Chapter One of the book The Origin of Ratha-yātrā, by Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja

 

Today is the day of the Jagannātha Chariot Festival. What is the meaning behind this festival? Our heart is like a chariot, and we pray to Kṛṣṇa, “Please come and sit in my heart.” This is how the gopīs prayed to Him at Kurukṣetra: “You should come and sit in our hearts. Our hearts are Vṛndāvana.”

The first history of the appearance of Lord Jagannātha is given in the Skanda Purāṇa, as well as in the Padma Purāṇa, the Puruṣottama-māhātmya, and The Diary of Jagannātha. The particular version presented here is from the Skanda Purāṇa and the Puruṣottama-māhātmya. There are minor differences in the versions from the other scriptures, but the history is the same.

In Satya-yuga, there lived a King named Indradyumna Mahārāja, and his wife was Guṇḍicā. That King reigned at the beginning of the first half of Lord Brahmā’s day when Brahmā first created the material world by the mercy of Kṛṣṇa and with the help of Mahāmāyā. He lived in middle India, in the ancient city of Avantī Nagarī in Ujjain, where Sāndīpani Muni taught Kṛṣṇa. He and his queen were very religious and advanced devotees, and although they were royalty, they were always engaged in the service of Bhagavān. That King wanted to see the Supreme Personality of Godhead with his own eyes, and he continually waited for an opportunity. He always prayed, “When will a day come that I will see my Lord?”

The King used to receive and host travellers from the various holy places of the world, especially those in India, in the compound of his palace. One day, some pilgrims came and spent the night there. They had just come from an exalted holy place (tīrtha) and had taken darśana of the beautiful four-handed Nīla-mādhava; now they discussed among themselves the glories of that deity. A brāhmaṇa devotee overheard their conversation and informed the King’s minister about it, and he, in turn, informed the King and made him aware of the deity’s beauty. He told the King, “Anyone who receives Nīla-mādhava’s darśana will not have to return to this world and will be liberated forever. He will attain a four-handed form and become an associate of Nārāyaṇa in Vaikuṇṭha. Even if someone vows, ‘I will go to His temple to see Him tomorrow,’ but dies that day without reaching the temple, he will still go to Vaikuṇṭha and attain a four-handed form.”

The King wondered, “How can I obtain the darśana of Nīla-mādhava? Where is He located?” He wanted to ask the pilgrims, “Where can I find Him?” but they had departed during the night, so he became upset and decided to somehow search for the deity. He called Vidyāpati, the very intelligent son of his priest and his officials and commanders, and ordered them to search in different directions: “Some of you go to the east, others to the west, others south, and so on. You should all return within three months. I will give vast wealth and an important position to the one who informs me of the deity’s whereabouts.” In this way, all the officials enthusiastically set out in all directions from Madhya Pradesh. Vidyāpati, who was very young and handsome and possessed all good qualities, went toward the east.

After three months, they had all returned except Vidyāpati, and the King was worried because no one knew where he was. Vidyāpati had gone to the east coast of India, near the Indian Ocean, and there he travelled continually, searching and searching for Nīla-mādhava. One day, on the ocean’s shore, he saw a beautiful village at the foot of a mountain, which was covered with flowers and trees. The residents were very cultured. The evening was approaching, and he decided to stay in that village, so he told some residents, “I would like to rest here tonight.” They replied, “Viśvavasu is the prominent leader of this village. He is a śabara (a lower caste), but he is very qualified and religious-minded, and he is also intelligent, humble, and liberal. Whenever any traveller or guest comes, he visits Viśvavasu’s house, so you must go there.”

