the meaning
of 'Sanga', the different kinds of 'Sanga' and in the end the importance of 'Sanga tyaga'.
Poojya Swamiji could not finish the text due to the shortage of time, but He gave us a
treasure trove of knowledge which we will take some time unravel and experience as we go
through our individual sadhana. The most amazing part of this 'Sat Sanga' was the way how
the mornings' Swadyaya was interwoven with the study of Vasishta Geeta. It gave every
sadhaka an ample opportunity to do 'shravana, 'manana' and 'chintana' of the subject.
The Samvit Satra on the whole was a totally fulfilling experience and
each of the 200-250 sadhakas who attended the programme returned home happy and rich in
experience. Since the programme was open to all, sadhakas of all ages were able to imbibe
the teachings of both the great Yativaras, the satsanga thus giving a fillip to everyones
sadhana, and leaving in its wake a promise of being able to experience the 'Samvit
drishti'.
After the culmination of the Samvit Satra on the 20th of January, 2002,
there was a public function held on the 21st, at the Nehru Memorial Hall, Pune, where P.P.
Iswaranand Giriji Maharaj and P.P Sadyojat Shankarashram Swamiji addressed a cross-section
of about 800 sadhakas from Pune and other cities. P.P. Iswaranand Giriji spoke on the
subject of 'Self Integration' and blessed the spell bound audience after the programme.