Hi,
It has been a hectic time of 2 months with quite a bit of travel and training that I truly missed writing and sharing the TNSS with you. I am glad to be back, and I started feeling the joy of writing and sharing again. Knowing my quest for learning more about Lord Jagannath and the Puri Rath Yatra festival, a dear friend of mine, Mr. Haresh Pradhan, gifted me with the book ‘Shri Purushottama Rahasya’ written by Baba Chaitanya Charan Das. I have been reading it and finding immense joy in learning so many secrets. I would like to share with you one of them today.
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In the era of truth (satya yuga), in the solar dynasty, there was a king whose name was Indradyumna. He was a ruler of the kingdom of Malava with the city of Avanti as its capital. He was truthful, well mannered, and lover of justice. He was a humble devotee of Lord Vishnu with a strong desire to see him. Having come to know that the Blue Mountain in Purushottama Kshetra (the present city of Puri in Orissa) in Utkala Kingdom as the most holy place where he could see the Lord with his own eyes, he went there only to find that the Lord had disappeared from the place and that it was all covered with golden sand. The king then decided to stay there thinking of the Lord and praying for his Darshan. One night, the king had a dream in which he saw the lord Vishnu and was extremely delighted. and his message, based on which he built a temple of about 1500 feet in height and installed the deity of Lord Vishnu in the form of Lord Jagannath, and also those of his brother Balabhadra, Sister Subhadra and Sudarshana made of wood from the celestial ‘daru’ tree.
The legend states that Lord Jagannath, pleased with the love and devotion of King Indradyumna, granted him special blessings and offered a boon that he could grant. The king asked, “O lord, let there be no descendent in my family so that no one out of ego will claim that ‘this temple belongs to us.’” He sought a place at the feet of the God. And the Lord said, “”This truth I tell you with affirmation, again and again: never will I leave this place, even if the temple is destroyed. even if in the future someone else builds a temple here, your reputation will remain untarnished.”
The deities of Lord Jagannath and others were brought out of the temple once a year and taken in a procession called ‘Rath Yatra (Chariot Festival)’ during which the king himself swept with a broom the chariot around the place where the Lord is seated. The same practice continues to happen every year even now.
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The above acts of the King asking for a boon that his family be issueless and performing the ritual of sweeping the chariot with a broom are clear examples of selflessness and egolessness to learn from. There is no distinction between upper and lower castes or classes on the campus of Shri Mandir (the Jagannath Temple) in Puri. Those without ego reach higher levels of achievement and obtain abundant joy in what they do.
With love and regards,
Siva
It has been a hectic time of 2 months with quite a bit of travel and training that I truly missed writing and sharing the TNSS with you. I am glad to be back, and I started feeling the joy of writing and sharing again. Knowing my quest for learning more about Lord Jagannath and the Puri Rath Yatra festival, a dear friend of mine, Mr. Haresh Pradhan, gifted me with the book ‘Shri Purushottama Rahasya’ written by Baba Chaitanya Charan Das. I have been reading it and finding immense joy in learning so many secrets. I would like to share with you one of them today.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In the era of truth (satya yuga), in the solar dynasty, there was a king whose name was Indradyumna. He was a ruler of the kingdom of Malava with the city of Avanti as its capital. He was truthful, well mannered, and lover of justice. He was a humble devotee of Lord Vishnu with a strong desire to see him. Having come to know that the Blue Mountain in Purushottama Kshetra (the present city of Puri in Orissa) in Utkala Kingdom as the most holy place where he could see the Lord with his own eyes, he went there only to find that the Lord had disappeared from the place and that it was all covered with golden sand. The king then decided to stay there thinking of the Lord and praying for his Darshan. One night, the king had a dream in which he saw the lord Vishnu and was extremely delighted. and his message, based on which he built a temple of about 1500 feet in height and installed the deity of Lord Vishnu in the form of Lord Jagannath, and also those of his brother Balabhadra, Sister Subhadra and Sudarshana made of wood from the celestial ‘daru’ tree.
The legend states that Lord Jagannath, pleased with the love and devotion of King Indradyumna, granted him special blessings and offered a boon that he could grant. The king asked, “O lord, let there be no descendent in my family so that no one out of ego will claim that ‘this temple belongs to us.’” He sought a place at the feet of the God. And the Lord said, “”This truth I tell you with affirmation, again and again: never will I leave this place, even if the temple is destroyed. even if in the future someone else builds a temple here, your reputation will remain untarnished.”
The deities of Lord Jagannath and others were brought out of the temple once a year and taken in a procession called ‘Rath Yatra (Chariot Festival)’ during which the king himself swept with a broom the chariot around the place where the Lord is seated. The same practice continues to happen every year even now.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The above acts of the King asking for a boon that his family be issueless and performing the ritual of sweeping the chariot with a broom are clear examples of selflessness and egolessness to learn from. There is no distinction between upper and lower castes or classes on the campus of Shri Mandir (the Jagannath Temple) in Puri. Those without ego reach higher levels of achievement and obtain abundant joy in what they do.
With love and regards,
Siva
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