The Sai Ramesh Krishan Hall was decorated beautifully with buntings and festoons. Paintings of Hanuman and Garuda adorned the stage. The electronic message display placed on the top of the stage was scrolling messages wishing the devotees the best wishes on the holy occasion.

The lawns outside Bhagawan's residence, Trayee Brindavan, too was decorated aesthetically. There was a small hut depicting Lord Rama, Mother Sita and Lakshmana in front of their hut in the forest.

Bhagawan came for granting darshan to the waiting devotees at 7.08 a.m. Nadaswaram and bhajans continued in the background. Swami entered Sai Ramesh Krishan Hall along the path on the ladies side. Bhagawan autographed a book brought by one of the devotees'. Swami then came towards students and blessed birthday boys.

After that Bhagawan went up to the stage in the lift. Enjoying the melodious bhajans, Bhagawan sat in His chair at 7:14 a.m. Bhagawan spoke to the warden of the Sri Sathya Sai Hostel, Brindavan Campus, Sri B. N. Narasimha Murthy, and indicated for the Vedam to begin. After the invocatory chants, Bhagawan blessed the students who had chanted the Vedic mantrams.

After having taken Bhagawan's blessings, Sri Narasimha Murthy took to the podium to introduce the two speakers who had been blessed by Bhagawan to speak to the audience before the Divine Discourse.

The two speakers were Sri K. Arun, and Sri Sriram Parashuram.

Sri K. Arun is a civil engineer from the IIT Kharagpur. Following this, he joined the MBA program offered by the Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning. After the completion of his academic career, Bhagawan blessed Sri Arun to work with the Radio Sai Global Harmony.

Sri Arun, in his talk brought forth several parallels between Bhagawan and Lord Rama. In this context, he recounted a few incidents relating to Bhagawan's life. He narrated the incident where Bhagawan was stopped from circumambulating the Hanuman temple with His childhood companions by Hanuman himself.

The speaker narrated another incident wherein Bhagawan gave darshan to the Raja of Venkatagiri in the form of Lord Rama, who was the King's Ishtadevata. He also spoke of a lady singer by name, Smt. Nagaratnamal, who worshipped the singer saint Tyagaraja. Sri Tyagaraja appeared to her in a dream and told her that his Ishtadevata, Lord Rama, had come to Venkatagiri and advised her to have His darshan. When Smt. Nagaratnamal came to Venkatagiri, Bhagawan materialized for her the idols of Lord Rama, Mother Sita, Lakshmana and Hanuman. He also granted her desire that Bhagawan would appear to her before her death.

The speaker also narrated the incident from the life of Mother Easwaramma wherein Bhagawan appeared to her as Lord Rama with the bow and arrow and dressed royally with the crown when she was unwell.

After recounting these incidents Sri Arun explained the reason which, according to him, was the cause for Bhagawan being worshiped as Lord Rama by His devotees. He said that Sage Vashishta defined the word Rama as 'Ramyate Iti Ramaha' or who confers Ananda is Rama. Bhagawan confers bliss and joy to all His devotees and this is one of the reasons why we worship Him as Lord Rama.

The speaker ended by quoting Bhagawan and explained that, the true Rama Navami, the Birthday of Lord Rama, was on that day when bliss is born in the hearts of the devotees.

The next speaker was Sri Sriram Parashuram, a former student of the Sri Sathya Sai Primary School in Ooty and Prasanthi Nilayam. Following his schooling, Sri Sriram joined the Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning for his Bachelors and Masters degree in Chemistry. After the completion of his education, Bhagawan blessed Sri Sriram to pursue a course in Masters in Public Health in the USA, which he passed with the first rank.

The speaker started with quoting Bhagawan's poem in Telugu and gave an analogy. He compared the hearts of the devotees with different types of lands and the seeds that fall on these lands with Bhagawan's touch. He said that though the Lord touches the lives of many, history remembers only a few of them. The speaker gave the examples of Shabari and Hanuman.

The speaker narrated an incident where Bhagawan blessed a deer that was about to pass away by feeding it with apples in the last moments. Bhagawan had told the devotees who had witnessed the instance of His all encompassing love that "both the four legged deer and the two legged "dear" are dear to me."

Sri Sriram also narrated another incident that happened in Kodaikanal where, when Bhagawan asked those present as to would who buy Him. A lady devotee agreed to buy Bhagawan in exchange for her heart. At this Bhagawan rose and went to her and while blessing her told her that, as she had offered her heart to Him, He already belonged to her.

In conclusion the speaker narrated the story of how a life guard saved the life of a drowning boy and asked him to ensure that the life was worth saving. In the same way, the speaker said, our lives had been saved by our life's guard, Bhagawan, and it is up to us to make our lives worth being saved.

The speakers were followed by Bhagawan's Divine Discourse which began at 7: 54 a.m. Bhagawan concluded His discourse at 8:44 a.m. with the bhajan 'Rama Rama Rama Sita'.

sourced: http://www.srisathyasai.org.in/pages/ramanavami-2003.htm

Morning Programme

The Sai Ramesh Krishan Hall and the entire Brindavan campus was decorated in gay colours by the devotees from Kerala who had gathered in thousands to celebrate their New Year Vishu.

Bhagawan was greeted at 6:53 a.m. by Nadaswaram and Panchavadyam music and bhajans by the devotees from Kerala. Bhagawan went around collecting letters from the devotees. He also collected letters from the Sai Youth of Kerala State who were sitting in the front blocks for the occasion. Bhagawan sat in His chair at 7:13 a.m.

Bhagawan indicated for the bhajans to be stopped and called for the Vedam to be chanted. The invocatory chants were by small boys from Kerala. The first speaker was Sri Mukundan, the State president of the Sathya Sai Organizations, Kerala State. The speaker spoke of the infinite love of Bhagawan. He also gave examples of several instances describing the love of Bhagawan. He prayed to Bhagawan to bless all the devotees with the strength and enthusiasm to carry out service activities.

Sri Mukundan also introduced the next speaker, Justice Gupta, a judge in the Kerala High Court. Sri Gupta narrated his experiences with Bhagawan and how He had blessed him and his family. The speaker also spoke about the interviews that Bhagawan granted him and his family when they came to Bhagawan. He then spoke about the appalling condition of the country with its high poverty rate. The speaker encouraged the youth, who are the future leaders of the country, to strive for the development of the country. He advised those present to practise values in their daily lives. Bhagawan blessed the speaker by materializing a ring for him.

Bhagawan then delivered His Vishu message. He concluded His discourse with the bhajans, Prema Muditha Manase Kaho, Govinda Krishna Jai and Om Shivaya. After the bhajans, Bhagawan received Arathi and blessed the prasadam, which was distributed to all devotees.

After a while, Bhagawan came to Sai Krishan Kalyan Mantapam, where a feast was arranged for all devotees from Kerala and Tamil Nadu. He blessed the Prasadam, received Arathi and retired to the Trayee Brindavan.

sourced: http://www.srisathyasai.org.in/pages/Vishu.htm