When Vidyāpati arrived, Viśvavasu was not at home. Only his very beautiful sixteen-year-old daughter, Lalitā, was there. She opened the door and said, “You can wait for my father because he is not here. He has gone out, but when he returns home, he will arrange everything. Kindly wait outside.” After some time, Viśvavasu arrived. A very sweet fragrance emanated from his body, and he wore very beautiful and aromatic tilaka. He became ashamed when he saw his guest and said, “Oh, excuse me for returning so late. Now you may come in.” He and his daughter took their guest inside. Very happy to see that beautiful personality, Viśvavasu told him, “You can reside here for some days.” Then he told his daughter, “Take care of this brāhmaṇa. Give him food and everything else he requires, and look after him in all respects. There should be no lack of anything.”

Vidyāpati took his meal and rested there. He smelled a beautiful fragrance in the house, especially when the master of the house was home, and he wondered, “Where does that beautiful fragrance come from? I have never smelled anything like it in my entire life. And that girl is so beautiful. I should wait here for a few days, and it may be that I can find Nīla-mādhava.” He then began searching here and there for some days.

Lalitā was now regularly serving him, and gradually, she became attached to him. Vidyāpati developed a close friendship with her, and after some time, he fell in love with her. He was already married to someone else, but he still had great affection for Lalitā, so he requested that she ask her father to allow him to marry her. She asked her father, and he agreed, and Vidyāpati became Viśvavasu’s son-in-law.

Viśvavasu used to go out every day and returned fresh and fragrant in the evening. One day, Vidyāpati privately told his wife, “My dear, now you are my wife, and I have great faith in you. Can you tell me where your father goes every day to perform worship, and where that fragrance comes from? Please tell me.”

Lalitā replied, “I cannot say. My father ordered me, ‘Do not tell anyone where I go. Keep it secret – very, very secret.”

Vidyāpati said, “You cannot tell me? You are one with me, nondifferent from me. You must tell me because I am your husband.”

She replied, “Then you must promise you will never tell anyone.”

Vidyāpati then said, “A wife should not speak like this. You are a chaste wife, so you must tell me.” He then became silent.

Lalitā said, “I will tell you. He goes to worship a deity.”

“Which deity?” Vidyāpati asked.

She replied, “I promised not to tell, but I will tell you because you are my husband. He goes to worship Nīla-mādhava.”

Vidyāpati became very happy and thought, “After such a long time, I have finally heard the name Nīla-mādhava. Nīla-mādhava must be somewhere nearby.” He showed so much love and affection to his wife that she revealed everything to him, and he then requested her, “Please ask your father to take his son-in-law with him.”

She said, “Yes, I will help you.”

After her father returned from worship in the evening and had taken prasāda, Lalitā approached him and sat on his lap. She told him with much love and affection, “My dear father, I want one benediction from you.”

He replied, “Oh, very good. I desire to give you a benediction. What do you want?”

She told him, “I want something very special. I know you will hesitate to give this to me, but I want it.”

Her father asked, “What do you want?”

She replied, “O father, I desire that you take my husband to see Nīla-mādhava. He wants to take darśana.”

Viśvavasu pondered whether or not to take him. Worried that if he brought anyone, the deity might be taken or vanish, Viśvavasu hesitated. When Lalitā saw that he was not very willing, she said, “If you do not show Nīla-mādhava to my husband, I will take poison and die right in front of you. Your objection means that you do not consider me your loving daughter.” And she prepared herself to take poison.

These are the most powerful weapons of ladies: “I will die,” “I will take poison,” “I will commit suicide.” What will a husband or father say then? Of course, he will say, “Oh, you can have whatever you want.”

Viśvavasu was now in a dilemma and thought, “What shall I do? I must save my only daughter. I must give her this benediction.”

He said, “I don’t want you to die. I will take your husband with me and show him Nīla-mādhava, but there is one condition. I will tightly bind his eyes with a black cloth, and when we reach there, I will remove it so he can take darśana. After that, I will put on the blindfold again. So he will have darśana but not know where he is.”

