Hats off to the subscribers of Gujarat Samachar and Asian Voice who made the Bhajan Tarpan programme – organised by Asian Business Publications Ltd at Bhartiya Vidya Bhavan on September 28th – a huge success. The Bhavan hall packed to capacity on a working day (Wednesday) for a unique yet important Pitru-Tarpan programme spoke volumes about the values of the readers of the newsweeklies who came out in large numbers taking time out of their busy schedule.
It was unique because it happened in London, a city consumed by materialism, and that too in 2016 when people arguably don’t have time for such events or many even look down upon such programmes in 21st century. It’s a tribute to the vision of AV/GS for organising such a unique programme. The good intention was consummately complemented by Dr M N Nandakumara and his team at the Bhavan and especially by well-known singer Maya Deepak. Needless to say, the Bhajan Tarpan programme was absolutely one of a kind.
Pitru-Matru Tarpan ritual provides an opportunity to repay debt to our ancestors.
6 pm was the assigned time to assemble at the Bhavan. People trickled into the Bhavan reception little by little. By 6.30 pm it was jam-packed. They were soon served dinner on a staggered schedule to avoid overcrowding in the dining area. A well-arranged dining hall coupled with a delicious vegetarian dish, just made their day.
The programme began at 7.30 pm sharp. Kokilaben Patel, Mangaging Editor, Gujarat Samachar, welcomed the gathering and effortlessly moderated the programme throughout in her inimitable characteristic style.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr M N Nandakumara, Executive Director, Bhartiya Vidya Bhavan, said the greatest wealth of all wealth one can think of possessing is the wealth of culture, wealth of art, and wealth of wisdom because no thief can ever steal that from you. No government can claim tax on it. No brother will come and claim right over it (referring to share in ancestral property). This wisdom is never a burden. More importantly, this wealth keeps on increasing the more you spend, the more you give. The more you teach, the more you gain. The more you teach, the more experienced you become. Your teaching becomes more meaningful. That’s why “vidya dhanam sarva dhanam”. So the wealth of knowledge is the greatest wealth, he added.
Dr Nandakumara recited the relevant Sanskrit shloka to substantiate it.
न चोर हार्यं न च राज हार्यं न भात्रू भाज्यं न च भारकारि
व्ययं कृते वर्धत एव नित्यं विद्याधनं सर्वधनप्रधानम
Na chora haaryam, na cha raja haaryam, na bhaatr bhaajyam, na bharakaari
Vyayam krute vardhat evam nityam vidhyadhanam sarvadhana pradhanam (Cannot be snatched away by thief, cannot be snatched away by king, cannot be divided among brothers, not heavy either.
If spent daily, it always keeps growing. The wealth of knowledge is the most precious wealth of all.)
Throwing light on the significance of Shraddh, Dr Nandakumara said: “If we are grateful, we progress. If we are ungrateful, we go down.”
Shraddh Paksha is that time when “we express our gratitude to our parents who are no more, to all the people who have made our life richer through their contributions, through their blessings, they need not be your parents, maybe somebody working in your house, a teacher who has taught you at school, a friend who has opened your eyes, even an animal which has taken care of you, our Vedas say we must be grateful to everything in this world because we have taken something or the other from them. Especially the gratitude to our parents – we will never be able to repay the debt we owe our parents, the only way we can feel better or less guilty is by remembering them whenever we can. We should remember them every day, if we can’t, at least think of them during Shraddh Paksha”.
Elaborating further Dr Nandakumara said: “When we think of our father or mother who are no more on this earth, we literally cry. We remember all the blessings we have received from them. This debt we will not be able to repay, the only way we can feel better is as long as we are alive, think of them every year during Mahalaya Paksha 15 days from Pratipada until Mahalaya Amavasya. We say a prayer – This is for my father who gave birth to me, brought me to this world whose blesssings I can never repay. This is for my Guru who opened my eyes to be able to see the things the way they are. This is for my dear friend who passed away but someone who made me feel or realise that even I can achieve something. People remember in different ways the departed ones seeking the blessings of their ‘atma’ because it is said in our Shastras that during this particular time all the Pitru Devatas are waiting for us to say ‘Namaste’ or to say ‘Oh Pitru Devatas we are grateful to you,’ ‘Oh Pitru Devatas please come and receive our offerings’.”
Citing a story from Mahabharata, Dr Nandakumara says Pitru-Tarpan helps them go from Pitruloka to Swargaloka. All pitrus are waiting for the children to offer Tarpan, remember them with gratitude, so that they can go to the higher world.
Dr Nandakumara says: “There are certain aspects in our religion and rituals, which we cannot understand unless we are totally dedicated and devoted. These are not within the sphere of scientific experiments because this is connected with our faith.
“We have three types of debts that we need to pay once we come to this world. One is called the ‘Dev Rina’ which is by offering our prayers to the Gods through ‘Yagna’ by respecting all the natural phenomena; next one is called the ‘Rishi Rina’ – our indebtedness to our Rishis. Rishis are great scholars who have given us the scriptures, the very essence of wisdom by reading which we have enriched our lives. How do we pay back to these sages? By becoming more and more educated, wisdom-oriented, by teaching others what we have learned. When you learn and teach others what we have learned, that’s when we repay our debt to our ‘Rishis’ or pay our ‘Guru Rina’.
