From Article 3/4

The brahmana went inside with his tools, and locked the door from inside. For fourteen days there was no sound, and Indradyumna Maharaja became very worried. He thought, "What can be the matter? The brahmana has not taken a drop of water or anything to eat this entire time. Perhaps he is dead." His Prime Minister then told him, "Don't open the door. There is some mystery behind this. Only open it after twenty-one days; not before." However, his wife pleaded with him, "If you don't open the door now, the brahmana may die and we will be guilty of brahma-hatya (the sin of killing a brahmana). We must open the door. Please hurry."

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The Lord manifests Himself

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The King replied, "The brahmana told me not to open it before twenty-one days have elapsed. How can I open it?" She beseeched him again and again, and finally the King called for his carpenters to cut away the locks; he opened the doors forcibly and entered.



Inside the hall, the King was struck with wonder, for he could not see the brahmana. "Where is the brahmana Maharana?" he asked. The four deities Jagannatha, Baladeva, Subhadra, and Sudarsana cakra were there, but they had not been fully completed. Their eyes and noses were only round shapes, their arms were not full-length, and their hands and feet were not completed nothing was completed. The King began to weep. Opening up his heart to his Prime Minister, he said, "I have committed an offense by breaking my promise. Now what shall I do?" Weeping, he again wanted to commit suicide.



In another account, perhaps in another creation, when the King opened the door, the brahmana was present and at once told him, "Why have you come in the middle of my work? Now only fourteen days have passed. I wanted another seven days to make the vigrahas very beautiful. Why did you open the door? Now there are only round eyes. Well, I think it must be the wish of God Himself Jagannatha. Otherwise I would have been able to complete the task, and you would not have interrupted me." Saying this, the carpenter disappeared, and at that time the King and his associates knew that he was not simply a brahmana carpenter he was Krsna Himself. They began to lament in separation.



The deity then ordered the King through His aerial voice, "Don't worry. There is a mystery behind this. I desired to manifest like this, and there is a very deep reason for it. Keep Me in the temple and begin to worship Me in the form of these deities." Jagannatha continued, "Please carry out My orders. Visvavasu and his son-in-law Vidyapati will worship Me, along with Vidyapati's two wives. The sons of Vidyapati's brahmana wife will take turns to worship, and the sons of his sabara wife will cook many varieties of preparations. Many dayitas in the dynasty of Visvavasu will serve Me for ten days during a Ratha-yatra Festival. Only they will worship Me at that time; no one else will perform the worship. They alone will take Baladeva, Subhadra, and Me on chariots, and they will bring us to Gundica Mandira. Make a festival for ten days beginning from today, and take these chariots to the Gundica Mandira."



It was due to the request of Queen Gundica that the events of this pastime unfolded as they did, which is why the mandira was named after her. Thakurji continued, "We will remain there for those days, and then you may take us back. You should perform many festivals, like Snana-yatra, Chandana-yatra, Hera-pancami, and so on."



During Candana-yatra, Jagannatha's entire body is covered with candana for many days. At that time, the vijaya-vigraha deity known as Govinda is placed on a very beautiful boat in Narendra-sarovara, and His boat pastimes take place. Then, during Snana-yatra, the deity receives abhiseka from thousands of pitchers of water brought from all the holy places in India, and His bath is so long that he becomes sick. His stomach becomes upset and He falls ill. At that time, Laksmi takes Him to her palace and closes the door for fifteen days. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu could not survive without the deity, and therefore He went to Alalanatha and cried, "Where is Krsna? Where is Krsna?" He became mad, so much so that when He touched the stones at Alalanatha they melted. Wherever He offered his pranama wherever His hands, head, and other limbs were placed their impressions became visible in that piece of stone.



Only the dayitas, the family of Visvavasu Sabara, can serve Jagannatha at the time of Ratha-yatra. Actually, there are two kinds of servants. One is coming from the dynasty of Vidyapati's original brahmana wife, and these devotees do arcana and seva. Those who descend from Lalita are called supakara (excellent cooks), because Jagannatha has accepted them as His cooks even though they are of a low-class birth. They very quickly and easily cook not less than one hundred mounds of rice and dahl, and a variety of other preparations. They are expert in using many stoves, and they place at least twenty-five earthen pots on one stove.



The King prayed, "O Thakurji, I want a boon so that I may serve You."



Thakurji replied, "What boon do you want?"



The King said, "I desire that there should be neither sons nor daughters in my dynasty. I do not want any children. I know You will grant my desire."



Thakurji smiled and asked, "Why don't you want children?"



The King replied, "After I die, they will quarrel over money, and they will have no interest in serving You. So much money will come for Your service, and they will think, 'This property is mine' or 'Jagannatha is my property.' I don't want any of my family members to think, 'This temple is mine, Jagannatha, Baladeva, and Subhadra are my property, and all the money coming as pranami (donations) is therefore mine to enjoy.' If they think in that way, they will use everything for their own sense gratification and go to hell."



The King therefore requested, "There should be no one to take even a single paisa. You are the owner. You Yourself should depute those who will serve you. The managers should regularly be changed, and they should be servants, like trustees." A trustee is one who can be trusted to serve without any desire for self-gain. The King of Orissa is always the trustee, and someone else is selected after him. They are not actually kings, in the sense that they cannot take a farthing or a paisa for themselves. If they were to, they would be ruined.



Upon hearing the King's words, Jagannatha began to smile, and thus the Ratha-yatra Festival began.

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Sri Jagannatha Swami ki JAI !!!

ISKCON Mira Road will celebrate Sri Sri Jagannath Rath Yatra Mahotsava on the 27th June, 2006, Tuesday. An inviation mail will be sent to you shortly!

For more details contact: 2845 4667/72

Email: [email protected]