Pujya Swamiji in Atlanta - Swara Sudha Raga Sagara - Music for meditation
Sri Swamiji in Atlanta – July 11th-14th, 2019
Swara Sudha Raga Sagara: music for meditation & healing
Pujya Sri Swamiji arrived in Atlanta from Datta Retreat Center on July 11th, 2019. In the evening, Swagata Sabha was held at the Guru Nilayam in Atlanta. Pujya Sri Swamiji blessed the assembled Atlanta devotees with darshan and discourse.
On the auspicious occasion of Śayana Ekādaśi, in the morning on July 12th, Sri Pujya Swamiji performed Sri Chakra Puja at the house of Smt. and Sri Madhuri and Prasad Garimella.
In the evening, Welcome program and Sri Swamiji’s Bhajans were arranged at the Swaminarayan Gurukul in Duluth, Georgia. DYC Atlanta Bala Datta students, taught by Smt. Divya Kesarinath, first sang an assortment of Sri Swamiji’s bhajans with accompaniment on veena. Smt. Meera Joshi briefly spoke, formally welcoming Sri Swamiji. Pujya Swamiji blessed the gathering and spoke on the importance of Ekādaśi, emphasizing that the perception that mere fasting is the goal of the auspicious day, should be erased. Śayana Ekādaśi signifies when Lord Vishnu closes His eyes after four yugas, before the start of a new cycle of creation. Sri Swamiji sang various bhajans, including the Marathi abhang “Pandarinivasa, Sakha Panduranga”. Sri Swamiji remembered the town of Pandaripur in Maharashtram wherein millions of devotees gather to chant the name of Lord Vitthala, forgetting themselves in spiritual ecstasy on the Ekadasi day. Sri Bhavin Raval offered the Swara Sudha Raga Sagara t-shirt for release after the bhajan session.
July 13th, 2019 was the day for which Atlanta devotees had been preparing for many months. Swara Sudha Raga Sagara, Sri Swamiji’s Music for Meditation and Healing Concert in Atlanta, was scheduled for 6:00 p.m. at the Infinite Energy Theater in Duluth, and went on for more than 2 hours 20 minutes. The second concert in Atlanta, after the initial Nada Prasara concert in April 1993, drew more than 700 attendees. Yogini Kaliji first acquainted the audience with Sri Swamiji’s various facets and mission, before welcoming Dr. Sri Ganapathy Sachchidananda Swamiji and the musicians of the Celestial Message Troupe (Vid. Jaitra Varanasi on violin, Vid. Mani Narasimham on keyboard, Vid. Shankar Ramesh on mridangam, Vid. Mahesh Bhatt on tabla, and Sri Jaya Datta on drumpad) onto the stage. Smt. and Sri Chetna and Himanshu Joshi offered a garland to Sri Swamiji. Georgia State Senator Renee Unterman, offered Sri Swamiji a garland. Ms. Shirley Wynn offered a garland to Sri Swamiji. Smt. and Sri Pinky and Sunit Shah offered a vastram to Sri Swamiji. Pujya Swamiji introduced the ancient technique Raga Ragini Vidya, and how Sri Jayalakshmi Mata (Sri Swamiji’s mother and Guru) introduced him to the concept of the same, before the concert began. Sri Swamiji explained that the healing music played is closely related to herbal medicine, astrology, gemology (Mani Shastra), and yoga. Sri Swamiji has been researching Raga Ragini Vidya and its usage in healing the 72,000 bodily nerves for 18-20 years, writing the huge magnum opus, “Raga Ragini Nada Yoga”, which has even been used as the main body of research for aspiring PhD. scholars. Pujya Swamiji recommended the audience to sleep during the concert, as the vibrations work better to heal the body when the mind is not calculating and analyzing the music. The concert started off as customary with Sri Swamiji playing Raga Rushyaketupriya (Pranava Swarupam). His Holiness continued to Raga Vagadheeshwari (Dasoham), and Swara Sudha Raga Sagara consisting of the three main ragas: Raga Kashyapi (Mayatita Patu Mam), Raga Yogini (Vande Śivam), and Raga Mayamamalavagowla (Kaśi Kaśi). Before the final raga, Mayamalavagowla, Sri Swamiji briefly described the upcoming raga’s effect on all nerve systems through its range of soothing to harsh sounds. Sir Swamiji played solo for almost twenty minutes before the musicians joined in to conclude the raga. Sri Swamiji was in a meditative state and held the healing crystals to the audience for many minutes during this time. After tani avarthanam by the percussionists, Raga Dheeraśankarabharanam (Happy Tune) and Raga Sama (Raga Ragini Devi Mangalam) were played to conclude the evening. Sri Anjani, emcee, gave closing remarks an invited the matrumandali of DYC Atlanta to offer a gaja mala to Sri Swamiji. The crowd enthusiastically cheered and gave a rousing round of applause as Sri Swamiji asked if they were happy! Smt. and Sri Vasavi and Srikanth Mantri offered a garland to Sri Swamiji. Smt. and Sri Lalitha and Eshwar Burra offered a silk garland to Sri Swamiji. Sri Meera and Yash offered an honorarium to Vid. Jaitra Varanasi. Smt. and Sri Krupa and Bhavin Raval honored Vid. Mani Narasimham. Smt. and Sri Sejal and Dinesh Sthanki felicitated Vid. Shankar Ramesh. Smt. and Sri Rajeshri and Manish Thakkar felicitated Vid. Mahesh Bhatt. Sri Niral and Divansh honored Sri Jaya Datta. Annadana was provided for all after the program.
Pujya Swamiji performed Sri Chakra Puja in the morning on July 14th. Sangeeta seva was performed by Smt. Santakumari Medicherla, Smt. Manjusha Mocharla, and Smt. Swathi Basavaraju (on support vocal) accompanied by Sri Lakshminarayan Venkatraman on violin and Sri Prahlad Ram on mridangam. Smt. and Sri Madhuri and Prasad Garimella offered a garland to Sri Swamiji. Sri Swamiji blessed all with a spiritual discourse. Pujya Swamiji stressed that all should sing at least bhajans; the singing ability is refined when coupled with devotion. Pujya Swamiji noted the efforts of Sri Prasad Garimella in bringing Sri Swamiji to Atlanta again and materialized a bracelet for him. Sri Prasad articulated his experiences with Sri Swamiji and gave thanks to His Holiness on behalf of DYC Atlanta. Bhagavad Gita memorizers and fluent readers from Georgia offered a cake to Sri Swamiji. Sri Satish Kodeboyina, sponsor of daily annadana, was honored. Swamis from Sri Swaminarayan Gurukul (Rajkot branch) paid respects to and honored Pujya Swamiji with a mala.. Dr. Sri B Krishna Mohan and family, founders of the Hindu Temple of Atlanta, were blessed by Sri Swamiji.
At 5:00 p.m., Sri Swamiji left Georgia to Dallas for upcoming week-long Guru Purnima celebrations.
