“Question and Answers, and
The Significance of Good Friday and Easter”
April 8th, 2007
OM…OM…OM…
Sai Ram
With Pranams at the Lotus Feet of Bhagavan,
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
On the way here, someone asked me: “Mr. Kumar, why don't you give some time for questions before you commence your talk?” So, if you have any questions, you are quite free to ask (except Swami's date of departure for Kodaikanal)! (Laughter)
Q. Scientists at Cambridge University recently discovered and reported that the universe is expanding. There is a paradox here: human consciousness has great possibilities, and yet man’s heart is not expanding. Could you throw some light on this?
Yes, you say that scientists observe that the universe is expanding, and yet our daily experience is that the heart is not expanding. As Bhagavan said some time ago, “Expansion is life, contraction is death.”
We don't have expansion of love; we have only contracted love. It is very obvious that there is no broadmindedness, either in the family circle or in society. Instead, we are witnessing a contraction in broadmindedness and expansion of narrow-mindedness.
The first reason for this contraction is self-centeredness. Everybody would like to have things for his or her own sake, and to his or her advantage. It doesn’t matter what happens to the rest of the world, we think. We look out for our own interests first.
The second reason is self-glorification (in the usual sense of the word “self”; I am not referring to the spiritual Self). In self-glorification, we witness the thought that I know, I am superior to others, I don't have to learn, and I am everything.
The feeling that “I am extraordinary” is a disease. No one is extraordinary. Everyone is ordinary. With this feeling of ordinariness, you will reach the heights of extraordinariness—in feeling sympathy and understanding the other man's viewpoint. Yet, we don’t realise this.
Ignorance is the third reason for the contraction. In this entire universe, in a continent, in a country with so many districts, in a town, on the particular street where you live, who are you and who am I? Nobody. We don't realise this. But there is a feeling of identification. We think “I am that, I am this,” but we are wrong. This is ignorance.
You ask why we don’t recognise that the universe is expanding. It is because we don't understand that we are all one family. This family not only includes human society, but all animals, plants, rivers, lakes, and mountains. All the way up from the pebble, we belong to one family. We are all one organic entity, and this feeling of oneness is missing; therefore we are contracted.
To be universal in our outlook, we need to honour the other’s viewpoint and sentiments as much as our own, and to give them as much freedom as we want for ourselves. This is the hallmark of broadmindedness.
Therefore, my short answer to this question is that ignorance, self-glorification, a sense of false personality, and identification with name and form are all responsible for the contraction of the heart. To quote Bhagavan again: “Expansion is life, contraction is death.”
Any more questions? Please, yes, please come over here.
Q. What is our role? Do we have free will?
Whenever we have a session like this, I get this question. Either the questioner may have been absent earlier, or some of the listeners are new to the idea, but the question is as old as anything to me. Of course, we teachers don't mind repeating ourselves. The success of the career of a teacher depends upon his capacity to repeat himself. (Laughter) So I love to repeat myself! It doesn't matter.
What is free will and what is a divinely-ordained situation? What is the difference between the two? Free will is just psychological, and it relies on external circumstances. Mostly we see it based upon societal conditions like the social values, structure, and norms of the current situation and individual. For example, in a society that values money, the citizens’ free will most likely will be directed towards the process of amassing wealth.
But Divine will (or fate, or destiny) is spiritual. From the human point of view, free will is material, or physical, or psychological; while Divine will, the will of God, is spiritual.
Free will is changeable. At one time we are very eager to be in the first line for darshan. We fight for it, take it as a matter of prestige, and announce to everybody, “I got first line!” I have free will to have that desire. But later my ideas change and it no longer matters where I sit, because over a period of time, I have experienced that Swami notices me wherever I sit. With maturity, I have grown enough to conclude that it is far more important for Swami to see me, than me entertaining the thought of seeing Him. He always looks at me. Of course this idea must be firmly and deeply rooted so that we won't be psychologically upset when we cannot see Him in the way we like.
So, free will is changeable; it changes in the way that the individual’s mind changes. One time we want first line; the next time we’ll take any line. One time I decide to sit in the mandir, another time out in Puttaparthi. When we say you have free will, it means you can have every will! But God's will is unchangeable.