“The final one is called ‘Pitru Rina’ – parents who have given birth to us. How do we pay the debt? By family tradition of progeny, by performing the final rites of our parents when they depart from this world and performing Shraddh on a regular basis. And doing ‘Ishtakamya’ – karma which is performed according to Vedic traditions is called ‘Ishti’. ‘Isthi’ means Yagna.
“Another karma is called ‘Sarvayne’. How do we do that? Many people dig wells so that travellers can quench their thirst by drinking water from them. Many people build hostels, hospitals and roads, many people grow trees so that they are helpful to others. Through these they remember their parents. In the name of my father I want to do this, in the name of my brother I want to do this, in the name of my mother I want to do this. Like this if we are able to remember our parents and engage in some kind of ‘daan’, giving away something not for ourselves but to someone who is not related to us, for some cause which we know very well is going to serve the community, that’s when we make our deceased parents and departed souls happy. We should pray for our parents, friends, Gurus, people who have worked with us, all those from whom we have received some thing or the other. This is the meaning in a nutshell of Mahalaya. This is the greatest way of offering our prayers to our parents or the departed souls.”
Dr Nandakumara said: “Nandi is the word for the prayer – a prayer to the departed ones seeking their blessings to be able to represent the family traditions to which we all belong.”
Dr Nandakumara concluded his speech by reciting the following shloka that offers prayers to the departed souls.
एको विष्णुः महद्-भूतम् पृथक् भूतान्यनेकशः /
त्रीन् लोकान् व्याप्य भूतात्मा भुङ्क्ते विश्वभुगव्ययः //
Earlier speaking about the Bhavan, Dr Nandakumara said the institute’s name is Vidya Bhavan. Vidya does not mean – only wisdom. Vidya means culture, Vidya means spirituality.
He said a place like Bhavan is very special for people who are interested in India’s art, culture and spiritual heritage. “Even before we started in 1972, Shri CB Patel and Gujarat Samachar have been associated with the Bhavan. I only came here in 1977. Since then I have known CB and have received enormous support from him. Bhavan under one roof teaches 23 different subjects – music, dance, drama, yoga, languages, etc. We have teachers specially invited from India.
“All of us should make use of this place so that we are always in contact with our art and culture. We will be really rich when we will be able to give potion of our art and culture to our children. Any other wealth is no wealth.”
Earlier Parvati Nair from the Bhavan offered prayers, while Dr Nandakumara, Harrow Mayor Rekhaben Shah, Kamal Rao’s mother Sarlaben Brahmbhatt and Mr Kanti Nagda lit the traditional lamp to inaugurate the programme.
Mayaben's Magic
The star attraction of the evening was renowned singer Mayaben Deepak who created a musical mood with her warm and pleasant presence and soulfully rendered prayers, bhajans and patriotic songs on the occasion. She started off with a bhajan from the the film ‘Seema’ – Manna Dey’s classic ‘Tu Pyar ka Saagar Hai…..’ and ended with the ultimate patriotic number – ‘Ae mere vatan ke logon…'. This classic by C Ramachandra, Pandit Pradeep and Lata Mangeshkar had brought tears in the eyes of Pandit Nehru. Mayaben too enthralled the audience with her rendition, in between she sang a couple of Gujarati numbers as well, much to the delight of the audience, majority of who were Gujaratis. All in all Mayaben’s songs were music to ears. Needless to say, she charmed the audience with her mellifluous voice.
Acknowledging the presence of everyone on the stage and in the audience and thanking them for gracing the occasion, CB Patel touched upon the importance of culture and values in human society. He said the humankind is resting on two core pillars – culture and values. They define who we are – both individually and as an organisation – and direct our activites every day.
Singing praises of Dr Nandakumara, CB said Nandaji is doing an excellent service to India by running the Bhartiya Vidya Bhavan so efficiently. In real sense he and the 900-odd young students learning at the Bhavan about India’s culture and heritage are the real ambassadors of India.
CB called upon everyone to remember their departed parents and pray for them.
Before signing off, CB also called on stage his team members from Gujarat Samachar and Asian Voice and introduced them to the audience.
Harrow Mayor Rekhaben Shah also spoke on the occasion. Thanking ‘the omnipresent’ CB Patel and the ABPL group for inviting her, she said it’s been an honour for her to be present on the occasion. In a lighter vein, she said ‘the ubiquitous’ CB is present everywhere – any function here or there, CB is present. “My daughter’s wedding was in Ahmedabad in India. Much to everyone’s surprise and delight, CB was there also. He did not even have the address, but with the help of Mayaben Deepak, he made it to the auspicious occasion and blessed the new couple.”
Mayaben Deepak thanked CB for giving her troupe the opportunity to perform on the occasion. She was accompanied by Naushad on tabla,Anant Patelon keyboardand Sonu on the drum.
Mayaben’s son Kunjanalso made his presence felt by rendering a couple of old Kishore Kumar numbers on the occasion.
Kamal Rao, News Editor, Gujarat Samachar, delivered the vote of thanks. For a change, Kamal Rao’s vote of thanks was unsually informal, yet effective and interesting.
Bhavan programme committee and drama committee chairman Surendrabhai Patel also spoke on the occasion.
Last but not the least, Bhanubhai Pandya’s jokes are always a laughing matter. He too entertained the audience with his characteristic wit and humour. At the same time, he was of great help in arranging and organising things behind the scenes along with Kamal Rao.
The programme got over at 10 pm. It was a huge success, the credit for which goes to the thousands of subscribers of Gujarat Samachar and Asian Voice. Thank you to all of them.
