From Snana-yatra to Ratha-yatra

Giriraj Swami: Hare Krishna, jaya Jagannatha.

So, we will begin by singing the maṅgalācaraṇa prayers and having a little kirtan. And then we will speak about Lord Jagannatha and Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and the period of from Snana-yatra to Ratha-yatra.

[Kirtan]

Hare Krishna. So, we welcome you to this year’s virtual Jagannatha Ratha-yatra. I have chosen this topic from Snana-yatra to Ratha-yatra because it is a very significant period of time, especially for Lord Chaitanya and His followers. Snana-yatra, it is actually the appearance day of Lord Jagannatha.

READING From Snana-yatra to Ratha-yatra

According to the Skanda-Purana, the history of the installation of the Jagannatha deities in Puri goes back about a hundred and fifty-three million years. Although there is a history of how the deities came to be carved in the shapes in which they now appear, actually Lord Jagannatha and His associates are eternal. His being carved is just a pastime to facilitate His manifestation on earth. As Srila Prabhupada explains, “Fire is already present in wood, but by a certain process, fire is kindled. Similarly, God is all-pervading. He is everywhere, and since He may come out from everything, He appeared.

So, Lord Jagannatha is eternal, just as Krishna is eternal. Although Krishna had His appearance pastime in the prison house of Kamsa, He resides eternally on His spiritual planet, Goloka Vrindavan, and He eternally manifests His pastimes within the material world. Lord Jagannatha also has an eternal planet in the spiritual sky. He is the source of all incarnations, and He appears in whatever form His devotee wants to see Him. Sometimes in Puri the pujaris dress Him as a demigod—such as Ganesh, with an elephant’s trunk. That is also to confirm the philosophical principle that by worshipping Lord Jagannatha—Krishna—one worships all the demigods automatically. All the demigods are included in Jagannatha, and all the expansions of Godhead are included. But Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and His followers, Gaudiya Vaishnavas, see Lord Jagannatha as Krishna. When Chaitanya Mahaprabhu saw Jagannatha in Puri, He would see Krishna, Shyamasundara.

The appearance of Lord Jagannatha also is mentioned in the Skanda-Purana. As recounted there, Lord Jagannatha tells King Indradyumna, who had the first Jagannatha deities carved and who built the first, great temple for Lord Jagannatha in Puri, that He appeared on the full-moon day of the month of Jyestha, being pleased with the king’s devotion and sacrifices. It is on this date every year that Snana-yatra, the public bathing of Lord Jagannatha, is held.

For the Snana-yatra in Puri, Lord Jagannatha is brought into public view on a rooftop, or terrace, of the great temple and bathed. Then, as it is said, the Lord catches a cold and is removed to His private quarters—the quarters of Lakshmi, the goddess of fortune, who for two weeks serves Him hand and foot.

COMMENT

So, there are many significant pastimes in this period from Snana-yatra to Ratha-yatra, but we will follow Lord Chaitanya because this is very mysterious and also very significant. So, when Lord Jagannatha goes into seclusion after the Snana-yatra, Lord Chaitanya felt extreme unbearable separation. As it is, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was in the mood of Srimati Radharani in separation from Krishna, and for him not to see Lord Jagannatha for two weeks was unbearable, and he almost went mad. He could not remain in Puri, and so he walked fourteen miles west by foot to Alalnath or Alarnath in an area called Brahma Giri, which is named after Lord Brahma because Brahma is said to have come to Earth and install the deity of Lord Narayana, worshiped there. But how could Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, who was in the mood of Radharani, who knows no one other than Krishna, find solace by going to Alarnath to see a four-handed deity of Lord Narayana? Further, when Chaitanya Mahaprabhu first saw the deity and offered prostrated obeisances, the stone slab on the temple floor beneath him melted. In the Jagannatha temple, there is a pillar called the Garuda Stambha where Chaitanya Mahaprabhu used to stand to have darshan of Jagannatha, and there are imprints of his fingers on the pillar and of his lotus feet on the floor where, in great ecstasy, he would behold Lord Jagannatha. But at Alarnath, we find the unique impression of his entire body, which melted the stone when he prostrated himself in extreme ecstasy. This is all very mysterious.

