On 2nd January, Wednesday, we received the most amazing news of going for darshan to Haridham, Sokhda. Listening to this we were delighted from within and wanted to go there as soon as possible. Thanks a ton to Pujya Suhradswamiji and Vijay Sir that we got this unbelievable opportunity. On 3rd January, Thursday at 2:30 p.m. our buses departed from Atmiya Vidya Mandir to Haridham. This time around, the fortunate ones for the trip were the students of grades 10, 11 and 12 who got this wonderful opportunity of going to Haridham.
We reached Haridham by 6:00 p.m. and directly went to the Mandir and to GyanYagna Deri to have darshan of Thakorji. After having darshan of Thakorji we were taken to the dining hall where we were served with delicious prasad by an extremely devotional team of volunteers. After having Prasad, we got chance of meeting saints. Once everyone was gathered, we proceeded towards the Yogi Prarthana Hall. After we got arranged, we entered the hall and took our places as per guidance of our teachers. The divine hall was completely filled with silence as everyone awaited the darshan of Swamishree. As soon as Swamiji arrived He was welcomed by all with loud applause and cheers and smiles on the face of everyone present. Suhradswamiji then gave brief introduction of the attendees to Swamiji to which He responded back with His divine eyes filled with tears of joy. Prayer cards and garlands specially prepared by the students of SVM and AVM were offered to Swamiji to seek His blessings. The only motive of going to Haridham was to seek His blessings and to listen to His divine words of eternal wisdom. His words have great power and have always filled us with enthusiasm to work hard for our exams and to overcome any difficulties that we encounter in our lives.
On this occasion, we got to listen to the Principal of AVM, Vijay Sir and to SVM Principal, Borade Sir, about the alumni of our schools and on the topic of the kind of individuals Swamiji envisions us to be like. It is Swamiji’s vision for every child of AVM and SVM to leave the schools with some amazing qualities through which 50 people surrounding them would be positively influenced. Thereafter, Jagratbhai R Patel of Std 12 came on behalf of his batchmates to seek blessings from Swamiji so that we don’t forget the ethics and values taught here at AVM after we leave the school.
After that, the most awaiting golden moment came, that of listening to the divine words of Swamishree. He started His પરાવાણી by narrating the incident of Jawaharlal Nehru asking Rajendra Prasad (the first President of India), “તમારા જેવો સાચો માણસ હું ક્યારે થઈ શકીશ?” Swamiji then shared with us about the lives of Honourable Dr. Rajendra Prasad and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, the first Deputy Prime Minister of India. He revealed to us that Sardar Patel got angry only twice in his life and that too when someone spoke bad about the nation. Similarly, He instructed us not to get angry on our family members, friends and teachers. He gave amazing blessings that in 2 to 3 years, our schools will give such amazing individuals to the society, who will spread the fragrance of positivity and dasatva in thousands of villages and cities. Then He narrated the incident of a student who instantly cried upon being asked how many times he got angry on his mother during the year. The boy confessed that his mother regularly prayed to God for his success and happiness. He realised his mistake and said that he should not have got angry on his mother. Swamiji blessed us all by saying that these schools shall gift to the society such human beings who will live life with bhakti.
Then He talked about the incredible life of His Guru Param Pujya Yogiji Maharaj. Swamiji said that, “He suffered a lot” and repeated this sentence for at least four times to emphasise the sufferings and pain that His Guru had gone through. Swamiji said that it is our foremost duty to study sincerely and to pay off to the ઋણ of Yogiji Maharaj. He said that our life should be such that others are influenced by it. We should not have any dislike for anybody. He asked us to pray every day unto the lotus feet of Almighty to bless us with such understanding so that we become દાસ ના દાસ of everyone. He also asked us not to fail through our five senses in our life and asked us not to listen to any irrelevant or unwanted talks and to always accept the good from others. He said that, “યોગીજી મહારાજ અને શાસ્ત્રીજી મહારાજનું ઋણ ચૂકવાય એમ નથી, પણ ધીમે ધીમે આપણે એમનું ઋણ ચૂકવવું છે.” They humbly accepted all the circumstances they were in, whether good or bad. It is great blessings on us that we are born in such wonderful families and don’t have to worry about inconveniences of life. So, it increases our responsibility that we study with utmost focus and sincerity. Swamiji also said that, “જેની જેટલી sincerity, એનું એટલું result.” He repeatedly asked us not to ‘fail’ through our speech in any circumstances or phase of our life. At last, on behalf of all of us, He prayed unto the lotus feet of Bhagwan Swaminarayan that, ”અમારી સરળતા ક્યારેય ન જાય.” In conclusion, He said that, “તમને જોઈને ખુબ ખુબ આનંદ થયો.”
With this, He ended His પરાવાણી showering upon us His unconditional love and blessings. Then we got chance to personally meet Swamiji and do His darshan. Once everyone had His darshan, we came out and proceeded towards our buses. It was 11:00 p.m. that we departed from Haridham on our journey back to school.
This was an amazing experience which filled us with great joy and energy to work for our upcoming exams without undue pressure and burden of it. It was an extremely blissful day for all of us and will remain as an unforgettable memory for the rest of our lives.
Written by: Shreemad Patel, Prem Thakkar, Zeel Gajera (Class 11 Science)
