though, see it as a reality to believe it. The Lord will be visible to
the naked eyes at the New ISKCON Centre at Kamala Nagar in Agra.
Devotees eager to witness this grant consecration ceremony- a feast to
the eye, ear and tongue- may please join us.
Rathayatra
From : Sri Mano-Kameswar Mandir, Agra
To : Sanjay Place, Agra
Date : Friday, the 17 September 2010
Time : 1.00 PM
Organiser : International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON)
Founder Acarya : His Divine Grace A. C, Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.
Contract : Hari Vijaya Das, Mobile : 09897538392
The immaculate deities of the trio-siblings- Jagannath, Baldev and Subhadra- reached Agra at the New ISKCON Centre opened recently as a
branch of the ISKCON Vrindavan. Our supplications first to the Lord.
The Lord journeyed in Utkal Express from Bhubaneswar to Agra. The Lords were scheduled to travel in AC, but at the last moment decided to
move with the public in 3 tier with no reservation, for They had the
least thoughts to stake Their sublime state of equanimity right from
start. The Divine Triplets were dropped out at Dholpur to alter their
attire. The redressed Divinities stood out for darshan to the public
for a brief while and then proceeded to Agra seated in an open
mini-truck accompanied by a sankirtana party. The Lord gave darshan to
several devotees on either side of the pass way. The Trio were greeted
by a large crowd of devotes at many places in Agra. A procession of 51
cars accompanied the Lord’s carrier from Agra Stadium and a band too
joined soon after. Wherever the Lords gave darshan, palatable prasadams
and sweet drinks were offered in plenty to the pious gatherings. The
welcome songs to Jagannath and the Hare Krishna mahamntra vibrated the
air and thrilled the crowd. The Lord’s journey stretched around
5-6 hours to reach at the New Sri Jagannath Mandir, the new preaching
centre for the ISKCON devotees.
Significance of Rathayatra :
Intricate sentiments symbolise the grand rathayatra festivities connecting the event with the return of Lord Krsna to Vrindavan from
His pompous life in Dwaraka to meet His heart throbs. The palace of
Dwaraka represents the residence of Jagannath, an enticing enactment of
Lord Krsna’s scintillating pastime. At Puri, Krsna and His fraternal
associates dwell as living Deities to wipe off the sufferings of His
devotees in this mutilated age of kaliyuga. The Gundicha represents the
Vrindavana, where His eternal associates Radharani, the gopis and gopas
dwell. The visit of Jagannath to Gundicha symbolises the visit of
Syamasundara to meet His youthful associates of Vrindavan and the seven
days stay there reminds His enchanting moments of rasa-lila with the
loving company of their association. Many have enacted this colourful
event and many have coined articulating words of gesture to glorify
their touching love of Lord with the glories of Vrindavana.
Engrossed in separation with Radharani, Lord Krsna travelled to Kurukshetra from Dwaraka accompanied by Balarama and Subhadra and met
Radharani, His ever loving friend in Goloka Vrindavan. Dragged in
ecstatic love, Krsna was arrested in sentiments and His limbs dragged
in his body. Lord Caitanya was the manifest love of Radharani and He
carrying Jagannath to Gundicha reminds Radharani wanting to take away
Lord Krsna from Dwaraka to Vrindavan.
The Rathayatra became so famous because Lord Krishna-Balaram’s appearance of Gaura-Nitai. Lord Caitanya’s ecstatic dance half a
millennium ago created sensational ethos in the minds of the people and
it continued and it spread far and wide across the globe. The
Madhya-lila (13.1-2) with the translation of Srila Prabhupad tells,
sa jiyat krsna-caitanyah shri-rathagre nanarta yah
yenasij jagatam citram jagannatho api vismitah
“May the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Sri Krsna Caitanya, who danced in front of the car of Sri Jagannath, be all glorified! By
seeing His dancing, not only was the whole universe held in wonder, but
Lord Jagannath Himself became very much astonished.”
jaya jaya sri-krsna-caitanya nityananda
jayadvaita-candra jaya gaura-bhakta-vrinda
“All glories to Sri Krsna Caitanya and Prabhu Nityananda! All glories to Advaitacarya! And all glories to the devotees of Lord Sri
Caitanya Mahaprabhu!”
The glories of Rathayatra :
The Narada Purana (uttara kanda 52.12) reveals the conversation between Lord Narayana and Lakshmidevi about Purushottama kshetra
(Jagannath Puri),
pratimam tatra tam drstva svayam devena nirmitam
anayasena vai yanti bhavanam me tato narau
“A person who sees the Deities there built by the Lord Himself will easily find the path to reach My abode.” Anyone seeing the Deities of
Lord Krsna, Balarama and Subhadra at Jagannath Puri during their
leisure outage of rathayatra means buying a ticket to reach the Supreme
Abode of Vaikuntha, the eternal world of no worries. The Lord promises
that His devotees who take all pains to gather at Puri during the
rathayatra will be rid off their miseries and may reach the eternal
abode of Goloka Vrindavana and enjoy their life in association with
Lord Krsna, Radharani and their close accomplices.
It is said that the participants in the festivities will be blessed immensely by Lord Jagannath (Krsna) such as (1) By the sight of
Jagannath’s merciful large two eye globes, the devotee will be blessed
with astute purity of mind and spiritual elevation; (2) Observing the
rathayatra will dissipate the sins committed by the embodied person in
the past births; (3) The accompanying person in the rathayatra will
receive opulence at par with Lord Vishnu even if he hails from a poor
family; (4) Dancing, singing and chanting in the rathayatra entourage,
the participant will be elevated to a level superior to yogis; and (5)
Active participation in the rathayatra by any means will receive the
utmost blessings of Lord Jagannath.
The glories of rathayatra are inimical to imprint in mind the symbolic love of God to His devotees. Srila Prabhupada said, “If you
participate in these car festivals, as stated in the scriptures, rathe
ca vanam drstva punar janma na vidyate…. If you kindly see these
Jagannath deities riding on these cars or these processions, and as
Caitanya Mahaprabhu chanted the Hare Krsna mantra in front of this car,
then according to the Vedic scripture, in your next life you’ll go
back, back to Godhead.” Those who participate in the festival have a
food for thought in the years to come and it may drag down even to the
final moments of their life to affix the attention in the eventful
pastimes of Jagannath as Krsna tells in Bhagavad Gita (8.5-6),
anta-kale ca mam eva smaran muktva kalevaram
yah prayati sa mad-bhavam yati nasty-atra samshayah
yam yam vapi smaran bhavam tyajaty-ante kalevaram
tam tam evaiti kaunteya sada tad bhava bhavitah
“Towards the end of life and at the time of departing the body, he who remembers Me will undoubtedly attain My nature. Whatever a living
being thinks at the time of leaving his body, that alone he attains for
being always absorbed in that state.” Those devotees who always chant
and prostrate at the holy feet of Lord Jagannath uttering the
mahamantra (HARE KRSNA HARE KRSNA KRSNA KRSNA; HARE HARE HARE RAMA HARE
RAMA RAMA RAMA HARE HARE) ordained by the Lord Krsna Himself in the
form of Caitanya Mahaprabhu and propagated all over the world by Srila
Prabhupada will be blessed with perfect devotion to God forever, which
is said to be superior to liberation.
nilacala nivasaya nitwaya paramatmane
balabhadra subhadrabhyang jagnnathayate namaha
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