TO HONOUR PUJYA GURUDEV SWAMI CHINMAYANANDA’S BIRTH CENTERARY – THE RELEASE OF A COMMEMORATIVE COIN BY THE HONOURABLE PRIME MINISTER NARENDRA MODI
The nation led by the Honourable Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi paid tribute to Pujya Gurudev, Swami Chinmayananda with the release of a commemorative coin on 8th May 2015 at his residence, 7 Race Course Road, in Delhi. The Chinmaya Birth Centenary Celebrations got off to a magnificent start.
Invoking the Lord’s presence and grace set the tone for this simple yet poignant ceremony. Prasanna chanted the invocation written by Pujya Guruji in praise of the Guru.
Pujya Guruji, Swami Tejomayananda expressed his heartfelt thanks to the Prime Minister and the Government of India for recognizing the monumental and immense work of Gurudev and the Chinmaya Mission. He assured the assembled Shri Modi and the august guests that the Mission would continue in their endeavours and do their best in the field of national character building.
Shri Arun Jaitley, the Finance Minister of India, expressed his happiness that the Government was able to bring out the commemorative coins in honour of Pujya Gurudev.
The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi poured rich accolades on the persona of Pujya Gurudev. He said that one of Gurudev’s greatest achievement was disseminating the knowledge of the scriptures via the medium of English. The educated elite who at that time were largely disconnected from our culture were reconnected with their spiritual heritage.
The Prime Minister said that Gurudev truly lived the spirit of the Bhagavad Gita by combining in himself the qualities of gyana yoga and karma yoga. He applauded Gurudev’s vision in raising an ever expanding group of sanyasis involved in character building.
On a personal note Modiji recalled his meeting with Pujya Gurudev at Baroda. He said that he had looked forward to Gurudev’s presence at the 100 year celebration of Swami Vivekananda’s speech at the World Parliament of Religions. Pujya Gurudev gave up his body 3 days before the conference.
Swami Mitrananda wrapped up the day’s proceedings with a succinct vote of thanks to those who made this special event a possibility. He spoke about how the Prime Minister himself came out with the idea of releasing commemorative coins to mark Gurudev’s centenary. He also expressed grateful thanks to Shri Arun Jaitley, Shri Jayant Sinha and Shri Ram Madhav, each for their proactive and speedy handling of the logistics that finally lead to the release of the coin.
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