In the spiritually surcharged milieu of Satsang Center, slightly cloudy yet beautiful evening rolled with traditional chanting of  Sri Hanuman Chaalisa. Preeti Nagar and Sangeeta Saxena  melodiously rendered “Pragya Geets” (inspirational bhajans). Both, very popular singers in Lexington/Boston area, captivated the devotees with their enchanting voices.  ParamVyom (Master Swami), age 15, delighted the audience with his skillful and spontaneous accompaniment on tabla.

On June 2nd 2007 over 300 devotees converged to participate in a soul absorbing celebration of the sixth annual “Gayatri Jayanti” Puja. Several devotees from NH, CT and RI also joined the celebration.  This day commemorates the manifestation (pradurbhava) of Adi-Shakti Gayatri for the benefit of mankind. This day is also believed to be the day of descent (Avataran) of Ganga on earth and known as “Ganga Dashara”. Millions of people take a dip in the holy Ganga on this occasion.

“Deep Yagya” was at the center of this celebration. This form of Yagya is a contemporary version of traditional Yagya, adapted by Pandit Shriram Sharma Acharya (founder of Gayatri Parivar), for popularizing the philosophy of Yagya for the busy lifestyle of modern times. Devotees lighted 108 lamps to perform “Deep Yagya”. Entire congregation  participated in the “Gayatri Mantra Aahutis”.  “Mahamrityunjaya Mantra Aahutis” were also offered for the devotees, whose birthday’s and wedding anniversaries fall in the current calendar month. As well as the graduating class of 2007 were also offered greetings and blessings for their bright future. The Puja floor was diligently coordinated by Jayshree Mohapatra & her team.

In the special parva-pujan sequence, Adi-Shakti Gayatri was invoked in three forms of “Ved-Mata”, “Dev-Mata” and “Vishwa-Mata” followed by the invocation of “Hansa” and “Ganga”. The devotees prayed to the Ved-Mata for Her descent in the form of the “light of knowledge” i.e Gyan Praksah in their lives to eradicate the three root-causes of unhappiness i.e. the ignorance, the infirmity and the impoverishment  (i.e. Agyan, Ashakti and Abhava). Devotees invoked Dev-Mata for the transformation of our ordinary lives into the one that is enriched with divinity (Devatva). By Vishwa-Mata’s invocation devotees prayed for the gift of all encompassing-love that would enable the realization of the ideal of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam,(i.e. “world is deemed a family”). Participants offered prayers to “Ganga-Mata” for the internal purification and also to strengthen  the tendency of selfless service (Parmartha).

The entire celebration  was lucidly interspersed with the elucidation of  the philosophy behind all the Puja activities performed throughout  the evening. Sanjay Saxena, rendered the commentary based on  the philosophy of Pandit Shriram Sharma Acharya. Yagya / Pujan ceremony was  conducted and presided over by Sangeeta Saxena, a priestess volunteer of Gayatri Parivar.

Towards conclusion of the evening, all participants took vows to give up one weakness/undesirable habit in their lives  and also to inculcate a new strength/good habit for the continued progress and transformation of their lives.  

The event was a huge success with the active support of volunteers from  Satsang Center, Asharam Bapu Satsang group and the Balagokulam. The evening concluded with Aarti and Mantra Pushpanjali followed by Mahaprasad (dinner) that was sponsored by Geetanjali & Rajiv Sharma.

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