You may ask how I can say that. Many of us are here in spite of ourselves. Some really wanted to be here, and therefore they are here. Others never expected to be here, but they are here anyway. Still others have settled and are doing some work here. A few wanted to get out but could not. (Laughter)
That’s the real paradox. We are so anxious to get in—very sentimental, highly devoted, waiting for some seva or some work here. We get in and, after some time, we want to get out, but we cannot. So, those who want to get in cannot, and those who got in cannot get out! This is what we call Divine will. You cannot change God's will. It will happen as He decides.
We often hear Swami telling us, “I have been planning your trip to this place for a long time. I knew that you would come ten years ago.” That is the Divine plan. We also frequently come across people in the darshan line to whom Swami suddenly speaks. They are granted an interview and, after a couple of years, we find that they have landed a job in Prashanti Nilayam. That’s the Divine master plan. You cannot escape it.
Another difference is that the outcome of free will is determined according to your own preferences and convenience. What you like, you do; what you do not like, you do not do. But, whether you like it or not, you are obligated to do God’s will.
Take my own example: after retirement I wanted to leave, and Baba said, “Well, what are your plans?” I said, “I have retired.” Swami said, “So what?” (Laughter) Before I could even open my mouth He said, “There is no separate Sai Baba anywhere, you continue to teach.” That was that. I had no choice. I could not even open my mouth!
A long time back, in 1989, something very funny happened to me. I was serving as State President of the Sathya Sai Seva Organisation in Andhra Pradesh. I think I was reasonably successful. Many of our friends all over the state still remember me, which is proof enough of the work that I did.
Suddenly, like a bolt from the blue, Baba says to me, “I am taking you to Bangalore.”
I was not mentally prepared. I was taking care of aged parents, aged in-laws, and children studying professional courses. What was I to do? He simply said, “You come to Bangalore.” I did not say yes. How could I say “yes” verbally when there was no “yes” in me? (Laughter) So I kept quiet.
Swami was in Hyderabad at that time, inaugurating a new course. He stood at the centre of the hall and announced, “Anil Kumar is no longer your State President. I am taking him to Bangalore.” (Laughter) He said this in front of 400 people. It had become a matter of Divine prestige and human choicelessness, the two going hand-in-hand. My family and I were left with no choice. He had openly said, “I am taking him.”
Yet I decided to follow Him, as He was about to leave, in order to plead with Him to temporarily drop the idea. “Please leave me here, Swami,” I wanted to tell Him. I thought that I was wise enough, that I knew best--as most of us do! (Laughter) I said, “Swami, I will come along with You to the airport,” thinking that because I was traveling in His car I could gain some time, and would plead with Him to postpone His decision. But He immediately said, “You don't have to come to the airport. Go straight to Bangalore.” (Laughter) See how Divine will works—much against my will!
Then I came to Bangalore to try again. He granted an interview and said, “How are you?”
“Fine,” I replied.
He said, “When are you going to join? When are you going to join?” (Meaning, join the university in Bangalore.)
I said, “Swami, I have not brought my certificates, my postgraduate degree, my experience, or my service certificate. I have not brought any of those papers with me.”
He said, “I am the Chancellor; I am appointing you. Papers are not necessary.” (Laughter) Free will—what happened to it? Where was it? It went to the dogs!
And so I said, “Swami, I have been in service for the last 26 years. I cannot abruptly make a full stop and join here. I am already in service; I cannot leave all of a sudden. I should resign or give some two months’ notice and then come here.”
He asked, “When is your college going to re-open? What is the re-opening date of the college?”
“July,” I said.
Swami said, “What month is this?”
“May.”
“Enough time. You start attending the college from now on. From June, regular appointment.”
No choice. Then I said, “Swami, I should go and bring my luggage and all that.”
“You can go during vacation.” (Laughter)
My final attempt: I was sitting there in Bangalore in Sai Ram shed, as it was called in those days. Suddenly a volunteer walked towards me and said, “Swami wants you to stand in front of this building.”
As I was standing in front of that building at Trayee Brindavan, Swami suddenly arrived. He said, “Today you will occupy this building; it is ready for you. This is the house-warming function, gruha pravesha. You are going to stay here.”
But I was not prepared! (Laughter) Swami immediately rushed in and I followed Him, and then He went through the building as if He had not been there before saying, “Oh very nice. (Laughter) Far better than your other house. (Laughter) Your kitchen is horrible—see how nice this kitchen is!” (Laughter)
He kept on appreciating every room there and condemning the house in my native place. He would say, “That's hopeless; see how nice this is!” (Laughter)
Then He said, “Give Me aarathi.” So I did. He said, “Take these clothes. You are now the Principal. You are now the Principal of the College.” There the matter ended. And that's how things happened.
