4TH GLOBAL GITA CONFERENCE, Report, 29 - 31 Dec 2006
4TH GLOBAL GITA CONFERENCE
29,30 & 31 DEC 2006
Day one - 29 December 2006
The inauguration of the program was held on 29th December at 3 PM. The Devaiah auditorium was wonderfully decorated, befitting the grand occasion. The sprawling 2000 capacity auditorium was full. The event was inaugurated by Sri L. Rajagopal, member of Parliament from Vijayawada. Others present included, Sri Rajashekar, MLA, Kankipadu, Sri Nazarvali, MLA, Vijawayada West and The Mayor of Vijayawada, Sheik Mallika Begum, Dr. P.V. Nath, Founder of International Gita Foundation Trust and its secretary, Dr. Gupta were present.
Smt. Gayatri Gowrinath and her disciples sang Sri Swamiji’s GITA SAARA Shlokas for invocation. As run up to the conference, Bhagavad Gita essay writing competition were held in Hyderabad and Vijayawada regions for students under the competition title, “Test your GK Fly to UK” (GK for Gita knowledge). The winner of the competition was invited to participate in the 5th Global Gita conference being held in New Castle, United Kingdom on 19th and 20th August 2007. The super prize winner was a young girl, Ms. Lalita Kameswari from Hyderabad. The audience enthusiastically applauded when she came on the stage to receive the grand prize from the holy hands of His Holiness Sri Swamiji. Dr. Nath explained her steadfast answers during the oral exams.
The IGF Trust gave away LOKA KALYANA awards to the following:
1. Dr. K. Satyanarayana - Vet offering free medical services to animals
2. Mr. Mani Hara - A westerner running an orphanage in Vijayawada
3. EMRI - An organization offering 24 hours free medical support to patients. Dr. Sastry received the honors on behalf of his organization.
His Holiness Sri Swamiji in his brief message exhorted all those present to attend all lectures and increase their insight in to Gita.
In the evening Smt. Rajeswari Sainath and her disciples from Sruti Laya Kendra Natarajalaya performed scintillating Bharatanatyam dance to the Gita Saara dance ballet composed by Sri Swamiji. The 60 minutes program was enjoyable every second.
Day two - 30 December 2006
The award winning students in Gita competition were given a chance to chant Shlokas from Gita.
- Sri. Shivarama Krishna, Former English Professor from Osmania University gave a scholarly speech on the Vishishtadvaita philosophy in relation to Bhagavad Gita.
- Pujya Sri Datta Vijayananda Teertha Swamiji gave a one hour speech on Jnana Yoga in Bhagavadgita
- Prof. BVL Narayana Row spoke on Jnana Yagna in Bhagavadgita.
- Sri. Vamshi Krishna Ghanapathi spoke on Nahi Jnanena Sadrusham in Gita.
- Dr. P.V. Nath spoke on Brahma Charya Ashrama Dharma.
- Mata Shiva Chaitanya of Tapovana Ashrama, Guntur spoke on the 19th to 24th Shlokas in Jnana Yoga chapter.
- Swamini Sudeekhanandini of Chinmaya Mission also spoke.
In the evening, a scintillating flute concert was given by Smt. Jayaprada Rama Murthy. Before the concert, Sri Swamiji released her Audio CD containing flute rendition, titled “Venu Nada Lola Sachchidananda”. She played many Bhajans of Sri Swamiji during the concert.
Day three - 31 December 2006
- Pujya Sri Datta Vijayananda Teertha Swamiji spoke on Kshetra Kshetrajna Yoga in Gita.
- Dr. T.K. Chudamani spoke on Gita.
- Ms. Lalita Kameswari spoke on “What Gita means to me”.
- Dr. Kumara Swamy spoke on the different commentaries on Bhagavad Gita.
- Swami Pranavananda of Bellary spoke on the last three Shlokas in Jnana Yoga.
In the evening at 4 PM, valedictory program was held. Sri Swamiji released Telugu Bhagavadgita Audio CD, an audio book CD of Late Adipudi Somanatha Rao, who wrote Telugu poems on each Shloka of Bhagavadgita. Smt. Heera of USA has sung the poems.
After the program was over, Sri Swamiji gave a scintillating speech on the hidden message in the back drop on the stage. Click on the link on the top of page to read the speech.
As a befitting ending to the three day event, colorful balloons were released to the sky and pigeons freed. Thousands of people were given food during the three day program. The volunteers and the Master of Ceremonies - Mr. Das and Mr. Vijay Babu did a marvelous job of compering the program. Smt. Nirmala Chowdhury co-ordinated the event.
Jaya Guru Datta