From Team Venugaanam’s Desk

We are delighted to bring to you the March 2013 edition of Venugaanam. This edition begins with Swami’s Divine exhortation to all to develop unwavering faith, and respect for Krushna’s command and advice. Lord Krushna’s life is His message , says Swami. Read this discourse of Swami and know His message in His own words.

In Atmajyothi, we continue the deliberation on realizing our inner nature and true potential. This edition discusses the application and utility of Vedanta.

Bhargav shares a beautiful anecdote oin the article entitled “At the Puttaparthi Flour Mill”. While bringing out his experience at the flour mill, he highlights the important aspect that goodness knocks at all our doors, provided we have the eyes to see it.

SowmyaRoopa shares her experiences as a student of the Anantapur campus. In the series called Golden moments, she shares an interview where Swami clearly instructed how girls and especially pregnant women should be so that the next generation could develop as ideal citizens.

Do we focus on the Throns or on the Rose in every person? Is our nature more judgemental than perceptive? In his article, Prakash shares his thoughts on what can make us better individuals in terms of being open to goodness.

There have been some significant developments last month.  Construction is progressing rapidly and the flooring – tiles work, external wall masonry, plumbing and electrical work are being done for the entire building. The construction contractors have given us their final completion schedule and this is shared in the Construction Update. It is expected that we will be able to welcome the children by May/ June. Read more and see some recent photos in the construction update.

We also invite applications for suitable volunteer families who will be willing to live with and take care of the children.  The ideal volunteer would be one dedicated to Swami’s work. We are open to families coming and joining who feel the inclination to participate and involve in Swami’s project. Volunteer families would be provided suitable accommodation and their children would be given appropriate educational facilities also.

Currently, there is a requirement for 2 English medium teachers for the proposed English medium education for the children. Candidates with appropriate background and experience may apply. We are also looking out for a cook for the children’s home once it starts functioning from May/ June.

We are happy to have your feedback on how to make ‘Venugaanam’ a better communication tool. You may kindly mail us at contactus@saikrushnamandir.org . Do feel free to share with us your experiences in following Swami’s teachings or on any other theme of your choice.

Wish you all a Very Happy and holy Shivarathri. May our lives be fulfilled by it becoming an offering of love for His glory.

May Swami turn our lives into a celebration of His message of love and service.

With All our Prema,

Team Venugaanam

Sai Krushna Charitable Trust

Krushna's Love- Swami's discourse

Repeat the name, Krushna, in your mind, every moment of your life. You will find It sweeter

than sugar or honey: indeed, It will taste more delicious than ambrosia. MEN whose intellect is

narrow and unable to reach out to the vastness beyond, men who do not dive deep into the

mysteries of existence, cannot achieve success in the task of promoting world peace and

prosperity. These depend on establishment of peace and prosperity in society and since society

consists of individuals, the individual has to attain peace and prosperity in order that the world

may shine in their glory. And, for the individual to discharge this obligation, he has to derive the

faith and fervour from the Divine that is his Reality.

Unless man marches on in the spiritual path, he cannot be at peace with himself and his

fellowmen. That march will confer peace, and with peace, welfare. Today, wherever we turn,

people talk of peace but their actions belie their profession. They only increase the feelings of

anxiety and fear. Each individual desires to outstrip the other in this game. As a consequence, the

spirit is neglected and the mind is polluted. There is no genuine understanding and sincere

goodwill among men. Life is a meaningless passage of time.

Atmajyoti- Eternal Light of Satchidananda

Sri Laxmi Narayana Aithal

WHAT IS THE USE OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE VEDANTA?

    The  knowledge  of  the  Vedanta  may  be  reasonable,  but  a  few  people  may  find  that  they  don’t  get  any  benefit  from  that  knowledge.  In order to console them, the following verse has commenced:

Naaham Jaato Na Pravrddho Na Nashto Dehasyoktaah Praakrtaah Sarva-dharmaah I

Kartrtvaadi-sh-chinmaya-asti  Naahamkaarasyaiva  Hyaatmano  May  Shivo-aham II

Meaning- Aham: I,  Na  Jaatah: am  not  born,  Na  Pravrddhah:  am  not  grown  up,  Na  Nashtah:  am  not  lost,  uktaah:  above  said,  Prakrtaah:  natural,  Sarva-dharmaah: all  traits ( qualities ),  dehasya:  of  the  body,  kartrtvaadi: agency,  etc;  ahamkaarasyaiva:  of  the  egotism  alone, hi:  determination, Chinmayasya:  of  the  Form  of  Awareness,  aatmanah: of  the  Self,  May: to  me,  Naasti:  don’t  exist,  aham: I,  Shivah:  am  Auspiciousness.