As I think of my own life and free will, I know that we have got every freedom to will. (Laughter) But when there is a Divine will, it simply acts independently of your choice, and we cannot change it.
Furthermore, the free will that I have, according to which I act, behave, and speak, may not necessarily be in my own good interest. Suppose that I have a desire toward which I work. Ultimately I may land in trouble because I do not know what is good for me; whereas with Divine will, whatever happens is always for the highest good. It may appear to be negative for some time, but in due course you will understand that it's all positive. Whatever happens according to Divine will is good for us.
I will put it this way: free will means human effort; it means human goals, aims, ambitions, and objectives, and the determination to work for the realisation of these things. But Divine will wants us to accept whatever happens in the end. Acceptance of whatever happens in the end is our preparation, what we call “surrender”. Surrender, or acceptance of Divine will, is the basic quality of a devotee. Am I clear?
Any more questions? Yes, please come here, sir. Take this seat.
Q. The choices we make as free will, do they in any way affect Divine will? Where does karma fit into all this?
If human will coincides—agrees with—Divine will, you can say it affects it. When it doesn't agree, you can conclude it has not affected it.
For example, there is a person who wants to come to Prashanti Nilayam. If he is successful in coming here, it means his will and the Divine will have agreed. If he wants to come but cannot, it means that the Divine will has some other day which is better for him, to serve his best interest.
To give my own example: in 1979, I received an interview for the position of Principal of Sri Sathya Sai Junior College, now Sathya Sai Higher Secondary school. That year Swami said, “You come.” When Swami said this, I had no alternative. I came. Swami said, “The interview is this morning; go to this place.” I went there.
That evening He was talking to the members of the board—at that time Professor Bhagavantham and Professor Gokak were the people who interviewed me. Swami asked them, “How did he do?”
They said in one voice, “Very fine, very fine.” And Swami went on telling everybody, “Naturally he does well.” And he started joking with my nephew, to whom He said, “Your uncle is going to be a Principal, you will be quite free. You can enjoy yourself.”
But I was not mentally prepared. Later, I did not receive any appointment order. I did not resign. Till this day, I do not know why He did not call me then. I never asked why. He never said why. I just kept quiet.
But on closer analysis, I understand that had I been called in the year 1979, I would have been in some difficulty. During that time, I had constructed a new house, and taken some loans. Had they not been cleared, I would have been very uncomfortable if I had joined at that time. It was in my own interest that Swami stopped it. But finally it materialised in 1989. It took ten years for Him to bring me here. That is Divine will.
So, Divine will is naturally independent; but if it agrees with our will or desire, it has been affected by our will. If my will is in accordance with Divine will, it is a fulfillment; it is a blossoming, a flowering, a manifestation. But if it is against my will, it is totally Divine, and it is undoubtedly for my own good—for which I have to be totally and unconditionally prepared.
Q. Seeing Swami now in a wheelchair or in a car, how can you say that His Will will prevail? How can you say that He controls your life?
Very simple. He says that He is not sick, though He appears to be sick. He says that He has no pain, but it is painful for all of us to watch Him move. What He says is true, that He is not sick, that He has no pain whatsoever. That which we see is also true.
The problem is that we are not able to get into the spirit in which He speaks. Our perspective is only true from the human dimension. His declaration is true from the Divine dimension. We must look at Him through the lens of His message.
He says you are not the body. And He clearly and repeatedly says that He is not the body. He says, “When you are not the body, how can I be the body?” Impossible. It is the body that falls sick. When one is not the body, the question of sickness does not arise.
History has recorded that when the sage Ramana Maharshi was asked “Swami, do you feel pain? Are you sick?” he replied, “Does my body look so? Does it give you the impression that it is having pain? That it is sick?” Ramana Maharshi evidently did not identify himself with his body. Once we dissociate from the body, we see it is only the mind that thinks, “I am the body.”
Be assured, my friends, that as far as Divinity is concerned, there is no shortage, no dearth, no deficiency whatsoever. It is merely the body that transforms and experiences these negative qualities.
