[By Ram Paranadi (Swamy)] Salutations to Lord Sri Ganesh , Sri Dattatreya , Sri Sripada Sri Vallabha and Sri Gajanan Mahara I wanted the Padukas to be ready by ‘Dhanteras’ but there was a delay of 2 days and we got the Padukas on ‘Dipavali’ day. And as planned the ‘Abhisheka’ for the Padukas of ‘Sri Sripada Sri Vallabha’ by me and of ‘Sri Rangavadhoot Maharaj’ by our dear Anand was done on ‘Padva’ day in our house. My second sister and brother – in – law happened to come to baroda and were fortunate enough to have the darshan of both these padukas. By 9.30 am on that day the abhisheka was over and I informed Gana Maharaj who was away at Mumbai regarding the same. We also informed the same to Smt & Sri Joshi who were away at Chandigarh. I took Gana Maharaj’s consent to make the reservations for going to Shegaon , Pithapuram and Kuruvapur with the Padukas for me , Vimal , Smt & Sri Gana Maharaj and their daughter, though he said so he will give final approval for going as per the advice of my beloved God Sri Gajanan Maharaj. I prayed to my beloved Gajanan Maharaj not to disappoint me this time, as at least twice I had cancelled my trips to Shegaon earlier but consoled myself as my beloved Lord Gajanan Maharaj wanted me to do some thing ‘Good’ and then come for His Darshan at Shegaon. I along with our dear Anand, personally went to the travel agent and asked him to book confirmed tickets only (and if required from a destination earlier to our starting point) and all in 3 tier AC. By the grace of Him, we got all confirmed tickets and I informed the same to Sri Gana Maharaj. He confirmed about the journey due to the blessings of Sri Gajanan Maharaj and his coming back to Baroda on 13.11.06. In between from 9.11.06 night onwards mother’s health got affected due to high blood pressure and we had to visit the Doctor and I prayed silently to Guru Gajanan first to make her alright and then take care of my mother in our absence. Well! She was alright by 13.11.06 and I sincerely thanked my Guru Gajanan and still prayed to take care of her during our absence. We went to Gana Maharaj’s house on 15.11.06 i.e. Wednesday. We took the Photo of Lord Sri Sripada Sri Vallabha and also the Prasad which we received from Shegaon. First we gave the Prasad to him and then we had given the Photo of Sri Sripada Sri Vallabha to them and then Gana Maharaj said that Lord Sri Sripada Vallabha had told him that he will come to their house on that day. We had shown him the tour planning and he in turn asked me about the expenses for the tickets. I politely said no to that. Thursday had gone and Friday I was having night duty in factory. I wished that we should meet Gana Maharaj before we embark on our long journey. And Gajanan Maharaj had sent Sri Gana Maharaj to our house on the same day at 8.45 pm. I told him the same thing. He came with a cheque book saying that Gajanan Maharaj will not permit him to travel with out paying the charges. I requested him to wait for that day and Gajanan Maharaj will not object as I sincerely wished to bear the expenses on my own, praying to Him that He Himself is traveling with me and nothing should go wrong in the entire journey. Then Gana Maharaj didn’t say any thing and we planned that we will meet in station on 19.11.06 near the enquiry and engage a porter for the luggage. The Navajivan express came late by about 15 minutes and after getting in to the train we settled down in our respective seats. The TC came and checked and asked me about the names of the passengers with their age and gender. By over sight against Vimal’s name the gender was printed as male. He took the ticket along with him and said that after checking the rest of the passengers he will come back. I smelled some thing and when he came back and called me Gana Maharaj said that take the name of Gajanan Maharaj and go to him. I went to the TC and told him that we are on a pilgrimage and as such in rest of the tickets the gender is printed correctly and I said to him whatever is best thought by him can be done. He had shown the calculation considering as a ticket less traveler which comes to Rs.1800/- approximately and I paid him Rs.500/- and thus Sri Gajanan Maharaj saved us from any further ignominy. The train reached Shegaon by 7.45 pm and we reached the Sansthan by 8.0 pm. We gave the reference of Sri Athavale of baroda and got one 2 bed room and one 3 bed room booked and kept our luggage in the respective rooms. We took the Padukas and reached the Gajanan Maharaj Temple by 8.30 pm and by the grace of Him there was no rush at all. We went inside the Temple had a peaceful satisfactory Darshan of our beloved Guru Gajanan Maharaj. The Padukas, The Photo of Sri Sripada Vallabha and the translated papers (in to Telugu) of the shorter version of the English Pothi were kept near the Samadhi place. Then we took all the three things and we did Pradakshana of the temple along with the Padukas and the Photo of Sri Sripada Vallabha. Quite a few people had the opportunity to have the Darshan of the Padukas while we were doing the Pradakshana. This