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| Prime Minister of India - Sri Atal Bihari Vajpayee with Sri Sathya Sai at New Delhi International Center |
Thursday, March 11, 1999 to
Sunday, March 14, 1999
Bhagavan visited Delhi between 11th and 14th March 1999 after an interval of 17 long years. Bhagavan flew to Delhi from Bangalore by a private executive Jet and reached Delhi at 9.16 am on 11th March. Bhagavan was received at the airport by the Traffic Controllers of Delhi. He materialised plenty of Vibhuti and distributed to them. Bhagavan was accorded a ceremonial welcome at the residence of Sri Kulwant Rai, the fortunate one to host Bhagavan during His stay in Delhi. Bhagavan granted Darshan to the devotees in different venues, at His residence, at the Rai School and at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, twice daily.
Bhagavan inaugurated the Sri Sathya Sai International Centre at Delhi. He received the Poornahuti of the Yajna that was in progress at the venue and unveiled the inaugural plaque.
The Chief Guest of the function Sri Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Prime Minister of India, gave a short speech. Bhagavan then delivered His first public Discourse of His visit in Delhi.
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| Sri Sathya Sai International Center Complex in New Delhi |
On that occasion He mentioned:
“I have been observing Vajpayee for the last so many years. Now this body is seventy-four years old. Vajpayee always keeps the welfare of the society in mind in whatever he speaks or does. He is broadminded. There will certainly be peace and security in the country if these principles are followed. Vajpayee and Kulwant Rai have requested Me to visit Delhi at least once in a year. Today we have inaugurated the International Sai Center. We should cultivate broad and noble feelings. I will certainly come to Delhi every year provided you develop broad feelings, and put them into practice. In the Sai Organization, there should be no differences of opinion. All should live like brothers and sisters. More than a hundred years ago, when Vivekananda spoke in a religious congregation in Chicago, addressing the audience as brothers and sisters, he was greeted with a thunderous applause. In olden days, brothers and sisters attained supreme state living in harmony with each other. But, today brothers and sisters go to Supreme Court due to lack of unity.
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| Sri Sathya Sai Speaks at the inauguration of the International Center in the presence of Chief Guest Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Prime Minister of India |
I want Vajpayee to develop friendship with countries like Russia, Japan, and Pakistan. How nice will it be if all these countries come together! Vajpayee is also making efforts in this direction. He has full control over his mind, but how can he be expected to have control over the minds of others? He has spiritual feelings in him. That will give him all the necessary strength and courage and ultimately confer success. Vyasa declared, “Paropakara punyaya papaya arapeedanam (helping others is meritorious, harming others is sinful).” So, Help ever, Hurt never. This is what I want you to do. Delhi is the stomach of Bharat. If the stomach is good, the whole body will be good. Likewise, if Delhi is good, the whole country will prosper. So, see to it that there is peace and harmony in Delhi. The people of Delhi should stand united. If you have unity, there is nothing that you cannot achieve in this world.”
That evening, Bhagavan witnessed a cultural programme in the auditorium of the International Centre. Preceding this, Sri Krishna Kant, Vice President of India and Sri Murali Manohar Joshi, Minister, Human Resource Development, spoke.
Bhagavan then addressed the gathering. He said:
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| Murali Manohar Joshi, Minister for HRD (left), L.K.Advani, Deputy Prime Minister, and Atal Bihari Vajpayee (right), Prime Minister of India, with Sri Sathya Sai at the Sathya Sai International Center in New Delhi |
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| Vice President of India - Sri Krishan Kant; Union HRD Minister - Dr Murali Manohar Joshi with Sri Sathya Sai at the International Center Auditorium |
“There are many poor people in Delhi who cannot afford medical care. There are many more who are unable to send their children to school owing to financial constraints. Establish hospitals and schools, which will render free service to the poor. A third person need not tell you these noble ideas. You should take the initiative on your own. I never instructed Kulwant Rai to construct this building. It was his own idea that took this shape. Such noble ideas originate due to the merits done in past lives. There may be many people who feel jealous of him. It is his good luck to have built this building and it is their misfortune to feel jealous about it. Everyone must undertake work. Consider every good work as God's work. Truly speaking, Kulwant Rai has done a great service to the Organization by getting this beautiful building constructed. He has done this not for his benefit, but for the service of others. Every rich man should develop the spirit of sacrifice.
It is a mistake to think that Bharat is a poor country. It is the very abode of Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth. In the olden days, in Punjab, there were houses made of silver. The foreign invaders plundered those houses and took away all the silver on camels. They looted all the gold from Somnath temple. If Bharat were a poor country, it would not have suffered such foreign invasions in the past. There is no dearth of wealth in Bharat. It is unfortunate that some people call Bharat a poor country. Bharat is the land of plenty and prosperity. Bharatiyas are not poor; they are very rich.
Who is the richest man in the world? He who has much satisfaction. Who is the poorest man in the world? The one who has too many. The one imbued with the spirit of sacrifice is the richest man. If you have, ten rupees in your pocket, give at least one rupee to the needy. However the beggars are not satisfied with one rupee because they cannot buy even a small piece of bread with it these days.
Our ancients used to attach more value to their word than to money. It is your good fortune that you are born in such a sacred land of Bharat. You should uphold and propagate dharma to the rest of the world, befitting your nationality. It gives me great joy to find anyone practicing and propagating dharma. Believe it or not, there is not an iota of selfishness in Me from top to toe. Whatever I do is only for the welfare of others. Be good, see good and do good. That is true human quality.”
Bhagavan visited Sri Sathya Sai Vidya Vihar, a school for girls, and enjoyed a cultural programme presented by them.
Shortly before emplaning for Mumbai, Bhagavan addressed a mammoth gathering at Nehru stadium. He observed:
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| Sri Sathya Sai Vidya Vihar, Kalkaji, New Delhi |
“The Prime Minister, Ministers, Chief Justice of India, and other high officers assembled in the capital, Delhi. All of them mentioned that we underwent tremendous sufferings and hardships, and lost many lives to achieve independence. But we have not achieved unity in this country. What is the use of achieving independence without unity? We find that murders, kidnappings, hijacks have increased after attaining independence. Is this the type of independence we wanted? No. Independence is meant to confer peace, and it should develop the culture of the nation. We should not be dependent on others. We should be independent in every way.
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| Sri Sathya Sai Darshan at Nehru Stadium |
There are many rich people in this country. There are many intellectuals. We have also men of valor. All are here. But what is the use? There is hatred between person and person. There is hatred and enmity between people of the same profession. It is a very bad quality. All are one; be alike to everyone. You have to love everybody.”
Bhagavan left for Mumbai on 14th afternoon.
nice and thought provoking speech
ReplyDeleteOM SAI RAM:)
ReplyDeleteSai Baba has always believed that education is an effective tool for transformation.
ReplyDeletemadhusudan naidu
madhusudan naidu muddenahalli