Author: Subas Pani
Publication: Sify News
Date: June 19, 2004
URL: http://sify.com/news/fullstory.php?id=13501633
Jagannatha, literally the Lord of
the World, the presiding deity of the Srimandira of Puri embodies in himself
the collective aspiration not only of the Oriya race but of the entire
Indian nation.
In the succession of incarnations,
he is the last but the most powerful and most compassionate. Identified
as Krishna-Vishnu, he has all the attributes of all the gods and goddesses,
yet he is beyond them and transcends them in many unique aspects.
He is the fountainhead of a consciousness,
which cannot be confined within the limits of a traditional religious-theological
order, a cult or even a philosophical system.
What, then, is Jagannatha Consciousness?
What is so unique and special about this consciousness?
In my humble opinion it will be
sheer audacity for any human to claim that he has fully understood what
Jagannatha Consciousness is and even more foolhardy to claim that he can
describe it comprehensively.
Jagannatha Consciousness is truly
ineffable. One can only attempt, with obvious limitations, to touch on
some aspects to get the feel of it.
Jagannatha is unique and Jagannatha
Consciousness is also unique. Jagannatha is the dark lord, the dark colour
of his countenance can be considered either as absence of any colour or
as the commingling of all colours in one.
But his is a darkness of a special
kind. His is the darkness of Krishna- a most pleasing and captivating darkness
that makes the gopis, the bhaktas and even the gods and goddesses pine
for a glimpse of his pretty countenance.
He is the 'Dark Darling', in whose
praise saints and poets have waxed eloquent over centuries. Those who are
fortunate to have a darshan of Dark Darling are emancipated from the travails
of birth and rebirth.
On a more mystic and symbolic plane,
his choice of a dark visage connotes his closeness to the masses, the dark
skinned aborigines, the savaras. Jara who killed Krishna and Viswavasu
who worshipped him as Nilamadhava and essentially heralds the victory of
simple devotion, the same devotion with which the savara woman fed Rama
the jungle berries after tasting each one to confirm its sweetness.
This latter brings us to another
unique feature of Jagannatha Consciousness, a consciousness which transcends
the barrier of caste, creed and colour.
Mahaprasada the offerings of food
to Lord Jagannatha is shared by the high caste Brahmins and the lowly Chandala.
In fact, according to traditions, the bond of friendship is sealed by exchange
of Mahaprasada.
As if the mere establishment of
this unique catholicity was not enough, the Lord enacted a colourful play
to confirm this universality, I refer to the legendary account of Sriya
chandaluni. Mother Laxmi accepts the offerings of her great devotee Sriya-
a chandaluni.
The Lords, specially elder brother
Balarama is outraged and expels Laxmi from the Srimandira. The exit of
Laxmi brings in its trail a series of misfortunes and humiliations and
at last the lords accept their mistake and proclaim the triumph of the
sincere devotion of Sriya.
The legendary, literary and poetic
accounts are full of such episodes like the lord accepting the gift of
coconut from Dasia Bauri, the lord coming to feed Bandhu Mohanty etc.
While Jagannatha is beyond the understanding
of human intellect and mere words are inadequate to describe the Jagannatha
consciousness, He is not beyond our reach.
All that is needed to get him is
sincere and unalloyed devotion and surrender. Again and again, Jagannatha
has displayed his great compassion in the resplendent victory of his bhaktas.
When the saint poet Salabega, struck
by an illness, called out from seven hundred and fifty krosas, and prayed
that the lord remain in his chariot till he reached there to have a glimpse
of His pretty countenance, the lord stopped his Nandighosa chariot at Balagandi
and moved only after His dear bhakta had His darshan to his heart's content.
In His closeness to the devotees,
to the millions pining for His Grace, Jagannatha has no peers or equals.
Where does one find a god who surrenders himself totally to his dear devotees,
who affords such intimacy not only on the spiritual and mental planes but
even on a physical level.
During the annual sojourn to his
garden house-Gundichabari, he is pushed and pulled, coaxed and cajoled,
threatened and abused, hugged and embraced and carried in loving affection
with such thrilled, ecstatic intimacy, of which only He is capable. All
distinctions and barriers are dissolved in this grand festival and the
god and his devotees become one and the same.
In most, if not all other temples,
it is the mobile representative or the chalanti pratima which goes out
in ritual procession. It is only in Srimandira, the presiding deity Himself
comes out every year and commingles with His million devotees.
This feeling of Oneness of the god
with his devotees is in fact central to and is the core of Jagannatha Consciousness.
Another unique aspect of Jagannatha
consciousness is the absolute and total humanisation of the deity. Jagannatha
is the supreme lord, the God of all gods and yet he lives like a temporal
lord with all the trappings of royalty.
The Srimandira is organised like
a palace and the arrangements within the temple are all on a grand scale
befitting a great emperor. The kings of Orissa proclaimed Jagannatha as
the true ruler and the kings themselves were mere regents, viceroys, deriving
their authority from Jagannatha.
The subordination of the temporal
authority to the spiritual is perhaps nowhere so symbolically accepted
as in the case of Jagannatha.
The kings even ceremonially sweep
the floors of the chariots of the three deities every year during Ratha
Jatra. Jagannatha is so intimately human that he suffers from fever and
cold and has an annual convalescence. He even accepts death every twelve
years or so and takes a new body in the ceremony of navakalevara.
The concept of Brahma being transferred
from the old bodies to the new is again unique. 'Brahma that which is the
primordial force, the Truth of all Truths-that without the sanction of
which Vayu (Air) cannot flutter a blade of grass nor Agni (Fire) burn it
nor Varuna (Sea) flood an inch of land, Brahma who is omniscient, omnipresent,
and omnipotent- Brahma who is beyond comprehension and beyond confinement
Brahma has accepted a mortal frame in the image of Jagannatha to redeem
mankind and to cool the heats of the three worlds.
Jagannatha also called the Daru-brahma
is the symbolic embodiment of this mystery of creation. No wonder therefore
that all the gods and goddesses queue up every morning to get a glimpse
of Jagannatha before the humans crowd the temple.
Jagannatha consciousness is essentially
a consciousness made up of loving surrender to the lord where the sole
rasa is Hari. The body, mind and soul are totally submerged in this rasa
as was Radha in Jayadeva's Gitagovinda When such a state of absolute surrender
is attained god Krishna-Jagannatha Himself becomes one with the devotee
and goes to the extent of even asking Radha to place her feet on His heart
with the words dehi pada pallavamudaram.
Let all our consciousness be overwhelmed
by the love of Jagannatha and let him ever envelop our beings-our bodies,
minds and souls with His enchanting sweet compassion.
JAI JAGANNATHA. (The author belongs
to the Indian Administrative Service from Orissa)
