Ganga Saptami or Ganga Jayanti is celebrated to worship Goddess Mother Ganga. The festival marks the rebirth of Mother Ganga on earth. Devotees offer prayers and take a dip in the holy waters of Ganga at the pilgrimage sites in Rishikesh (Uttarakhand) and Triveni Sangam (Prayagraj). Divine Life Society of S.A. celebrated Ganga Saptami on Saturday, 7 May 2022.

In the book, Lord Siva and His Worship, our Divine Master, Sri Swami Sivananda states, "The Ganga is the most sacred river of India. Lord Krishna says in the Gita: 'I am the Ganga among rivers'.

Sri Hanuman Jayanti (the birthday of Sri Hanuman), was celebrated on Saturday, 16 April 2022, at DLS Ashrams and branches. Satsang was also conducted online. This auspicious day also saw the culmination of the 41-day recital of the Sri Hanuman Chalisa, 11 times daily which commenced on 7 March 2022. On 16 April, the Sri Hanuman Chalisa was recited 108 times at Sivanandashram, Reservoir Hills, commencing at 5am as well as at a few branches. Chanting of this sacred Mantra was also done online for 108 times.

Pujya Swami Sahajananda recommended that, on the completion of the 41-day recital, a Havan should be performed. Accordingly, the Society live-streamed the Havan ceremony at 3pm.

On 10 April 2022, Divine Life Society of South Africa celebrated two auspicious events on its spiritual calendar. The birth of Lord Ramachandra, who incarnated as the son of King Dasharath in Ayodhya and on the 10 April 1956, Sri V. Srinivasan of Durban, was initiated into the order of Sannyasa in Rishikesh, India by the Divine Master, Sri Swami Sivananda. Sri V. Srinivasan became Sri Swami Sahajananda, affectionately known to the devotees as Pujya Swamiji. Lord Rama was the Ishta Devata of Pujya Swamiji. It is truly divine coincidence that both these events fell on the same day this year.

In an excerpt from one of Sri Swami Sivananda's messages on the auspicious anniversary of the Birth of Lord Rama, entitled "Way to Ram Rajya" our Divine Master wrote, the following, "On this great, I shall tell you a great secret. In bestowing the present of the invincible weapon of Truth and Purity, I shall reveal one thing, the only thing which is equally powerful and marvellous as the Maha-astra. This is the Divine Name of Rama. Rama-Nama and Rama-Bana of Truth and Purity are a marvellous pair. He who has the one has the other also. Repeat Rama-Nama. Stick to Truth. Practise Purity. These three will raise you to transcendent perfection".

Divine Life Society of South Africa will be broadcasting our Ramayan Week Satsangs from the 2nd to the 9th of April 2022. The Society makes a sincere and earnest appeal to all devotees to participate in the Satsangs whilst in the comfort of their homes, so as to imbibe the rich and sacred benefits of Satsang during the auspicious Ramayan Week.

There are 2 options to receive the online Satsang links. One is to subscribe to our YouTube channel, and the other is to join our WhatsApp group, where a programme and a link to the pre-recorded audio stream Satsang will be sent out just before Satsang time.

Option 1:

Subscribe to our YouTube channel below:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMy6E2021O6W6cJSAb2fWQQ

Option 2:

Kindly join our WhatsApp group to receive our Satsang programmes and links. If you have already joined one of our WhatsApp groups, you do not need to join the group listed below.

https://chat.whatsapp.com/L7qGHJy5U6XBRn8I0rY4oh