Lalitā then went to her husband and told him, “Father has agreed to take you. He will blindfold you during the journey there, but never mind.” Vidyāpati was overjoyed and agreed to wear the blindfold. After that, she told her father, “Yes, you can bind his eyes with a black cloth.” Later, when seated on the bullock cart, Viśvavasu placed the black cloth over Vidyāpati’s eyes. Lalitā, being very clever and intelligent, gave her husband some mustard seeds and said, “Keep these in your pocket. Now it is the rainy season. You can drop them one after another along the way. After some time, those mustard seeds will grow into plants producing bright yellow flowers. Then you can follow the flowers and go there yourself; you will not have to ask my father the way.”

Viśvavasu then took Vidyāpati along a zigzag route on the bullock cart. Vidyāpati dropped the mustard seeds one by one on the ground without his father-in-law knowing. When they arrived at the foot of the mountain, they left the bullock cart there, and Viśvavasu took Vidyāpati by the hand and led him to the temple of Nīla-mādhava on the top of the mountain. When they entered the temple, Viśvavasu removed the blindfold so that Vidyāpati could see Nīla-mādhava. The deity was four-handed, and He carried the śaṅkha (conch), cakra (disc), gadā (club), and padma (lotus flower). He was very beautiful, but unlike Nanda-nandana Kṛṣṇa, He had no flute and no peacock feather – He was more like Nārāyaṇa. Nārāyaṇa is very beautiful, but Kṛṣṇa is the most beautiful of all.

Vidyāpati became very happy and wept, thinking, “I have been searching for Him for such a long time — so many months — and now I am satisfied. My life is now successful.” Viśvavasu then told him, “Wait here a while. I am going to the forest to bring flowers and other paraphernalia to worship Him. Then I will offer vandana and other articles, perform arcana, and then we will return home.”

While Vidyāpati waited, he noticed a beautiful lake with lotus flowers, humming bees, and sweetly singing birds. The branches of a mango tree hung over the lake, and a black crow sleeping on one branch fell in. Immediately, his soul appeared with four hands. Then Garuḍa quickly came, took that very beautiful and glorious four-handed personality on his back, and flew to Vaikuṇṭha. Vidyāpati thought, “Oh! With no practice in bhakti, he very quickly went to Vaikuṇṭha. He never did anything auspicious. He was impure – a crow – eating flesh and other abominable things. Yet, simply falling into the pond, he became four-handed and went to Vaikuṇṭha. Why should I remain here?” He also wanted to climb the tree, jump into the lake to attain a four-handed form and go to Vaikuṇṭha. “I should not wait another moment,” he thought, and at once climbed the tree. When he was about halfway up the tree, however, an aerial voice called to him, “Don’t commit suicide just so that you can be liberated and go to Vaikuṇṭha. You must perform many important services for the world’s benefit, so don’t die. Be patient. Everything will be accomplished. Return to Mahārāja Indradyumna at once and tell him that Nīla-mādhava is here.”

In the meantime, Viśvavasu returned with many flowers and other paraphernalia and said to Vidyāpati, “Oh, come join me.” He had no idea what had happened. Viśvavasu prepared candana and other ingredients, and throughout the whole day, he performed worship, offered prayers, and engaged in many other devotional activities. All the residents of that village were known as dayitās, which means those who are very near and dear to Kṛṣṇa. Viśvavasu was known as dayitā-pati, the master of all those who are near and dear. He served in this way, although he was a śabara. He was fully surrendered and always called out, “Nīla-mādhava!” Now, Vidyāpati was also very much charmed with the deity’s glories; seeing the worship of Nīla-mādhava performed by his father-in-law, he became overjoyed.

When Viśvavasu had completed his services, he again covered Vidyāpati’s eyes with the blindfold, and they departed. After some hours, travelling again in that zigzag way, they reached their home. Then (in a dream) Viśvavasu heard Nīla-mādhava tell him, “You have served Me for a long time. Now I want to take the royal service of a high-class devotee named Indradyumna Mahārāja. Don’t be afraid and don’t worry.” Viśvavasu, however, immediately became upset and thought, “Oh, Ṭhākurajī will go to Mahārāja Indradyumna? I cannot bear the thought of separation. This boy will return and tell the King, and the King will come and take Nīla-mādhava.” He then practically arrested Vidyāpati and imprisoned him in one room of his house.

