Sri Gurubhyo Namaha! Sri Maatre Namaha!
Wishing everyone a very happy, healthy and progressive New Year 2022! With our Gurunathas blessings and all of your support and best wishes, we had a very active and a blessed 2021. As we look back, the whole world welcomed 2021 with a lot of trepidation and uncertainty as the Pandemic was still looming. For a lot of us, the Sankalpam for the Laksha Chandi was the antidote that gave us hope and a sense of purpose. Chandi gave us courage, self confidence and peace to deal with difficult times.
We started the year with the Laksha Chandi Yagna Homams at Bangalore and during the auspicious Maagha Gupt Navaratri at Chennai in our Ashram. Thanks to enthusiastic participation of Devi Upasakas around the world, by the beginning of March, we had completed 50,000 parayanams towards the Laksha Chandi Homa Sankalpam. With the blessings of our Guru Mandala and the boundless grace of Sri Chandi Mahalakshmi, for the first time ever, BPA disciples performed 26 hours of continuous (Akhanda) chanting of Adhyaaya Devata Sahita Devi Mahatmyam during this year’s Maha Shivaratri.
In March, we also did Laksha Chandi Yagna Yātrā to Varanasi for performing Chandi homam in the place where our Sri Gurus have lived or did their Atma Sadhana. We were immensely blessed to do the Devi Mahatmyam parayanam on the Bhoumaswini day right inside the sanctum sanctorum of Sri Chakralingeswara consecrated by Bhaskararāya.
In April, during the Vasanta Navaratri, we conducted the second Akhanda Navaratri Mahotsavam – ten days and ten nights of continuous prayer to Devi and logging close to 5,000 Devi Mahatmya parayanams during this time. All BPA disciples across the world joined together to complete this Akhanda parayanam without a slightest glitch.
In July, for the Āshādha Navaratri 2021, Maha Vārāhi was celebrated and after completing 465 Chandi Homams in various locations in India for Laksha Chandi Sankalpam, we travelled to Canada to continue performing the Homams for the Laksha Chandi. With apāra karuna of Guru mandalams and Sri Chandika Mahalakshmi, we were able to complete 117 Chandi Homams by the end of August, just in Toronto -- a Sahasrachandi in itself!
Our Canada, East Coast, Midwest, Florida and West coast USA disciples did an exemplary job hosting the Devi Mahatmyam parayanams and the Laksha Chandi Homams since then. With everyone’s support, we have now completed 792 Chandi Homams towards Laksha Chandi sankalpam. In all the pujas and homams, we could see the participation of our disciples chanting the Devi Mahatmyam with great faith and devotion. We feel the presence of Devi and Her guiding hand in everything that takes place.
On Nov 15th 2021 at 4.28PM PST - in a mere 450 days- we completed 100,000 parayanams, in what seemed initially as an utterly impossible and an incredibly futile target to pursue. It is serendipitous that on the Uttana Ekadashi day when Lord Vishnu would wake up from his yoga Nidra, the completion of the 1 lakh parayanams took place! This collective effort, dedication and the shraddha of our disciples and other Mandalis, have helped us complete the laksha parayanams. Each one of you with your parayanam contributions have enabled us all to work towards Loka Kalyana.
Soon after we completed the 100,000 parayanams, it was a pure serendipity that we could perform Chandi homam with Ashthothra Suvasini Pooja at the VVGC Temple in San Martin, CA which also has a Goshala. Just as we were getting ready, a calf was born!
While Laksha Chandi related activities were in full swing, we sincerely believe in teaching for the sincere seekers and we continued our Vedic Curriculum and started Kids Curriculum classes this year. We completed teaching the Taittiriya Upanishad followed by stotrams like Guru and Tripura Sundari Prātah samaranam, Dakshinamurthy stotram, Devi Vaibhava Ascharya Ashtottram, Lalitha Sahasranamam & Trisati. We also focussed our efforts on teaching Sri Rudram and materials from the BPA curriculum for those who have gotten the deeksha from our Guru Parampara. Inspired by the global community’s response to our Devi Mahatmyam 2020 classes and with our desire for learning to continue so we can reach more students across the world, in Gurukula style, at their own pace, we released the Bhaskara Prakasha Ashram Mobile App. It is so heartening to hear from so many how this App is making the learning so much easier.
Beginning January 2022, we will be teaching through our YouTube channel and Facebook page, Adi Shankaracharya’s Soundaryalahari set to melodious raagas and a few more important stotras on Devi as given in the Tantras. Please subscribe to our You Tube channel and join our Telegram channel receive notification when the classes are scheduled.
This year has been a one-of-a-kind journey filled with uncertainties for all of us. When we started teaching the Devi Mahatmyam online early 2020, we honestly had no inkling of the events that were to unfold! With thousands of students learning, hundreds of the Ashram Volunteers stepped up enthusiastically to mentor these eager students. Later when we took the Sankalpam for Laksha Chandi, we were intimidated by the enormity of what we had undertaken, especially because there was no precedent of a similar endeavor to instill hope in our hearts, at least in recent history. The infinite mercy and grace of Our Guru mandalam and Chandi Mahalakshmi have been with us every step of the way. They took the responsibility for us. As we welcome the new year, we pray for the continued mercy and blessings and the well being of the entire world.
May the New Year be filled with joy and contentment. May the blessings of Sri Guru and Devi be on us every moment. May the vibrant power of mantras protect and inspire us. May our minds lead us to tread on the Dharmic path!
सर्वे जना: सुखिनो भवन्तु।