Glories of Jagannath Puri Dhama |
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Some of you are contemplating a visit to Jagannath Puri. Wonderful! To help you focus, here is a short glorification of Puri, the place where Lord Purushottam (the best of persons), resides in His form as Jagannath. This glorification comes from the Caitanya-bhagavat: Seeing from afar the flag of the Jagannath temple, Caitanya Mahaprabhu plunged into an ocean of bliss. The wonderful, indescribable Lord Caitanya roared loudly. His entire body trembled. He looked and looked in the direction of the temple, and as His steps followed His eyes He recited a verse. In this way Caitanya Mahaprabhu enjoyed His pastimes. Now please listen attentively to half of the verse that came from His graceful mouth: “Standing before the temple, a smiling gopa boy with a lotus face gazes at Me.”* Repeating this verse again and again, Caitanya Mahaprabhu became agitated. Even Ananta Shesha with His millions of tongues cannot describe how bitterly the Lord wept in separation on that day as He gazed at the temple’s flag and recited the verse. Again and again He fell to the ground, and in this way He offered dandavat obeisances over and over. As He traveled on the path to the temple, He showed His pure ecstatic love in this way. Therefore, I say that He is spiritual love personified, descended to this world. Only Caitanya Mahaprabhu, and no one else, has the power to act as He did. Seeing Him, the pious people on the path said, “He must be Lord Narayana Himself.” Surrounding Him in the four directions, the devotees found their eyes flooded with tears of bliss. Most people took an hour and a half to travel that part of the road. Overcome with ecstatic love, Caitanya Mahaprabhu took nine hours to travel the same distance. “Then coming to Atharanala, Caitanya Mahaprabhu stopped His ecstasy. Becoming peaceful, He sat down with His companions and humbly said, ‘You have been good friends to Me because You have brought Me to see Lord Jagannath. Will you go ahead to see Him, or should I go ahead.’ Mukunda replied, “You go ahead.” “Good,” Caitanya Mahaprabhu said, and He moved ahead. His gait defeating the movements of wild lions, Caitanya Mahaprabhu quickly entered the city of Jagannath Puri. Anyone who hears of His entrance into Puri will find himself floating in a stream of ecstatic love. Caitanya Mahaprabhu Arrives in Puri By the Lord’s will, Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya had, at that moment, also come eagerly to see Lord Jagannath. Caitanya Mahaprabhu, the life of all the worlds, gazed at Jagannath, Balaram, and Subhadra and, roaring, yearned to embrace Them. Agitated by bliss, Caitanya Mahaprabhu leaped again and again. Tears flowed from His eyes. A moment later He fell to the floor, fainting in ecstasy. Who can understand His fathomless nature? The foolish guards stood to beat the Lord. Seeing the danger, Sarvabhauma threw himself across Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s back and the guards stepped back in fear. In his heart, saintly Sarvabhauma thought, “No mere human being has such love. His roaring and flooding stream of tears show power beyond what is possible in the material world. Perhaps this person is Sri Krishna Caitanya.” Simply by seeing Lord Jagannath and His dear associates, Caitanya Mahaprabhu fainted. Into what bliss was the king of Vaikuntha plunged? Even the Vedas personified found it difficult to know. It was Caitanya Mahaprabhu Himself, in the forms of His catur-vyuha expansions, who was happily seated on the altar. That same Lord had now become His own worshiper, filled with devotion. Who can understand His power? Still, Caitanya Mahaprabhu knows the truth about Himself. All this is explained in the Vedas, especially in the Srimad-Bhagavatam. The Vedas declare that Caitanya Mahaprabhu revealed His pastimes to deliver conditioned souls. To save them He plunged into the ecstasy a Vaisnava feels and swam in the ocean of ecstatic love. External consciousness was far away. Sarvabhauma protected the Lord and did not break His ecstatic swoon. Finally, he thought, “I should bring Caitanya Mahaprabhu to my home.” He called out, “Guards! Brothers! Pick up this jewel of men!” The servants who carry Lord Jagannatha during the Pandu-vijaya ceremony then picked up Caitanya Mahaprabhu and carried Him to Sarvabhauma’s home. As the Lord was carried, jubilant shouts of “Hari! Hari!” filled the four directions. The Lord’s Associates Arrive At that moment the Lord’s associates arrived at the Simhadwara gate and, with joyful hearts, met Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Filled with wonder, everyone gazed at Him. They carried Him, passing Him from one to another, as a line of ants carries a grain of rice. In this way many persons carried Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Everyone was filled with bliss. At the Simha-dwara gate, Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s associates bowed before Him, then happily followed Him as He was carried to Sarvabhauma’s home. When Caitanya Mahaprabhu was carried in, His associates followed. The doors were closed to everyone else. In this way the Lord’s associates met the Lord again. With a happy heart, Sarvabhauma gazed at Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s associates, speaking properly and politely to them. He invited them to sit, and they destroyed his doubts, making saintly Sarvabhauma happy. Who was more fortunate than he? All the Vedas declare his glories because the Supreme Personality of Godhead came spontaneously to his home. Saintly Sarvabhauma gazed at Nityananda Prabhu then humbly touched the dust of His feet. Accompanied by some of Sarvabhauma’s men, Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s associates went to see Lord Jagannath. When they arrived, the men who were accompanying them folded their hands and spoke an appeal: “Please be peaceful when you see Lord Jagannath. Please don’t faint as your master did. We do not know what kind of people you are, but please be peaceful when you see the Lord. Only if you promise this will we take you to see Him. Only one of your group arrived previously, and it is fortunate that Lord Jagannath is still on His throne. Must we say more? You saw what happened yourselves. Is it possible that any other person could have fallen like that and kept his life within his body? The descriptions we heard of His ecstasies were all beyond our understanding. Therefore please remain peaceful. This we beg of you.” Hearing their words, the devotees smiled and said, “Don’t worry.” Then they entered the temple and joyfully gazed at chatur-vyuha Jagannath. Everyone wept as they looked upon Him. Then they offered dandavat obeisances, circumambulated the altar, and recited prayers. The brahmana priest took garlands from the Lord’s neck and happily placed them around the devotees’ necks. Accepting the garlands with happy hearts, the devotees then quickly returned to Sarvabhauma’s home. Meanwhile, Caitanya Mahaprabhu was still unconscious in ecstasy and had not manifest even a sesame seed’s worth of external consciousness. Sarvabhauma sat at His feet. The devotees chanted, “Rama! Krishna!” in the four directions. Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s nature and pastimes are all inconceivable. For nine hours He did not manifest external consciousness. Then suddenly, He who is the life of the worlds, opened His eyes. The devotees called out, “Hari!” Now peaceful, Caitanya Mahaprabhu asked them, “What happened to me today? You saw it. Please tell me.” Finally, Nityananda Prabhu told Caitanya Mahaprabhu, “Simply by seeing Lord Jagannath, you fell unconscious. Sarvabhauma was there by divine arrangement, and he picked you up and brought you to his home. Overcome with ecstasy, you were unconscious for nine hours today. The person bowing before you is Sarvabhauma.” Caitanya Mahaprabhu at once embraced Sarvabhauma and said, “Lord Jagannath is very merciful. He brought me to your home. In my heart I wondered how I could meet you. Now Lord Krishna has easily fulfilled my desire.” Speaking these words, Caitanya Mahaprabhu glanced at Sarvabhauma and smiled. Then He said, “Please hear the story of what happened to me today. Today I approached Lord Jagannatha and gazed upon Him. In my heart I yearned to embrace Him, holding Him to my chest. I was about to embrace Him, but after that I do not know what happened. By the Lord’s will Sarvabhauma was there and protected me from great danger. I vow that from today on I will gaze at Lord Jagannath only from outside. I will not enter the temple. Staying behind the Garuda stambha, I will gaze at the Supreme Personality of Godhead from there. I am fortunate that I did not embrace Lord Jagannath today because a great calamity would have befallen me.” Then Nityananda Prabhu said, “You avoided a great calamity. It is no longer daytime. You should bathe at once.” Caitanya Mahaprabhu replied, “Nityananda, You should always protect me. I place my body in your care.” After spending a few moments bathing, Caitanya Mahaprabhu, His face smiling with ecstatic love, sat down before everyone. Sarvabhauma quickly brought many types of maha-prasada and placed them before Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Bowing before the maha-prasada, Caitanya Mahaprabhu sat down to eat with His associates. He said, “Give me a big portion of mixed vegetables. Give the laddus and nectar drinks to the others.” After speaking these words, Caitanya Mahaprabhu, now tasting the nectar of ecstatic love, ate the mixed vegetables as all the devotees smiled. Sarvabhauma was the Lord’s personal associate birth after birth. If this were not so, he could not have attained this good fortune. Then Sarvabhauma brought rice on a golden plate, placed it before the Lord, and the Lord ate it. In the future, Vedavyasa will describe the pastimes of ecstatic love Caitanya Mahaprabhu enjoyed as He honored prasad. After enjoying endless bliss in His pastime of honoring prasad, Caitanya Mahaprabhu sat down with His associates surrounding Him on all four sides. The Blessing Anyone who hears these descriptions of Caitanya Mahaprabhu enjoying the happy pastimes of honoring prasad in Jagannath Puri will attain Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s association. In this chapter of Antya-khanda, Caitanya Mahaprabhu goes to Jagannath Puri. Anyone who hears these pastimes will swim in a stream of ecstatic love. The two moons, Sri Krishna Caitanya and Sri Nityananda, are my life and soul. I, Vrindavan Das, sing the glories of Their feet. [Excerpted from Srila Vrindavan Das Thakur, “Return to Bhubhaneswara, Jagannath Puri, and Other Places,” in Sri Caitanya-bhagavat, Adi-khanda, ch. 2, verses 405–503. Translated by Kusakratha Das.] Notes About Puri Today Recently, the pandas (priests at the Jagannath temple) appear to have improved their relationships with ISKCON devotees. Due to caste consciousness, ISKCON devotees not born in Indian bodies have been forbidden to enter the main temple and many of the temples in the area. His Holiness Radhanath Swami writes, “We had a very wonderful yatra to Sri Puridham. About 2,000 devotees from our congregation and temple attended the Ratha-yatra. We had kirtan at the chariot of Jagannathdev during the procession. This year the procession went for two days by Lord Jagannath’s causeless mercy. The first day there were about 800,000 people, but our kirtan was overwhelmingly ecstatic without disturbance from the crowds. The second day it was like an ISKCON Ratha-yatra in Puri. We were the only kirtan party present, and the pandas and police gave two of the ropes for pulling Lord Jagannath’s chariot exclusively to our devotees. The next day in the early morning, each of our devotees was brought up to all three chariots for darshan. The dayitapatis also mercifully pulled me to the top of all three chariots and placed my head at the lotus feet of each Deity. We had nice kathas and visits to the holy places as well.” A week or so ago, Candramauli Maharaja visited Goloka Dhama and showed us pictures of this Ratha-yatra. Unbelievable! Tip: If you can join the yearly Ratha-Yatra in Puri in the association of the devotees from the Radha-Gopinatha temple, under the able guidance of His Holiness Radhanath Swami, please take the opportunity. P.S. When I wrote this article several years ago, I did not know that my own chance would come to attend the Ratha-yatra. I attended in summer 2006. Please see my article about that pilgrimage on this website. It was simply ecstatic! |
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