February 6, 2021 was a memorable day for the students of Sri Sathya Sai Loka Seva Gurukulam.  Their beloved Lord, Sadguru Sri Madhusudan Sai visited their hostel on this day. The students had enthusiastically spruced up the entire hostel to prepare for the visit of their Swami.

Swami reached the hostel at 10 am. He was welcomed with Poornakumbham (a sacred pot filled with holy water) and a procession of students chanting the vedas. Sadguru walked in to the prayer hall which was reverberating with melodious bhajans sung by the students. The welcome address was delivered by Bro. Manmith S.M. from the tenth grade.  This was followed by Vedic invocation and Guru Ashtakam composed by Sri Adi Sankaracharya chanted by the students.

The principal of the institution, Sri Balraju R addressed the gathering. He spoke of how fortunate he was to be in Sadguru’s presence. He also expressed immense gratitude to Sadguru for saving his daughter from a major accident.

After his talk, the music group took over the stage. They presented soul stirring songs starting with Bharatha Desa Hitaya composed by Swami Dayananda Saraswathi that celebrates seva (service) to the country and its fellowmen. The next song, Manava Seva Madhava Seva was all about seva (service) and prema (love). With yet another song dedicated to beloved Sadguru, Deva Bandhanamma, the students expressed their joy and fortune of being with Him.

Bro. Pranav Kashyap spoke about his learnings after becoming an intern at the institution. Bro. Darshan Gowda from the tenth grade spoke about his journey with Sadguru and how he was a beneficiary of the Lord’s compassion. Bro. Yuvraj Verma from grade six spoke about his experience with Sadguru and shared how indebted he was to be a proud beneficiary of Sri Sathya Sai Sanjeevani Hospital, Palwal.

Following the students’ speeches, Sri B N Narasimha Murthy, Chancellor of Sri Sathya Sai University for Human Excellence, took to the stage and spoke about how Sadguru is leading everyone to adhyatmika swatantra (freedom from distress of the body and the mind). He drew the students’ attention to the current plight of India where the number of malnourished children is exceptionally high and emphasised to the students that they must realise their duty towards serving their motherland.

Sadguru began His divine discourse with the story of King Ranthideva of Mahabharata who prayed for strength to remove the sufferings of all. Sadguru said that this is the kind of selfless prayer that must be on everyone’s lips. He said that kuru seva (service to country and fellowmen) is very important.

Sadguru then delighted all the students by visiting their rooms. He partook lunch with the guests, staff and students, distributed ice-cream to all and returned to Prem Deep by 01:00 pm.