We know that Ramana Maharshi suffered great pain at the end of his life. We see the photograph of Shirdi Sai Baba resting both His arms on the two boys who accompanied Him while giving darshan. Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa also is known to have suffered. Of course we know how Jesus suffered. Only it appears to be suffering to us, but they are beyond it. None of them said that they were suffering.
Paramahamsa Ramakrishna, while enduring throat cancer, never said, “I am suffering.” Though people around him cried, Paramahamsa never cried. Somebody pleaded with him, “Swami, why don't you eat? Why don’t you drink? Why don't you take rest?”
Paramahamsa said, “When all of you are eating, why should I eat? When all of you are drinking, why should I drink? I don't need rest because rest lies in teaching my disciples. Rest lies in passing on my message, for which I have come down to earth.”
It all appears to be suffering from our point-of-view because we are conditioned by the body. We have total identification with the body; but the great ones, the realised ones, are beyond, where there is no suffering at all.
In the same context, my friends, I would like to bring to your attention two important events. These are Good Friday and today, Easter. These two events are very important for all Christians; in fact, they are two of the most important events in human history.
Good Friday is the day of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ on the cross; the day He left His body. It is a historical event. Jesus bled heavily, wearing a crown of thorns, and was nailed to the cross. People spat in His face, condemning Him.
One might wonder why it is called “Good” Friday, if it commemorates such a horrible event. But what does Good Friday mean to those of us who are not Christian? I am not Christian. Nor am I going to be put on a cross. So what significance does it have for me?
My friends, the cross represents several aspects of life. It represents a combination of pain and pleasure, a crossroads, the question: To be or not to be? The cross represents the burden, the heaviness, and the pain of suffering that all of us have in life.
As humans, we have our problems; we have our difficulties. We all suffer. Just as Jesus never complained, but carried the cross to the Hill of Calvary on His shoulder, so should we be able to carry the cross of life. We should be able to shoulder the duality, the ups and downs, the sighs and smiles, the tears of joy and pain alike. We too have to carry this cross of life.
WE MUST SURRENDER IN OUR SUFFERING
It should be noted that Jesus was not put on the cross for any blunder or mistake He committed. In those days, the tradition was to crucify a person for a crime or sin. And yet Jesus, who was spotless, perfectly ideal, and totally Divine, was crucified. It was a demonstration of how to maintain equanimity. It is open proof of how to maintain balance in life, to accept negative situations, and how to bear pain.
Society may spit on you. Society may condemn you. You may feel pain, over-burdened because of the heaviness of the weight of the cross, and yet you continue to strive. You continue to struggle; you continue to march. You continue ahead, onward, never backward.
Particularly on the spiritual path, we struggle. It is no bed of roses. It is not a comfortable life; it is a challenging life. In material life, you are sure of profit and loss—you may sustain a loss today, but you will receive a profit tomorrow. Success is based on your intelligence, and your ability in management, maneuvering, manipulation, politics and conspiracy. But in spiritual life, these abilities get us nowhere. Indeed, spiritual life is the genuine challenge.
Think of the times when you are totally frustrated, despondent, and depressed, and everybody condemns you. Nobody walks with you, not even a family member stands by you, and you have no hope. God doesn't come stand in front of you and say, “Come on, I will help you.” No chance! He just lets you cry. Spiritual life is a challenge. You have to continue on and on, come what may, in spite of all slander, rumours, condemnation, mud-slinging, and character assassination. Inevitably, these things happen, but we march on.
Jesus looked to the Father, not to the people around Him. He didn't look to those who were attacking Him, the people who were condemning Him, who crucified Him. He looked up, and prayed to the Heavenly Father. That's what we must do today.
Instead, in times of difficulty, we say, “God, what are You doing? Are You on vacation? (Laughter) What are You thinking? What's wrong with You? Why don't You look at me? Don't You feel for me? Don't You see my suffering? Are You not sensitive?” These are the questions that come to our minds when we are suffering. None of us think, “Oh God, this is Your decision. Oh God, this is the design of Your will. This is Your plan. I accept all that happens. Thy will be done.”
Jesus on the cross represents the spirit of surrender, reminding us that man has to look up to God in spite of difficulties, whatever they may be, in spite of any and all physical, emotional, and mental suffering.
