Jnana Yajna 63
Year & Dates:
November 21, 1959 to December 05, 1959
Yajna Topic:
Shrimad Bhagavad Gita- Chapters 12
Place:
Mysore, India.
“It is the parents who look to the development of the child; it is the teacher who develops the intellect, and it is only the Acharya Purusha who will enlighten him, to the philosophic content of man,” said Shri B. D. Jatti, Chief Minister of Mysuru as he inaugurated the 63rd, 15-day yajna on the evening of November 21, 1959. He pointed out that faith is crucial for both personal and spiritual evolution, and Gita showed the way. He further stressed that “by following that method taught to us by the Gita, and by that method alone, the ego in us would burn down as the fuel and the ghee in the Agni-kunda.” The state government provided the Mysuru Dasara Exhibition Buildings as the yajnashala venue while also hosting Pujya Gurudev in the government guesthouse.
Devotion That blessed the Devi Group
The endearing way of using anecdotes, parables, and daily interactions to convey the nuances of the Gita way of life attracted people in Pujya Gurudev’s every Jnana Yajna. The eager audience converged at the yajnashala every morning and evening, filling it and all neighboring vantage spots so that they did not miss a word that Pujya Gurudev uttered! Just the voice and presence of Pujya Gurudev removed all restlessness; silence was a natural state for that huge crowd. With the addition of a mass recitation of the Gita, Pujya Gurudev’s teachings resonated more. The devotional outpouring during the Laksharchana of Bhagavan Vishnu with flowers and His Sahasranama on December 29, 1959, made every devotee recall the attributes of perfect devotion which had been illumined in the Chapter 12, Bhakti Yoga. Throughout that Jnana Yajna, Pujya Gurudev demonstrated that Gita was not just a part of an epic, but a mode of life, universally applicable so that “a Hindu would become a better Hindu, a Christian a better Christian; and a Muslim, a better Muslim.”
There was a sweet prelude that took place before the Mysuru Yajna which traces the strengthening of the Chinmaya Devi Groups across India. Almost a year after Pujya Gurudev blessed the initiative to have an exclusive forum for women seekers, the Chinmaya Devi Group first founded in 1958 at Chennai prayed for Pujya Gurudev’s Presence on their first anniversary celebration on November 16, 1959. Pujya Gurudev’s calendar was fully booked, and there seemed to be no opening. However, a small unforeseen delay between the Madurai and the Mysuru Jnana Yajnas became the happiest fortune for the Chinmaya Devi Group. Pujya Gurudev came on November 16, 1959, to Chennai. A most colorful welcome with a melodious Subrahmanya bhajan and the Gurustotram, a carpet of flowers of twelve colors to represent the twelve months that lined His path, and an unusual peacock throne with a beautiful five-year-old dressed as Lord Muruga inviting Him to sit beside her – Pujya Gurudev was astonished as He applauded the enthusiasm of the Devis and encouraged them to greater spiritual accomplishment.
Photo Gallery
Gurudev is welcomed in the traditional style with Purna Kumbha for the 63rd yagna!
Thousands of people converge at the yagna shala, like stars in the night sky, drawn by the gravitational pull of wisdom emanating from the spiritual lecture!
The divine song - Bhagavad Geeta, discusses the immortal goal of Oneness which is the theme of Vedanta.
All the devotees have gathered for prayers and to pursue 'Abyasa Yoga' - Yoga of Constant Practice!
“Think,” Says Pujya Gurudev
“If you are unable to fix your thoughts steadily on Me ”, then the only practical method would be to pursue the ‘Yoga of constant practice’ (Abhyaasa Yoga). This Yoga of Practice was earlier described as: “Wherever the mind wanders, restless, from thence let him subdue it and bring it under the sway of the Self alone”. In short, whenever a meditator tries to meditate by fixing his mind upon the chosen point-of-concentration the fickle mind will always try to run wild into dissimilar thought-channels. The advice here is to gather all the rays of the mind, whenever they wander away from their main point-of-concentration, and focus them all again and again at the Divine Form.
From Tyagi Magazine
Krishna, the Lord of Yoga, could not be more practical as when he advised this path to ordinary average man. It gives hope even to the most extrovert among us. It is a royal path indeed to the majority of us. Just as a firm’s representative while talking always associates himself with his firm and says “we shall try to supply we are producing we are not responsible” etc., here he identifies himself with the great manufactures as if he is one of the directors of the firm, although, in fact, he is only a low paid local agent. Similarly, if anyone of us were to really entertain in our mind the firm idea that we are the agents of the Divine executing His Will in all our external activities, then not only our mind is thereby made to contemplate on the Lord continuously, but we shall be drawing from ourselves miraculous power of efficiency, organizational dexterity and a self-assuring courage, in all our undertakings- big or small.
From Tyagi Magazine
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