21 February 2005 (V.S. 2061; Maha sud 13) Monday, Atladra, Himmatnagar
At 9.20 am, Swamishri departed from Atladra and arrived in Himmatnagar at 12 noon. In the evening satsang assembly Swamishri was welcomed with a traditional dance by youths. In his blessings Swamishri explained the importance and objective of human birth.
24 February 2005 (V.S. 2061; Maha sud 15) Thursday, Himmatnagar, Poshina, Khed Brahma, Himmatnagar
Swamishri travelled to the tribal village of Poshina. Tribal devotees from distances as far away as 50 km had assembled for the satsang assembly. When Swamishri arrived he was welcomed by dancing tribal devotees. During the assembly Pujya Viveksagar Swami and Pujya Ishwarcharan Swami elaborated upon the work of Bhagwan Swaminarayan and the importance of satsang. Then a couple of tribal devotees spoke about the drastic moral transformations effected through satsang. A traditional tribal dance performance reflected their devotion and sentiments, ‘Aje aje sonaro suraj ugiyo re…’
Finally, Swamishri blessed the assembly of 8,000 tribal devotees, “Through satsang you have come to realise the dawning of a golden sun. God is like the golden sun and His devotees and sadhus are like the sun. When it dawns there is light within. Through the travellings of our sadhus in this region you have attained this path of satsang and the sun has become golden. Their discourses about God, morality, character and anti-addiction shed more and more light in our lives. Then when God and His Sadhu arrive one experiences light and peace through their darshan and spiritual association… God also belongs to the poor. The poor also offer their devotion and become redeemed. God is not pleased by wealth and power. To rob or harass another is not our goal. Our goal is to be happy and let others be happy…”
After the tribal assembly, everyone present was served with dinner.
Due to Swamishri’s blessings and the efforts of sadhus and volunteers, out of 147 tribal villages in the region 120 villages have regular satsang assemblies.
At 6.15 pm Swamishri visited the BAPS Swaminarayan Mandir in Khed Brahma. After a brief address Swamishri left and arrived in Himmatnagar at 7.45 pm.
27 February 2005 (V.S. 2061; Maha vad 3) Sunday, Himmatnagar, Kheralu, Mahesana
Swamishri travelled 75 km by car from Himmatnagar to Kheralu to fulfil the devotion of Virchandbhai Modi, a devotee. On arriving at the newly built BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, Swamishri performed the pratishtha rituals of pujan and arti of Shri Akshar Purushottam Maharaj, Radha Krishna Dev, Guru Parampara, Shri Sita Ram and Hanumanji and Shri Shiv-Parvati and Ganapatiji. After the addresses of Pujya Viveksagar and Pujya Ishwarcharan Swami, Swamishri blessed the assembly, “We are very happy to be here. The mandir is also beautifully constructed. It has been said that one who is intelligent does not worship God, but one who is ‘mad’ does. Virchandbhai has become ‘mad’. By ‘mad’ we mean having disinterest in the world. And that is why he serves in mandirs and travels with sadhus in the service of Satsang.”
After departing from Kheralu, Swamishri arrived in Mahesana at 11.45 am.
3 March 2005 (V.S. 2061, Maha vad 7) Thursday, Mahesana
Through the blessings of Swamishri, the visits of sadhus and volunteers had transformed the notorious Darbars of the village of Sunasar. This evening about 500 Darbars had come with their families to be initiated by Swamishri into Satsang. Swamishri addressed them, chanted the vartman mantra and finally showered flower petals on them.