WE MUST FORGIVE THOSE WHO TRESPASS AGAINST US
Not only did Jesus not condemn those who were responsible for His situation, but He forgave them. He prayed, “Oh God, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” Jesus on the cross represents forgiveness.
You and I have a different approach. If anyone says something against us, we wait for an opportunity to pay him back plentifully, with compounded interest! (Laughter) We cannot bear any criticism, so we try to see that he is cut down to size. We want everybody to accept what we ourselves feel, what we do, what we say, but we don't care what the other man thinks. But Jesus forgave.
We don't want to forgive; we want to be forgiven. What stupidity! If anyone acts or speaks against us, we are not prepared to forgive him—but we want God to forgive us! If we were so intelligent, we would not think that God is so unintelligent! (Laughter) God is more intelligent than you or I—and can calculate much better! He will say, “To what extent have you forgiven? How can you expect Me to forgive you?”
Judge not, lest thou shalt be judged. Forgive our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. Forgiveness from my side is the first step in expecting God to forgive me. Understanding from my side is more important. It is a preliminary requisite I must complete before I expect God to respond to my situation.
To sum up: in one story, Good Friday gives us all the important lessons that Christianity has to offer. The story of Jesus on the cross teaches us about love, sacrifice, human suffering, surrender, acceptance of God's will, and forgiveness.
Three days later, on Easter Sunday, Christ rose from the dead. This resurrection has such a beautiful meaning—to be brought back to life once again, to relive—and it’s the reason why the Holy Bible clearly says that unless you are born again, you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven.
Someone recently said to me, “What is so great about Jesus? He died on the cross. I too will die. Will I become Jesus?” I told him, “Yes, if you die on the cross and rise up three days later.” (Laughter) Silly people speak in their own ways.
It reminds me of the man who said, “Krishna had eight wives and 16,000 gopis (cowherd girls), so why shouldn’t I have the same?” (Laughter)
“Very good, you are quite rational,” I told him. “I can understand you. But Krishna could make each of these women experience Him at her side, all at the same time--16,000 Krishnas at once! How about you? If you are in the kitchen, you can’t even make yourself appear on the veranda!” (Laughter)
There was a man who said to me, “Sir, Shirdi Baba smoked heavily. So why shouldn’t I smoke?” (Laughter) I said, “Please smoke, please. Shirdi Baba also put His hand in the fire. Do that first, and then smoke.” (Laughter)
“Adi Sankara drank alcohol, so why shouldn’t I?” another man says. “Please drink,” I say. “But he drank poison also.” (Laughter) Our reasoning is so ridiculous!
LET US BE RESURRECTED FROM OUR SORROWS AND WORRIES
Good Friday and Easter always remind me of the last lines of the prayer Mrtyormaa Amrtam Gamaya.
Asato Maa Sad Gamaya,
Tamaso Maa Jyotir Gamaya,
Mrtyormaa Amrtam Gamaya..
From untruth lead us to Truth,
From darkness lead us to Light,
From death lead us to Immortality.
In these last lines, we hear Mrthi (death), and we think of Good Friday, the day of Jesus’s death. Amrtam Gamaya (lead us to Immortality) speaks of the symbolism of His resurrection, Easter, when He rose to Immortality so that all could follow.
In the resurrection we realise that we are more than the body. Death is not the end. So-called birth and so-called death are only occurrences relating to the body. The appearance of the body is birth, while the disappearance of the body is death. The real spirit, consciousness, is eternal.
Death is ignorance. If one is ignorant, he may be physically alive, but his essence is dead and gone. Ignorance is death, while awareness is life. So resurrection is a return to life, a return to awareness, an awakening.
Life is awareness. Life is experience. Life is adventure. Life is a pilgrimage. Life is eternal. Life is immortal. Life is blissful! Bliss, joy, smiles—these are the signs of life. Pain, seriousness, ignorance, sadness, misery—these are the signs of death.
On this Easter day, let us pray that we come out of the death of worry, that we rise from the death of agony, that we are resurrected from the death of ignorance—into the life of wisdom, joy and bliss. That is the true resurrection.
resurrection is coming out of routine
This morning when I asked someone, “How are you, sir?” he replied, “Ah, what is there to life? I get up, have darshan, and go home. Later I come for bhajan and go home. What else is there?” (Laughter)
I felt like telling him to get out! Life is not like that. If you think that life is a routine, better to commit suicide! Life is not a routine. It is ever new.
