Surat Celebrates The Golden Jubilee Year of Gujarat (Swarnim Gujarat) With A Swarnim Bhagavat Katha
A divine Shrimad Bhagavat Katha by Pujya Bhaishri was organised in Surat from 24th April to 1st May 2011. The katha was organised for three main purposes: firstly, to celebrate the golden jubilee year of Gujarat, known as, Swarnim Gujarat Celebrations; secondly for gau seva (service for cows) and thirdly, to construct a school in Devka. The co-ordinator of this katha, Shri D. H. Goyanji and his team worked extremely hard to provide seamless arrangements for this katha.
On the first day, a Shobha Yatra of the Pothiji left from the house of the chief host of the katha, Shri Navada family, through the streets of Surat amidst Hari naam sankirtan. The Pothiji was welcomed with great joy by all whilst traversing the streets of Surat. On arrival at the katha mandap, the Pothiji was welcomed with traditional rituals and Pujya Bhaishri performed pooja of Shri Lakshminarayan. This was followed by deepa pragatya and inaugural speeches.
Pujya Bhaishri then enlightened the devotees by narrating the divine Shrimad Bhagavat katha. The people present were enthralled in a devotional trance on hearing Pujya Bhaishri chant Shrimad Bhagavat slokas melodiously.
In context of the ongoing Swarnim Gujarat celebrations, Pujya Bhaishri remembered the rajpurusho, santpurusho and bhavpurusho, that is, the great people who have enriched the social, public and devotional lives of the residents of Gujarat.
While narrating the katha Pujya Bhaishri said, “Katha awakens people. It explains the truth and purpose of life. An individual cannot become a Yogi until he makes him/her self upayogi (meaning, useful). Through this satsang, let us all try and look within and understand ourselves and review where we are heading with our lives. The success of our lives and the meaningfulness lies in understanding the purpose of our lives and our roles within.”
Events like Shri Krishna janma, Shri Goverdhan pooja and Shri Rukmini vivah were celebrated with great joy and enthusiasm during the katha.
The katha was a great highlight for the people of Surat as a way of commemorating the Golden jubilee year of Gujarat.