Construction Updates- The making of Sai Krushna Mandir

With the Divine Blessings and grace of our Beloved Swami, the ground floor of Phase 1 of the children’s home – Sai Krushna Mandir – will be operational soon. While there are numerous challenges, the SKM construction team is working to ensure that the construction and funding are all moving along expected timelines.

We expect that the entire building would be finished by end March or April 1^st week. It is expected that Sai Krushna Mandir will be functional as a children’s home from May/ June 2013. That way, the children who will be coming will also be able to join during the change of academic session.

Puttaparthi Flour Mill

KVRK Bhargav




Faithfully negotiating the narrow streets of Puttaparthi village on my scooter with five kilos of wheat I reached a small flour mill. There was a flight of three steps and the shop cum house was perched on top of it. As I dismounted the scooter helping the load of wheat on my shoulders, a lady  perhaps in her late sixties made her way out of this small and dingy dwelling as if emerging out of a cave. Her feet were finding it difficult to carry the heavy load of her body. She was swaying like a pendulum while slowly making her way to the entrance. She studied deeply this unexpected customer with her plastic gaze. Her hair was a mixture of black and grey made into a small pony tail. There was a look of tiredness on her face.

Golden Moments-5

Soumya Roopa

   We were completing our B.Ed course and longed to be called by Bhagawan to receive the shower of His ambrosial words, His love and Blessings as we left the portals of His university enter into His universal university. We will cherish forever the nectarine grace we received that afternoon-8^th April 1988……2.30pm, Sunday at Trayee Brindavan.

                   Bhagawan was standing at the entrance with His hands behind Him, smiling. As the first one entered Bhagawan said-“perfect, perfect, punctual”. He then asked us all to sit down. Bhagawan kept standing, then He said ,”when daughters come to their mothers house and are leaving, they must not be sent empty-handed. So, I am giving you this, Bhagawan gave each of us two notes of Rs 50 (Rs 50 + Rs 50=Rs 100) totaling to Rs 100/- . We were touched and surprised. He gave us the love of more than a thousand mothers! Then we offered Him pakodas, He took the plate and distributed it to us. We held our pakodas and requested Bhagawan to eat first. Bhagawan said “I don’t eat anything in the evening but since it has been made with bhakthi I will have it”. Then Bhagawan ate a pakoda while we ate ours and quickly tried to hold His feet. He joked with us that all the oil from the pakodas would be on His feet! He told us all to sit comfortably, then Bhagawan started speaking.

Do we Need to Judge People

Prakash Srinivasan

 True love just loves and does not judge is an adage or even a clichéd romantic exultation but in real life we just do the opposite most of the times. We do not like people for what they do and how they treat us but we try to see who they “really are.” Of course, this is needed sometimes when we are in challenging situations and when we need to test the reliability of people in certain dealing especially critical/financial ones. A related thought is also that we should always focus on the good traits of someone and ignore the bad traits. We can advise them about their bad traits but we should not jump to a conclusion by magnifying their bad traits unless it’s something so glaring!

The Journey Within- Part 9

S Sriram

The Drama of Life! [Part - II]

Last issue we started with the topic that while everybody says they want to be happy, somehow it seems to be elusive. Toward the end of the post I suggested that probably it was part of the drama of life to stay where we felt ‘stuck’ although it is but a ‘choice’ that holds us where we are on any given day. A very simple example: I once worked with a lady who suffered from chronic migraine. During the discussion I mentioned that any ache or pain is actually a subconscious choice by the soul for some reason. When that ‘payback’ from the pain or ache is understood and achieved through an alternate means then it would certainly disappear. She was very unhappy to hear that and asked me, “Why would anyone choose to hold on to pain?” Well this series of posts called ‘The Drama of Life’ is dedicated to answering that very question.