was completed by 9.45 pm and we sat in a hotel for dinner. From there we informed Smt & Sri Joshi about the Maharaj’s darshan and the Paduka Poojan. (I must mention here that our Guru Gajanan Maharaj fulfilled my wish of translating the shorter version of Maharaj’s English Pothi to Telugu for my mother. I also wished that before I take it to Gajanan Maharaj I wanted it to be checked and corrected by my sister Shyamala who is specialized in Telugu Literature and He blessed me by bringing her to Baroda during Dipavali so that I can get the script corrected and fair it again before I go to Him. We sincerely thank our guru Gajanan Maharaj) Next day i.e. on 20.11.06 our plan was to go to Anand Sagar. But I and Vimal wanted to have the Darshan in the early hours and then go to Anand Sagar and again come back before 1.00 pm to have the Maha Prasad. We both had the Darshan and then came back to the room by 6.30 am. Then we all left for Anand Sagar by 2 autos. First we went to the person who was making the Pagadi and ordered 7 Nos and at that time itself it came to my mind that I must pay for 3 nos out of this seven and told this to Gana Maharaj. He said he can permit provided he gets permission from Guru Gajanan Maharaj. I prayed to Him to give His consent to Gana Maharaj. We were to collect at least 2 nos from them before we leave Shegaon on our onward journey. From there we went to Anand Sagar and though I was there physically I was praying all the time that we should not miss the Maha Prasad, though Gana Maharaj was telling that the same Prasad would be available in the canteen where we had put up. It was 12.30 pm and Gana Maharaj and me were going to get some Ice cream for all of us when we saw that the shop is not near by Guru Gajanan patted us and told that we better take His Maha Prasad instead of Ice cream and believe me there immediately came a bus and we were the only 5 who traveled and reached the Temple by 12.55 pm by the grace of Gajanan Maharaj. Gana Maharaj and me went and collected the Maha Prasad and brought the same to the canteen where other 3 persons were waiting and we all had the Maha Prasad. In the evening again we went to the Pagadi person and only one No piece ready and after little hesitation we collected that and reached station to catch the Navjivan to go to Vijayawada. The train was late by 15-20 minutes and we got in to the train. Our reservation had a problem for Vimal as male and luckily the TC didn’t check so minutely unlike the Gujarat TC. Also we were not having any lower birth and after the TC checked our tickets I requested the TC to give us at least one lower birth which was a must for Miss Pragnya the daughter of Gana Maharaj and the TC obliged due to the grace of Gajanan Maharaj. The train reached Vijayawada in time and as planned Mr. Vissu my brother – in – law Ravi’s brother came to the station with a vehicle for us to go to Pithapuram. He had brought Tea for all of us. We had the same and started for Pithapuram by 9.15 am. It was a Qualyis with central AC. The driver said that it will take 3.5 hrs and we can reach by 2.00 pm to Pithapuram. Accordingly we informed the temple authorities and they agreed to give us room for fresh up and provide lunch. While traveling Pragnya had an attack of anxiety which she gets once in a while but again due to the grace of Gajanan she became quiet once she was given the dose. We reached Pithapuram by 2.00 pm and we had taken bath, lunch and we did the daily rituals for the day. It was evening 5 pm and I requested the temple trustee to get the Poojari so that we can perform the Pooja of the Padukas and go back to Samalkot. The Poojari came by 5.30 pm and the Pooja of the Padukas was performed and we had the Arati. Ravi’s eldest brother who stays in Kakinada also had come and had the darshan of the Padukas. We had seen the palanquin made in silver and took the address of the devotee who donated the same to the temple. We also took the photo graph of the same. I purchased a book on Sri Sripada Vallabha Charitra in Telugu. The temple persons had given some books in Marathi as well. We started from Pithapuram at 7.10 pm and reached Samalkot by 7.45 pm from where we were to catch the train to Wadi at 1.00 am. After reaching I told others to take the luggage and sit in side the waiting room. I had taken the reading of the vehicle and we traveled about 300 KM. As per our practice in Gujarat I calculated the charges as to and fro which comes to 600 KM and paid the driver the money after deducting the advance paid for diesel. The driver immediately said that I had paid him excess. But again I checked my mathematics and said that I paid him as per the meter. In fact the driver hinted I must pay only for 300 KM which I didn’t get. After I went inside the station and reached the waiting hall the driver came to me and said that I calculated for 600 KM instead of 300 KM and returned the money I paid in excess for the 300 KM just because of the Grace of Great Gajanan Maharaj otherwise the driver could have coolly went away with the excess amount