When a child smiles, you don’t say, “I’ve seen many children smile.” No, when a child smiles, you feel like smiling. When you see a beautiful rose, you don’t say, “Oh, I have seen these during my whole life.” (Laughter) When you see Baba giving darshan, you don’t say, “I have been seeing that same face for last 40 years.” (Laughter) Even the pillars in the hall don’t say that! (Laughter)
My friends, a sign of death is to consider life a routine, and move around like a programmed machine. We must never think like that, for life is fresh. It is new, it is dynamic. Life is an eternal pilgrimage, a voyage with no goal, no end-point. In fact, life would end if it reached a goal. But there is no goal. Life is the continuous flow of a river, the eternal blowing of the wind.
Easter, the resurrection, indicates that we have to come out of the death of monotony and ignorance.
easter calls us to rise beyond name and form
Life is one, but living beings are many, and we create so many names and identities: Australian, Indian, American, British, Andhra, Karnataka. We even say, “Your water, my water.” How can you own water? (Laughter) Can you own air? We have become so conditioned as to claim water, to claim air, and we start claiming everything. This is narrow-mindedness, with no feeling of universality or broadmindedness. This limitation is death, while life is universal, limitless, and infinite. Death is limited to name and form, while life is beyond name and form.
Easter indicates the necessity to rise beyond name and form, to rise from the name and body of “Jesus” to the everlasting Godhood. We are all called to experience that universality, that oneness.
When the gopis were searching for Krishna, they said everywhere, “Krishna, what has happened to Him?” And they asked the flowers, “Where is Krishna, won’t you tell us?”
Do you expect flowers to answer you? Even human beings here don't respond! (Laughter) How do you expect flowers to respond? (Except that when I ask if I can sit in a specific place during darshan, “No!” is the quick answer I get!) (Laughter)
But those illiterate village people could talk to bushes and roses. They said, “Could you please tell us, where is Krishna?” And when Rama was separated from Sita, it was a tree that began sharing His grief. This is how connected they were to all life, to all life forms.
But now we humans are not even related. We form different groups, countries, and waters. (Laughter) Hari Om, Hari Om. There is no end to this.
Life is one, whether it is human, plant, or animal. That's why all religions attach importance to all these aspects.
The Aswadha vrksha tree is mentioned in the Bhagavad Gita. The Christmas tree is important in Christianity. Shirdi Sai sat under a Margosa tree. And as you know, this Baba loves gardens and flowers. Muslims consider the Kaaba, the huge stone in Mecca, very important. Christians have the cross.
You may consider these idols just an inanimate stone or some wood, but the object conveys the feeling of oneness with you. Yes, these things become full of life when you can communicate with them. Life is this oneness.
The absence of the feeling of oneness is death. For census purposes, for attendance records, for the canteen lines, for family, vocational and professional obligations, we may call ourselves alive, but in reality we are not.
every moment of life is new
Easter calls for real life. Let us live our life fully and totally. Let us awaken and rekindle the spark of awareness. We will experience the fire of wisdom, walk along the spiritual path. Let us enjoy life, and let us smile! Let us consider every second a gift from God.
Every moment of my life is new. Let me not look into the future. If I keep looking into the future, I am hopeless. Hope is futuristic. Oh, what an irony it is! Life is here, right now. To live in the present, at this very moment, that is life. To live in the past is death.
Some very knowledgeable people say, “Do you know how I used to be?” I say, “I am not interested what you were! (Laughter) I see you now, and even now you are quite horrible. I can only imagine how you were then, in those days.” (Laughter)
Knowledge is death—pardon me if I say so—because knowledge is accumulated information; that is to say, just borrowed information or second-hand information. That which is in you, that which is fresh, nascent, creative, is wisdom. That is life.
Jesus was unlettered, illiterate. But He spread the light of wisdom to all humanity. My humble submission and prayer this morning is: “May Good Friday—death—lead us to Easter—life. Mrtyormaa Amrtam Gamaya.”
May God bless you. Thank you very much. (Applause)
OM…OM…OM…
Asato Maa Sad Gamaya
Tamaso Maa Jyotir Gamaya
Mrtyormaa Amrtam Gamaya
Om Loka Samastha Sukhino Bhavantu
Loka Samastha Sukhino Bhavantu
Loka Samastha Sukhino Bhavantu
Om Shanti Shanti Shanti