PRASANTHI UPDATES

July 18 , 2008

Bhagawan arrived in Sai Kulwant hall at 8.50 am on this Gurupoornima morning resplendent in a yellow robe, in a special gold-coloured chair, preceded by His baby elephant which was bedecked in festival finery. After a full round of the Hall, He came to the veranda and blessed the Gurupoornima cake arrayed there. When He came onstage, He blessed the congregation with both hands and sat for a while listening to the Vedam chanting along with the Nadaswaram and Panchavadyam performed by the students. Sri Shivraj Patil, the Union Home Minister, presented a book to Bhagawan for release. This tome on the Bhagawad Gita was written by him and was made available in English, Hindi, Marathi and other languages. Bhagawan asked Prof Anil Kumar to announce the details of the book and then Sri Shivraj Patil was asked to address the gathering. In his short speech, Sri Patil thanked Bhagawan for inspiring the book. Swami then indicated that His mics be brought. Bhagawan spoke for nearly an hour, seated onstage, outlining the story of Ekalavya and commending Sri Shivraj Patil on his book. He then mentioned that one of the lecturers of the Sai University was going to Hungary for a presentation, and that He wished that in this way, the ideals of the Sai University be propagated in all countries. The students sang a couple of songs after Swami's Discourse as prasadam was distributed. Bhagawan accepted Arati and returned to His residence in the chair after eleven o'clock after listening to a few more minutes to the students' Panchavadyam troupe.