Vidyāpati could go nowhere and told his wife, “Please help me. I want to return to Madhya Pradesh very soon. I have promised my King, who wants to come with his whole family, to serve Nīla-mādhava. Please help me. You are my wife – my other half.”

Lalitā agreed and said, “You can go. I will help you.” She then told her father, “If you do not release him from this jail, I will commit suicide at once.” She was ready to commit suicide, so her father’s heart melted in compassion, and he released Vidyāpati. Now free, Vidyāpati assured his wife, “I will return soon. Don’t worry.” He then quickly left and proceeded towards Indradyumna’s kingdom.

He walked continually until he finally arrived back in Avanti Nagarī. He had been gone for over six months, and King Indradyumna became very happy when he heard from Vidyāpati, “I have discovered Nīla-mādhava. Please come with me.” The King decided, “I shall go with my entire kingdom, wealth, wife, and soldiers and commanders.” He wanted to bring Nīla-mādhava to his kingdom, to worship Him for the rest of his life. Proceeding from Ujjain, he reached about a hundred miles south of Purī. But when he reached there, there were no mustard seed flowers. There was also no hill and no village, for by the desire of Nīla-mādhava, the entire village was covered with over a hundred feet of sand. Everything was covered, including the hill, and Nīla-mādhava was not there. 

The King wept. He sat on a straw mat facing the ocean and decided, “I will take nothing to eat until I have darśana of Nīla-mādhava; if I do not see Him, I will die. I came with my entire kingdom, wealth, wife, and family, but I did not get the darśana of the Lord. Oh, I must give up my life.” He chanted, “Nīla-mādhava! Nīla-mādhava! Nīla-mādhava!” and while remembering the Lord, an aerial voice called to him, “I will not come, but do not worry. I will not come here to give you darśana, but you can see Me. I am sending Brahmā. You should come with Brahmā to Vaikuṇṭha, and there you can take My darśana. In this world, I will not give you darśana in the shape of Nīla-mādhava, but I will manifest in four forms: Jagannātha, Baladeva, Subhadrā, and Sudarśana cakra. Wait near the sea where Bāṅki-mūhāṇa is located.” This place is presently known as Cakra-tīrtha, and it is by the part of the ocean known as the Bay of Bengal, where the water moves towards West Bengal. “Go there and wait, and dāru-brahma (Bhagavān in the form of wood) will come. He will manifest in the form of a very large, fragrant, reddish log, and the signs of śaṅkha, cakra, gadā, and padma will be seen everywhere in that form. Go there. Take Me out and make four deities from that log. Then you will be able to worship Me.”

Brahmā quickly came and took the King with him to Vaikuṇṭha, where he could freely gaze at Nīla-mādhava as He conversed with His associates. The King became even more attached and wept, and then Brahmā told him, “Let us go. He will not come to Earth in this form, but He will come in four forms. Let us now go to the place that He has designated and wait for Him there.”

In the meantime, while the King was gone, many years passed, and the world changed. Before going, he had constructed a very large and beautiful high temple, but now it was covered in sand. The sand had been removed many times, but the temple had become old and dilapidated. A new King had come and repaired it, and he had declared, “I am the builder of this temple.” Now that King Indradyumna had returned, he told the new King, “This is not yours; I have built it, so I am the owner of this temple. You have only made repairs.” There was a crow named Kākabhuśuṇḍi, who had been witness to the pastimes of Rāmacandra and also King Indradyumna’s building the temple, and now he testified on the King’s behalf. Brahmā also came forward and agreed, “This King has built the temple. You have only repaired it.” In this way, King Indradyumna again became the master.

