Verses on the Celebration of Bhagavan's Birthday

Bhagavan was born on December 30, 1879. His birthday, however, is observed according to the Tamil calendar in dhanurmasa when the moon is with the star Punarvasu. According to the Western calendar this day falls in the months of December-January. When it was first proposed in 1912, Bhagavan expressed his objection in the form of the following two verses. Even so, his disciples were not deterred and the Jayanti day festival continues to be one of the great annual events at the Ashram.



1. You who wish to celebrate a birthday, inquire first who was born. One's true birthday is when one enters into the Eternal Being which shines forever without birth or death.



2. Of all days on one's birthday one should mourn one's fall (into samsara). To celebrate it as a festival is like adorning and glorifying a corpse. To seek one's Self and merge in it is wisdom.

---