As the Divine Kodai trip at Araku Valley sailed into the second half of the week, the devotees basked in the Bliss filled up in the Bungalow. Bhagawan, the Divine Magnet, decided to direct the 4th Day with a special homam for Lord Rama and a couple of Divine music programmes.

 

The early morning session started sharp at 5:15AM with Aumkaram and Suprabhatham followed by Nagarasankeerthan around Swami's Bungalow. This was shortly followed by Sri Rama Nama Taraka Homam that emphasized to all devotees the importance of Rama Nama - the Name that would ferry us across the ocean of samsara. With breakfast after the homam, the early morning session was complete allowing everyone to enjoy the Divine Bliss that emanated from the Homam.

 

The morning session started after a short break with some beautiful Bhajans and an offering of heart-touching songs in Telugu, Hindi and English by a group of devotees. Swami also had a guest from Hyderabad speak about His association with the Lord and His moments with Him in Hyderabad. Then, Bhagawan went on to deliver His Divine Discourse. Bhagawan congratulated the devotees for having chanted Lord Rama's Namam for 1,08,000 times since each line of "Sri Rama Rama Ramethi.." was equivalent to 1000 times chanting of the sweet Name of Lord Rama. Swami reminded us of the beautiful incident of how Guha (the ferryman at Sarayu river) abstained from charging a fare for Lord Rama's family across the river by citing the reason that Lord Rama too had the same occupation of ferrying, but that Lord Rama ferried devotees across samsara sagara while the Guha ferried across the Sarayu river. Bhagawan shared the secret of how pure love and surrender for Him can tie Swami in a devotee's heart. He emphasized that the devotee would need to be steadfast at the Lord's Feet and would need to stick to unity of thought, word and deed. He ended His nectarine Discourse by reminding us that Kodai is like one's grandparents' house where the child is filled to brim with Love during its visit in the summer. The devotees indeed have been unable to contain the downpour of the Divine Love from Swami during these days at Kodai! Lunch followed completing the morning session.

 

The evening session was all set to treat the devotees with musical extravaganza. The session started with the loving experiences of a dental surgeon and a PHD professional with their Lord. The PHD professional shared how Swami assured him of his PHD completion when he had lost all hope and was fearing the worst after his external valuation. The music programme was commenced by a devoted group of two seasoned singers, a keyboard player, a tabla player and a flutist, who formed performed with immense devotion for the Lord. Lords Ganesha, Shiva, Rama, Krishna and Shirdi Baba were propitiated and their glories were sung taking the entire audience to Bliss. As the programme drew to a close, Swami went on to ask the flutist to offer a composition all by himself, which surprised and moved the flutist with eternal joy. The musical session was followed with a beautiful dinner session with the Lord in the open lawn. The buffet contained a rich variety of items. The evening session did not end here! Another musical treat was awaiting the devotees post dinner, at the lawns. The local tribe from the hills nearby dedicated bhajans for the Lord in their rustic but pure-hearted style accompanied by local instruments. The evening session drew to a close and the devotees realised they had just one more day with the Lord!

 

The Divine Days seemed to be flowing past swiftly and the devotees all seemed to pray that the Lord freeze these moments so that they can be with Him forever in those most blissful moments!