Somehow, by Kṛṣṇa’s mercy, the King’s wife was there. He had no children, so only he and his wife were there. The King and his new associates and army waited for the deity, and at last, he saw the red tree trunk, marked everywhere with śaṅkha, cakra, gadā, and padma. He approached that trunk with his soldiers and elephants, and they tried very hard to take it out of the water, but they could not. Many elephants, strong men, and even his army could not remove the tree trunk from the water.

The aerial voice again told the King, “Bring My old servant dayitā-pati Viśvavasu, and his daughter as well. Viśvavasu will carry Me from one side, and the brāhmaṇa Vidyāpati will take Me from the other side. And bring a golden chariot for Me. I will come out easily, and then you can arrange everything.” By the power and will of Nīla-mādhava, Viśvavasu, Lalitā, and Vidyāpati were still alive, and now they were brought on a chariot with honour. The King requested the three of them to enter the ocean waters and lift the log. Vidyāpati and his wife and father-in-law then began to lift and simultaneously pray to the log, “Jaya Jagannātha! Jaya Jagannātha! Nīla-mādhava! Nīla-mādhava! Oh, please, please be merciful and come upon our chariot.”

The log came out very easily and was brought on the golden chariot to the place near where the Jagannātha Temple is now situated. The King kept the log in a big hall and invited all the carpenters of Orissa, telling them, “I will give you vast wealth if you can make the vigraha.” Very famous carpenters came there wanting to make the deity, but their instruments and tools broke when they touched the iron-hard log. An old but beautiful brāhmaṇa then came forward. He had brought some tools and told them, “My name is Mahārāṇā. I am very expert, and I can make the vigraha.” That brāhmaṇa was Nīla-mādhava or Jagannātha Himself, in the form of an old brāhmaṇa. He continued, “I will complete the vigraha in twenty-one days, but you must promise that the door of this hall will remain closed. I will be alone there with my tools, and after twenty-one days, I will open the door so that you can see the deity. You can take Him into the temple and serve and worship Him then.” The King replied, “Yes, I will obey your instructions. I will not open the door.”

The brāhmaṇa went inside with his tools and locked the door from inside. There was no sound for fourteen days, and Indradyumna Mahārāja became anxious. He thought, “What can be the matter? The brāhmaṇa 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 brāhmaṇa may die, and we will be guilty of brahma-hatyā (the sin of killing a brāhmaṇa). We must open the door. Please hurry.” The King replied, “The brāhmaṇa told me not to open it before twenty-one days have elapsed. How can I open it?” She beseeched him repeatedly, and finally, the King called for his carpenters to cut away the locks; he opened the doors forcibly and entered.

The King was struck with wonder inside the hall, for he could not see the brāhmaṇa. “Where is the brāhmaṇa Mahārāṇā?” he asked. The four deities – Jagannātha, Baladeva, Subhadrā, and Sudarśana cakra – were there but 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 complete – nothing was completed. The King wept. Opening his heart to his Prime Minister, he said, “I have committed an offence 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 brāhmaṇa 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 – Jagannātha. 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 he was not simply a brāhmaṇa carpenter – he was Kṛṣṇa Himself. They lamented in separation.

The deity 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 deep reason for it. Keep Me in the temple and worship Me as these deities.” Jagannātha continued, “Please carry out My orders. Viśvavasu, his son-in-law Vidyāpati, and Vidyāpati’s two wives will all worship Me. The sons of Vidyāpati’s brāhmaṇa wife will take turns to worship Ṭhākurajī, and the sons of his śabara wife will cook many varieties of preparations. Many dayitās in the dynasty of Viśvavasu will serve Me for ten days during a Ratha-yātrā Festival. Only they will worship Me then; no one else will perform the worship. They alone will take Baladeva, Subhadrā, and Me on chariots, and they will bring us to Guṇḍicā Mandira. Make a festival for ten days from today and take these chariots to the Guṇḍicā Mandira.”