paid by me which is Rs. 3300/- “GAJANANA YOU ARE SIMPLY GREAT”. The train came half an hour late and we got in to the train. In this also there was not a single lower birth for Pragnya and we requested fellow passengers who were in deep sleep and as expected they said no. I requested TC and first he also said no but when I persisted too much the TC allowed her to sleep on his birth till Vijayawada without any further guarantee after that as the TC would change. When the train started from Vijawada the TC who took charge bluntly refused to allow her to sleep on that as the berth was meant for coach mechanic. We requested and after quite some time he agreed and allowed Pragnya to sleep there. After 6.30 am as such we did not need the lower berth. There was a co – passenger who discussed at length about the nature of problem of Pragnya and I also wanted that the reports may be shown to our Dr. Gauri so that she can guide us properly. Iam very confident as I always refer to Dr. Gauri in case of such type of prolonged illness and typical cases. Gana Maharaj also agreed to give the copies of her case to me so as to discuss / send the same to Dr. Gauri for advice. The train reached Wadi station before time at 4.00 pm. Our connecting train to Raichur was at 7.55 pm. We sat in the waiting hall and I contacted the Raichur hotel fellow and got 2 double rooms booked for us saying that we will be reaching Raichur by 10.00 pm. I also spoke to the Poojari at Kuravpoor Mr. Manjunath that we are reaching Kuravpoor by 9.15 am on 23.11.06 i.e. Thursday. We were in the hotel by 10.15 pm in Raichur, and planned to leave the hotel rooms by 7.00 am on 23.11.06 as the bus to Kuravpoor is at 7.30 am. We reached the bus stand by 7.10 am and there another 2 groups of devotees also joined us and they were enquiring how we had come to know about this place etc. I told them about the inspiration I got from Gana Maharaj and the details I could get from inter net, my visit to this place first a month back and making Padukas etc. In the mean time the bus to Atkoor came on the platform and we all got into the bus. Though the bus started at about 7.45 am we have not checked up whether all our belongings have been taken in the bus or not. After the bus traveled for almost half the distance I realized that we had forgotten the plate meant for the Padukas in the bus stand. Immediately I understood that God has thought off some thing different than what we planned, so this has happened. The other group members requested the driver & conductor to phone up to the controller at bus stand to find out if any such plate is still lying there and as expected there was none. Then Gana Maharaj asked us whether we have the Asana with us, as Guru Gajanan had given a hint to him that the Asana should be sufficient, and we confirmed that the Asana was there. We reached the Krishna river bank and crossed the river by a boat. And after reaching the other shore which is Kuravpoor there were bullock carts available to take us to the temple. First Vimal and Srimatiji of Gana Maharaj performed pooja of River Krishna by litting a lamp and leaving in the following waters and when it was time to get in to the cart Pragnya was reluctant to get in but some how we all managed her to get in to the and when the cart was on the move due to uneven surface she was terrified and we insisted her to say loudly ‘ DIGAMBARA DIGAMBARA SRI PADA VALLABHA DIGAMBARA’ and we also joined her in saying the above mantra. We reached safely to the Temple and after getting down the cart man asked us when we need the cart again and I as per our earlier plan told him to come next day morning. But after entering the Temple premises and talking to Mr. Manjunath who agreed to perform the Paduka Abhisheka on 23.11.06 being most auspicious day (Marghasirsha Thursday). And also planned that we will go back to Raichur on the same evening. Manjunath asked me to take out all the Pooja material brought by us and in turn I requested him to get me a plate to keep the Padukas. First he brought a plate which I said was not enough. Then he brought a Silver Plate which is good enough to accommodate the Padukas. Immediately on seeing the plate I thought that He wanted the Padukas to be carried in a Silver plate hence He made us forget the plate which was brought by us, at the bus stand as I wrote earlier. “WHAT A GREAT EXPERIENCE.” Me and Gana Maharaj wore the silk robes brought by us, went to the Krishna River, took bath and filled the containers Manjunath had given to us for filling the water for Abhisheka. When there was time for sitting for Pooja me and Gana Maharaj started pradikshana of the temple. Manjunath called us for the Pooja at about 11.15 am and he took us inside the “Garbha Gudi” the place where Sri Sripada Vallabha used to sit in Tapasya and we performed the Abhisheka for that very “Place” keeping the Padukas there with Panchamrut (without mixing all the 5 ingredients) one by one. It was a unique experience and the Abhisheka lasted for 45 minutes. The lady members were not allowed to come