2023 Mass Prayer, Bangalore: Nama alone is enough to fulfil all that you dream

2023 Mass Prayer, Bangalore
Nama alone is enough to fulfil all that you dream!

This adage set the stage for the January 1st, 2023 Kalpatharu day mass prayer at Bangalore.

The ornate stage had an extended ramp from its centre in the Ramanjaneya playground where the divine mahamantra mass prayer was to be held. This reminded the devotees of the divine tongue of Sri Anjaneya where the Rama Nama found its eternal playground.

The event started at 4 pm with a keyboard performance by Sri Adithya which was a fusion of famous Carnatic songs including Madhurageethams, interlaced with western chords which served as a sweet invitation to the devotees that were trickling into the playground which was ready to invite 8000 devotees who were waiting for this golden annual event for the past 2 years.

At 5:15 pm Sri Nama Sekhar, coordinator of G.O.D Karnataka, took to the mic and informed the devotees (in Kannada) on the various activities of GOD. The highlight of his presentation was that of the 30 districts of Karnataka, already 11 districts are ringing with mahamantra by the efforts of the devotees of Sri Swamiji. The devotees in the ground were thrilled to see a sea of devotees with bright orange Hanumanji fans marching into the ground with the mahamantra on their lips. It was a special ‘Shobha yatra’ parade of more than 500 elated Bhaktas from various parts of Karanataka who marched 5km to reach the venue to promulgate the sweetness and greatness of Mahamantra all the way. They were greeted with thunderous applause which resounded with love and joy by the thousands of devotees who were already present in the arena.

In the august presence of Sri Swamiji, Sri Shankaranarayananji – incharge of The Sundara Anjaneya temple, Bengaluru, felicitated Sri Nama Sekhar and also spoke a few words about the selfless service of the latter. This was followed by the mass prayer of Sri Swamiji.

Sri Swamiji as the universal voice of love, by chanting the mahamantra, bound the crowd who till then were diversified by language.

“Ee dhina Sanjay Illi seriruvantha: Ella bhakthajanarigey kalpatharudhinadha subaashayagalu”.

The sweet voice of our beloved Sri Swamiji in chaste Kannada thrilled the audience which was predominantly Kannadiga. Swamiji went on to emphasize the importance of chanting mahamantra and wearing the Japa mala, “Right from Nardana Ganapathi, Thiruchendur Murugan, Kanyakumari Devi to Sringeri Sharadha Devi, Badri Narayanan are also immersed in the constant chanting of the divine name with a Mala in their hands. So why should we shy away from chanting or wearing a Japa mala?”

He punctuated his talk with two simple short stories which chimed with the audience very well. The first one was about how the original Kalpatharu was a double-edged sword whereas the benign Kalpatharu which is the mahamantra and Bhagavan Sri Krishna can bless only that – which is good for the seeker.

The second story was about how the prayers are silently answered by Bhagavan only for the good of the seeker. Hence Swamiji said, the only agency we should supplicate to is Bhagavan Sri Krishana alone and not any other human being. Sri Swamiji shared a personal anecdote where Sri Panduranga miraculously arranged for his Dharshan when Sri Swamiji denied the intervention of any other VIPs for him to have a hassle-free Dharshan.

The whole speech of our Swamiji was dynamic – visually and aurally as our Sri Swamiji’s halcyon anecdote was complemented by his majestic gait across the stage. The inspiring words of Sri Swamiji was ably matched by the immediate Kannada translation by Sri Nama Sekhar.

Sri Swamiji quoted a Dasara Nama kirtan to clearly show that there are no rules or regulations for the chanting of the divine name. He concluded that song with a quote from Swami Sivananda, “Start the day with Nama, fill the day with Nama, end the day with Nama”.

Sri Swamiji shared a happening from Swami Vivekananda’s life, where after three days of staunch meditation towards Bharath Matha, Swami Vivekananda got a vision of her in shackles, and subsequently unshackled and in a saffron garb. “A spiritual and virtuous leader, a Vishwa guru, who wears saffron clothing will lead this country to the top of the world,” she said to Swami Vivekananda. Quoting this, Sri Swamiji joyously affirmed that a Dharmic rule of virtue ie, a Rama Rajya is not far for this country India, and that there will be no shortage of good news.

Sri Swamiji also enlightened the audience on the most effective way to pray by highlighting a very moving excerpt from the life history of Sri Narsi Mehta.

Sri Swamiji emphasized the following points to be followed in a prayer :
1. The prayer must be specific, clear, dharmic and that which addresses our need rather than greed.
2. The supplicant should never mull on the possibility or impossibility of his prayer being answered.
3. Similarly, the supplicant should never think about how Bhagavan will fulfil the prayer.
4. Prayers are not conveying information to the almighty but rather to plead, to implore, to entreat, and to supplicate to the divine mercy of the lord while chanting his divine name to intercede on our behalf to fulfil our pressing need or to alleviate our affliction.

The 7,000 devotees were all touched when Sri Swamiji roared, “You just pray to Bhagavan and leave the rest to me”.
“I shall not rest until the last human chants the divine name and gets blessed by Bhagavan Sri Krishna. Even if this mortal frame drops, I shall exhort people to chant as a spirit.”

Our Swamiji along with tens of thousands of devotees present both on the ground and online, prayed in silence for five minutes for the fulfilment of their prayers.
This was followed by the electric mahamantra chanting and the graceful movements to its tune by our Sri Swamiji all along the 200 metres ramp for the next 15 minutes.

The air was charged with the divine vibes of mahamantra,
The sky roared with the divine chants of mahamantra,
Thousands of hands waived to the beats of mahamantra,
And the hearts rejoiced with the tunes of mahamantra.

Overall, Sri Swamiji laid the path for the devotees on how to pray to Bhagavan, and why prayer is paramount in this day and age. Nama is the only path to be taken in this Yuga, the thunderous chants were proof enough for that.

– Mr Nirmal Thiagarajan
Young Columnist