It was due to the request of Queen Guṇḍicā that the events of this pastime unfolded as they did, which is why the mandira was named after her. Ṭhākurajī continued, “We will remain there for those days, and then you may take us back. You should perform many festivals, like Snāna-yātrā, Candana-yātrā, Herā-pañcamī, and so on.”

During Candana-yātrā, Jagannātha’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 Snāna-yātrā, the deity receives abhiṣeka 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, Lakṣmī takes Him to her palace and closes the door for fifteen days. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu could not survive without the deity, and therefore He went to Ālālanātha and cried, “Where is Kṛṣṇa? Where is Kṛṣṇa?” He became so mad that the stones at Ālālanātha melted at his touch. Wherever He offered his praṇāma – wherever His hands, head, and other limbs were placed – their impressions became visible in that piece of stone. 

Only the dayitās, the family of Viśvavasu Śabara, can serve Jagannātha at the time of Ratha-yātrā. There are two kinds of servants. One is coming from the dynasty of Vidyāpati’s original brāhmaṇa wife, and these devotees do arcana and sevā. Those who descend from Lalitā are called supakāras (excellent cooks) because Jagannātha 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 dāl and a variety of other preparations. They are expert in using many stoves and place at least twenty earthen pots on each stove.**

The King prayed, “O Ṭhākurajī, I want a boon to serve You.”

Ṭhākurajī 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.”

Ṭhākurajī smiled and asked, “Why don’t you want children?”

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

Nowadays, we see this mentality all over India and everywhere else. These days, neophyte devotees approach people and say, “Give me some money to serve my gurudeva. I want to serve Ṭhākurajī – Jagannātha, Baladeva, and Subhadrā. I want to serve Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa, so donate something.” Then, when they get that donation, they do not give a single cent to gurudeva or Ṭhākurajī. They think, “Now I am the enjoyer!” They keep the money in their pocket and then ask, “Where is the best bank for me to make a deposit?” Someone may reply, “You can go to Switzerland; it is the best.” Then they will say, “No, I want to keep my money in India to live there. Can you tell me which bank is safest in India to keep my money?” They forget they collected that money for gurudeva. Would anyone have given the money if they thought it was for that disciple? And what will be the punishment? Kṛṣṇa is anxious that He has not created a hell appropriate for them.

In India, too, many gosvāmīs think they own their temples. They take the praṇāmī and engage in many bogus activities. You should always be careful about this; otherwise, bhakti will not come to you. She will think, “This person is very selfish. He wants to be the master of his gurudeva and Kṛṣṇa.”

The King, therefore, requested, “There should be no one to take even a single paisā. You are the owner. You should depute those who will serve You. The managers should regularly be changed and be servants, like trustees.” A trustee can be trusted to serve with no desire for self-gain. The King of Orissa is always the trustee, and someone else is selected after him. They are not kings because they cannot even take a penny (paisā) for their use. If they were to, they would be ruined.

Upon hearing the King’s words, Jagannātha smiled; thus, the Ratha-yātrā Festival began. This history contains many relevant teachings.

* When there is a need to take Jagannātha somewhere, this smaller vijaya-vigraha deity from the Jagannātha temple is taken because the body of Jagannātha is very heavy.

** The stove is an Indian cullī. It has five burners (one in the middle and one in each corner), and each burner has four pots on it, one on top of another, with only a small hole at the bottom of the three higher pots. Everything is evenly and perfectly cooked. It is understood that Lakṣmī herself is cooking, and the servants (the descendants of the śabara wife of Vidyāpati) are only assisting her, and that is why the cooking can be done so magically.

Source: Purebhakti.com

Image(s) made possible by Pixabay.com, Krishnapath.org.in and/or Bhaktiart.net
Unless indicated differently, all verse translations and quotes are from the books by Śrīla Prabhupāda (Vedabase.com)