By Anil Bedasie
It has been referred to as the “Event of 2018” and promises to be a truly enlightening experience. On Friday August 24th the first of three sessions honoring the Mother of All Creations MahaDevi Saraswati will be held. The Event continues on Saturday August 25th and the final session will be held on Sunday August 26th 2018.
According to Sanatana Dharma, devotees adore Divinity either as a Father or a Mother. Of the one billion plus followers of Sanatana Dharma in the world today, only a small percentage adore the Divine Mother as a female called Prakriti (nature). The Devi Bhagavata Purana describes this Mother as three main aspects or Maha Devis namely Maha Saraswati (creation), Maha Lakshmi (sustenance) and Maha Durga (destruction) as the Eternal Infinite Consciousness manifested in various forms.
This Event will focus exclusively on MahaDevi Saraswati through puja, bhajans and katha. Since She is the Mother who is responsible for blessing her devotees with increased knowledge which leads to wisdom and the ability to be skilled in music, science and arts, the yajna will showcase these two specific areas. The organizers consist of two teams. Firstly, we have the officiating pandits namely Pandit Vyaas Sukul, Pandit Ganeshwar Ramsahai and Pandit Satish Deo. These talented spiritual leaders of the community will present some enlightening discourses that will surely give the attendees some “food for thought” hence the importance for devotees to be there in person at the mandir.
The second team referred to as the “Sangeet Team” will be presenting some new compositions (bhajans) adoring MahaDevi Saraswati. The lyrics of these songs describe her many names, her importance to devotees, her appearance in this world, her ability to bless devotees with boons (wishes) and the meaning of Her name comprising of the Sanskrit words “saras” and “wati”. The Sayroo brothers namely Anand, Ashwin and Ashoka along with a very talented lyricist and singer herself Rajpattie Shivkaran have skillfully added the “raga” or melody for each new composition which promises to be truly inspirational to the listening audience and will transform the devotees’ feelings of bhakti towards Brahmalok where MahaDevi Saraswati resides. Anand Sayroo said that “the language of music is universal and MahaDevi Saraswati is the source of all Indian classical music as written in the Sama Veda.” For him and other talented musicians, this event is a humble tribute to Her.
Pandit Satish Deo, a Sanskrit scholar himself has translated a very sacred shloka called the “Saraswati Suktam” from the Vedas which will be chanted as per Vedic requirements in each session of the yajna. He said, “this Suktam and the Medha Suktam also dedicated to MahaDevi Saraswati provide tremendous blessings to the devotee if chanted with faith and devotion.”
The goal of this event is to highlight the importance of MahaDevi Saraswati in the lives of devotees. Since there are many aspects of Divinity and adoration of each deity leads to the same destination, there is no question as to one deity being greater than the other. In terms of their roles and blessings towards mankind, MahaDevi Saraswati plays an important part in the Vedic Pantheon for She is the source of all inspirations, thoughts and speech as Vak Devi (another name for Her).
Also, as a new school year approaches in September 2018, students will offer prayers to MahaDevi Saraswati for her blessings and guidance in their continued education. They will have a greater understanding of this Divine Mother by attending the yajna where they can learn more about the Goddess of Knowledge and Wisdom. The organizers would like to recommend that devotees bring their children and grandchildren to the Prem Bhakti Mandir to listen to the glories of MahaDevi Saraswati.
Pandit Ganeshwar Ramsahai commented that this event is unique since the attendees will receive prashadam which is more than something you eat. This special prashadam is comprised of the secret wisdom as mentioned in the Saraswati Upanishad so devotees should make a special effort to attend the yajna.
Pandit Vyaas Sukul, one of the officiating pandits of the Prem Bhakti Mandir, opined that knowledge is key to survival in this world and that technology is advancing at a fast pace so MahaDevi Saraswati’s blessings is important to keep up with all the changes happening around us. This will be expanded in greater detail within the discourses by the spiritual team members.
In conclusion, the organizers have worked very hard in researching the material from the various shastras (scriptures) about this great Divine Mother and would like to share this knowledge with the community so they are asking for devotees to come out in large numbers and spend just three hours at the beautiful Prem Bhakti Mandir located at 92-47 172 Street in Jamaica, NY 11433 on the 24th, 25th and 26th of August 2018. The program will start promptly at 7 P.M. so do plan your day accordingly. For more information, please call 718-468-0208 or email Anil Bedasie at [email protected]
