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Vasant Panchmi Parva - Day 4
Establishing Sarangpur Mandir
The devotees of Sarangpur were dearer than life to Shastriji Maharaj. At their request, Swami came to Sarangpur. One day, he was going for a bath at Narayan Kund, a large well sanctified by Shriji Maharaj.
While walking, Swamishri stopped exactly where the mandir stands today. Here, he addressed Motibhai, who had accompanied him, “Motibhai! Shriji Maharaj had wished for a mandir to be built here. He had promised the devotees accordingly. Therefore, a mandir shall certainly stand here.” So saying, Swamishri continued walking. Returning from his bath, Swamishri again stopped at that same location, “Motibhai, compose a kirtan describing the mandir we want to build in Sarangpur.”
Swamishri’s strange request puzzled Motibhai. He thought to himself, “The mandir in Bochasan is still unfinished. There is no money in the mandir accounts. Still, Swamishri dares to have such aspirations.”
Suddenly, something remarkable happened. Motibhai saw a towering three-storey mandir with golden pinnacles standing before him. He saw the murtis of Dham, Dhami and Mukta in a sinhasan in the central sanctum. Motibhai was astounded to see a mandir as beautiful and as majestic as the one which stands there today. The words of a kirtan gracefully flowed from his lips:
“Shri Sãrangpurni shobhã saji ati sãri, joi aloukik adbhut Dhãm avikãri…”
“I beheld the immense splendour of Sarangpur, a remarkable and eternal celestial abode…”
All of Motibhai’s doubts were removed. He realised that Swamishri was capable of bringing up countless such mandirs in an instant.
The Murti Pratishta
The mandir was soon ready. The auspicious day of 8 May 1916 (Vaishakh sud 6, Samvat 1972) was chosen for the murti-pratishtha. Swamishri and Nirgundas Swami made excellent preparations for the celebrations. Thousands of devotees were expected to come, so Swamishri instructed the sadhus and devotees to make eight thousand kilograms of shiro from soji. After making shiro for five days, the cooks were exhausted and refused to cook anymore. As a result only five thousand kilograms of shiro was ready.
“By God’s grace, this will be enough. There will not be any shortage. Do not worry,” assured Swamishri.
After the arti, everyone sat in rows to eat. With the intention of depleting the stock of shiro and discrediting Swamishri, several troublemakers sneaked into the kitchen. They carried off several baskets full of shiro from the storage containers. Now the stock of shiro was half empty. Everyone wondered, “We have not even started to serve the shiro. How has half of it already disappeared?” The devotees serving in the kitchen ran to Swamishri and asked, “How can we feed all these people with so little shiro?”
Swamishri had a portion of the farm cleared out and fenced with wooden beams. He selected a team of trustworthy devotees and stamped their back with his own handprints using vermillion. Only these devotees would be allowed to carry baskets full of shiro to serve the guests. After making these rigid arrangements, Swamishri covered the containers. He placed a murti of Shriji Maharaj and kindled a divo on top of one of the lids.
From morning until midnight, the shiro was served to over two hundred thousand devotees. The entire village ate the mandir’s shiro for eight days. Even then, the shiro stayed fresh and fragrant, without running out. Finally, the remaining shiro was distributed to the cattle farms in the neighboring villages.
Group Activity
Sing the kirtan composed by Motibhai Bhagwandas with your family:
Shri Sārangpurnī shobhā sajī ati sārī,
Joī alaukik adbhut Dhām avikārī...
Hari mandir madhye mukta manohar shobhe,
Dharī dhyān sant mahant jo†ī man lobhe... Shrī 1
Ati ramaṇīy madhyanā mandirmā sukhkārī,
Swāminārāyaṇ shobhe chhe naval vihārī... Shrī 2
Mūḷ Akshar mūrti e ja Guṇātīt Swāmī,
Tethī par je (Shrī) Purushottām Sahajānand nāmī†... Shrī 3
Jenu bhajan kare satsangī sahu bhalī bhāte,
Tethī jāngī vagāḍī beṭhā ulaṭ dharī khānte... Shrī 4
Nij dhāryu karyu āj anya (Dhām) swarūpe Murārī,
Mahāmukta Gopāḷānand joī jāu vārī... Shrī 5
Rāje dakshiṇ dere Harikrishṇa avatārī,
Sāthe Gopīnāthjī shobhe Mukund Brahmachārī... Shrī 6
Ope uttār dere bhakti dharam Ghanshyām,
Shrī Raghuvīrjī Ayodhyāprasādjī sukhdhām... Shrī 7
Beṭhā dhām Dhāmdhāmī mahāmukta sahu chhe sāthe,
Aho Dhām banyu brahmānḍmā sahune māthe... Shrī 8
Āj harijan jay jay jay jay shabda uchchāre,
Ur ānandmā man magan banyā chhe atyāre... Shrī 9
Jene upāsanā dradh Swāminārāyaṇnī chhe,
Mane harakh ghaṇero ānand ang māhī chhe... Shrī 10
Jīvā Khācharne var āpyo’to Shrīnāthe,
Te pūro karyo chhe āj Swāmīnā hāthe... Shrī 11
Je bane na bījā koī thakī ā kām,
Swāmīrūpe kām karyu e Shrī Ghanshyām... Shrī 12
Tethī Sārangpurno mahimā alaukik bhārī,
Kahetā lakhtā koṭi kavio jāy hārī... Shrī 13
Sant sarvopari brahma-vidyānā bodh de chhe,
Sahu satasangīonī sāth ‘Motī’ paṇ le chhe... Shrī 14