in side the “Gharbha Gudi”, but they could see the Pooja from just out side that place. Arati was given and we had a very satisfying Pooja. Gana Maharaj also felt satisfied and said that (Mera Jivan Sardhak Huva). This was all due to the blessings of my guru “Gajanan Maharaj”. After that we kept the Padukas and the Photo of Lord Sri Sripada Sri Vallabha in the Silver plate and made 21 pradakshinas saying the mantra “DIGAMBARA DIGAMBARA SRIPADA VALLABHA DIGAMBARA”. We took Prasad to ourself and distributed to maximum possible. Later on we had the Maha Prasad being distributed in the Temple by a devotee. After that Vimal and Srimatiji of Gana Maharaj recited the Datta Bavanni 52 times. After that we had given donation for performing pooja on Datta Jayanati scheduled for 03.12.06 and little contribution for Anna Danam on that day. I had given money for Abhisheka on 24.11.06 it being our marriage day. I told this to Manjunath and requested him to do the same next day. It was 3.15 pm and again we took our luggage and when we were about to get in to the cart, Pragnya reluctantly got in to the cart and me and Gana Maharaj walked the entire route loudly chanting above mantra. We crossed the river by a Dinghy instead of the boat and all of them felt more at ease in this than the boat. After crossing we waited for more than an hour and we got the bus at about 5.45 pm and reached the hotel by 7.45 pm. While in the bus Gana Maharaj advised me to meditate such that I could see what has taken place in the Garbha Gudi today and feel it every day the same thing being repeated. “Which he said is the next step in the path of Bhakti.” We decided that we will go for dinner at 8.45 pm after becoming fresh. While we were in the dinning hall we called up Smt & Sri Joshi and informed them what all happened. They also spoke to Smt & Sri Gana Maharaj. The plan for the next day was relaxing and getting in to the train at 4.00 pm. Me and Vimal planned that we will first take the blessings of Smt & Sri Gana Maharaj and then visit any temple which could be near by the hotel. We got up at 6.30 am and were ready by 7.30 am. We got calls from Ravi & Mallik as it was our marriage day. We finished our regular Pothi etc by 9.00 am and found out that Gana Maharaj was doing pooja and we will go for Complimentary break fast at 9.30 am. Before getting down for break fast I and Vimal took the blessings of Smt & Sri Gana Maharaj and we have not told any thing about that special day to them. While we were taking break fast they got phone calls from their daughter – in – law and another relative and they also very candidly said thanks etc. After we finished our break fast I enquired at the reception about any temples nearby and we could go first to the Vitthal & Rukmini temple, then to Sri Ganeshji, Ayyappa and Mataji’s temples which are very near to the hotel. We then strolled along and I wanted to purchase some sweets and give to them. But we could not. Then we had only coconut water and returned back to the hotel by 12.00 noon. We planned that we shall go to lunch by 1.30 pm and we went to the dinning hall. I was planning that we will have a special “Thali” which will have some sweet item. But others said that they will have some Parathas etc along with Fruit Salad. In between Smt Gana Maharaj had took out Rs.400/ and gave to me saying that the lunch expenses may be more than that but since she had only that much with her at that time she asked me to keep the same for the time being. I said that the lunch expenses may be borne by us, as that day was special to us which I shall tell later on but it has not attracted any body’s attention. Only Vimal could get it and shouted at me to keep quite. So when we finished our lunch it was 2.45 pm and we decided that we will start from the hotel by 3.30 pm to the station. Accordingly I told the reception to keep our bill ready by 3.30 pm and we checked out from the hotel and reached the station by 4.00 pm. The train was late by 1/2 hr and at about 6.00 pm my eldest brothers – in – law and sister called up to greet both me and Vimal on our marriage day and we also very candidly said thanks etc but have not given any hint of any special occasion. The journey was trouble free through out. When the train was about to reach baroda, Gana Maharaj said that yesterday i.e. 24.11.06 happened to be their marriage day and they had completed 38 years of marriage life and as his Smt was against disclosing the same they had kept it as a secret. And then we had also said that our marriage day was also yesterday only and we had completed 18 years. They recollected that they also wished to go to Mandir on that day and could get the darshan of Lord Vithhal & Rukmini. Thus the journey ended on a very laughing note, and Pragnya became more and more open as the journey ended. “FOR ALL THIS I SINCERELY BOW MY HEAD TO LORD SRI GANESHA, SRI DATTATREYA, SRI SRIPADA SRIVALLABHA, GURU SRI GAJANAN MAHARAJ AND ALL ELDERS WHO WERE THERE WITH ME ALL THE TIME GUIDING AND PROTECTING.”

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