Jai Keshav Das
Jagannath Puri in Odisha, is the abode of lord Jagannath ( the lord of the universe) and is also known as Purushottama ksetra. It is one of the four holy ksetras of India. Here the supreme lord is worshipped with his elder brother Balarama and his sister Subhadra. The rath yatra of lord Jagannath is held every year on the second day of the bright fortnight of Ashadha (June-July) and it attracts lakhs of devotees and pilgrims from all over the world . It is said “rathe ca vamanam dristve punar janma na vidyate”, means one who sees the lord on the ratha yatra day can attain salvation from the cycle of birth and death.
Past Times
Once the queens of Dwarka requested mother Rohini to narrate the childhood pastimes of lord Krishna in Vrindavana. Mother Rohini agreed but put a condition that Subhadra should guard the door so that Krishna and Balarama do not enter. Because if they enter and hear those pastimes they would come into ecstasy and run away to Vrindavan .
Every one agreed upon this condition and Subhadra guarded the door . After sometime Krishna and Balarama arrived and they along with Subhadra devi put their ears in the gap of the door and started hearing the narration . As a result all the three came into ecstasy (their eyes opened up broadly and other limbs of the body became smaller). Suddenly Devarshi Narada appeared on the scene ; he was amazed to see the beautiful ecstatic forms of their lordships , and prayed : ” may you appear in future in this material world in this beautiful form for the benefit of the whole world”, then lord Krishna agreed to his prayer.
Once the elderly members of Dwaraka decided to visit Brahmasarovar in Kurukshetra in order to avoid the harmful affects of solar eclipse. The residents of Vrindavan also went to kurukshetra to see Krishna. Dwarka vasis and Vrindavan vasis met each other with great joy. When Srimati Radharani and the other gopis of Braj bhumi saw Krishna as Dwarkadwish (as the royal king of dwaraka) , they were not satisfied to see Krishna in this form because they would love to see Krishna in his Vrindavan form (as a cow herd boy). As lord Krishna was standing on the chariot , Radha Rani along with other gopies pulled his Chariot with the rope of their minds towards Vrindavan .
So pulling of ratha in Jagannath is considered to assist Radha Rani and other gopies to pull Krishna (Dwarkadwish) from Dwarka to Vrindavan. And one who pulls the ratha attracts the mercy of Srimati Radharani. In scriptures there are unlimited benedictions mentioned for one who anyway participates in the ratha yatra festival.
Once Shri Naradha Muni appeared in Vaikuntha and saw Lakshmi devi in ecstacy. When he asked her the reason for her ecstasy, she replied that she was blessed by having the prasadam (remnants of lord Narayana). Hearing this, he expressed the intense desire to taste the prasadam . Lakshmi devi replied there is none left. Narada muni pleaded . Lakshmi devi went to kitchen and saw a small grain remaining at the bottom of the utensil and gave it to Narada muni. He ate the prasadam and started dancing in ecstacy and reached Kailasha .
Seeing him like this Lord Siva enquired the same and pleaded for prasada . There was nothing left but some fraction of that grain left on the finger of Narada muni which was licked by Lord Siva and same happened to him. On seeing both of them , mother Parvati requested for lord Narayan ‘s prasada which she couldn’t get. In a morose mood, she left that place and went to seclusion and started performing austerities to please lord Narayana. After few thousand years of severe penance lord Narayana appeared and asked her for a boon. Mother Parvati requested that to not keep the world devoid of his mercy in the form of his Mahaprasada. Lord Narayana declared “when i appear in the material world as lord Jagannath in puri , you will appear as Bimla devi, and whatever bhoga (foodstuff) is offered to me , it will be sent to you and after you honour it ,then only it will become mahaprasada and will be distributed to the people in general.
APPEARANCE OF THE TEMPLE OF LORD JAGANNATH
Around 2000 yrs back ,King Indradyumna felt intense desire to have the darsan of Nilamadava (lord Krishna) of Niladari hills .But when he went on the hill , the lord had disappeared and told the king in his dream that he will appear in the form of a log of wood in the sea . The same happened and the king got the log of wood from the sea. Vishvakarma , the architect of the gods arrived at king Indradyumna’s palace, as an old carpenter . He stipulated that while carving the deities , nobody should disturb him. And if any one did, he would stop the work and leave that place. Many many days elapsed. Driven with impatience, kimg Indradyumna opened the door of Vishvakarma’s room who vanished instantly as he had stipulated. Despite the incomplete work, king indradumna installed the three deities and constructed a beautiful temple for them..
SRI CHAITANYA MAHAPRABHU
Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu , the hidden incarnation of lord Krishna , who appeared in Navadvipa in Bengal 5oo yrs back ,inaugurated the Sankirtana movement i.e congregational chanting of the holy names” HARE KRISHNA HARE KRISHNA KRISHNA KRISHNA HARE HARE HARE RAMA HARE RAMA RAMA RAMA HARE HARE”.
Lord Caitanya used to dance in the mood of Srimati Radha Rani in ecstacy and some times faint (due to his intense love) in front of the chariot of the lord Jagannath .
When Sri chaitanya mahaprabhu fell on the ground , the ratha would stopped and did not move an inch , till mahaprabhu came back infront of the ratha . Lord Caitanya is Krishna himself in the mood of his topmost devotee Srimati Radharani. Lord Caitanya descended on this planet earth to distribute the love of Godhead which can be easily attained in this degraded age of Kaliyuga ( the age of quarrel and hipocracy) by chanting the holy names “HARE KRISHNA HARE KRISHNA KRISHNA KRISHNA HARE HARE HARE RAMA HARE RAMA RAMA RAMA HARE HARE”.
The supremely merciful lord Jagannath comes out of his temple on the road to give his darsan to the people of Kaliyuga who are always busy with their electronic gadgets and don’t have time to visit the temple.
In Jammu this rath yatra festival has been held for last 3 years, and once again to give darshans to the people of Jammu , lord Jagannatha is coming on 18th of april 2015. All the jammuities are requested to attend this grand event and collect the mercy of lord Jagannatha. Hari bol………
(The author is ISKON Rath Yatra Member).
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