So, how could Lord Chaitanya find solace in his separation from Krishna through a four-armed form of Narayana? And this sort of mysterious topic is explained confidentially with reference to Krishna’s pastimes in Vrindavan. Once during his Springtime rasa-līlā at Govardhana Hill, Sri Krishna disappeared from the scene, suggesting that He wanted to be alone with Srimati Radharani. So, he hid in a secluded bush, waiting for her to pass by. But in the meantime, the other gopīs came looking for Him. They all were in the mood of separation, mad in separation from Krishna, mad in love for Krishna. Having been attracted by His transcendental beauty, His charming gestures, and His loving words, they were searching all over Govardhana Hill for Him, and finally, they sighted him in the bush. And when he saw them, Krishna became struck with emotion. He could not hide Himself, and so he assumed His four-armed Narayana form. When the gopīs saw Lord Narayana, they said, “Oh, He is not Krishna. He is Lord Narayana, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.” They had no interest in Lord Narayana. They were interested only in Krishna. So, they offered him respects and prayed, “Please bless us with Krishna’s association.” Otherwise, they had no use for Him. They went on searching for Krishna. But then, when Srimati Radharani came, Krishna wanted to maintain His four-armed form to joke with her. But although He tried His best, He was unable to do so. The influence of her ecstatic love forced Him to return to His original two-armed form. He could not maintain His feature as Lord Narayana. He was conquered by Srimati Radharani’s love, and so He revealed His original form as Krishna.

And now, I will read a verse. It is actually from Ujjvala-nīlamaṇi (Nāyikā-bheda, 7), but it is quoted in Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta. I will just read the translation.

“Prior to the rāsa dance, Lord Kṛṣṇa hid Himself in a grove just to have fun. When the gopīs came, their eyes resembling those of deer, by His sharp intelligence He exhibited His beautiful four-armed form to hide Himself. But when Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī came there, Kṛṣṇa could not maintain His four arms in Her presence. This is the wonderful glory of Her love.”

So, transcendentally, Alarnath in caitanya-līlā in Puri, it is compared to Paitha at Govardhana, which is where Krishna assumed the form of Lord Narayana.

READING (continued)

It is a place of intense separation. The gopīs, in separation from Krishna, roamed the forest there, looking for Him. And Paitha is the place where Lord Narayana wasn’t really Lord Narayana. He was actually Krishna assuming the form of Narayana to play a joke on the gopīs—and to bring out their exclusive love for Him. Thus, although the external form of the Deity of Lord Alarnath is that of four-armed Narayana, internally He is Krishna. And the pujaris of Alarnath admit that in their worship they recite very confidential mantras to Krishna, the lover of Srimati Radharani.

During those fourteen days, called anavasara, when Lord Jagannatha retires to His private quarters and receives service from Lakshmi, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, in separation, stays in Alarnath.

So, there are many deep feelings connected to Ratha-yatra.

After this period of separation, when Lord Jagannatha finally leaves His private quarters, He emerges from the temple and mounts His chariot; and for the first time in two weeks Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and the other devotees are able to see Him. So they become ecstatic. And in the Ratha-yatra, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is in the mood of Radharani bringing Krishna back to Vrindavan.

As described in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, after Krishna had been living as a king in Dvaraka for many years, He was informed that there was going to be a solar eclipse. To observe the eclipse, Krishna announced that He would go to Kurukshetra, a holy place (dharma-kṣetra kuru-kṣetra) in North India.

COMMENT

And so the residents of Vrindavan, taking advantage of Krishna’s going from Dvaraka, which was far away to Kurukshetra which was much closer, they went there to meet Him. It was a very touching scene when Krishna met the residents of Vrindavan—heart rending. Although He first met the elders, beginning with Nanda and Yasoda and their associates, within His heart He was thinking of Radharani and the gopīs. So He took an opportunity to steal away from the others to meet them. And this is where the whole emotional mood of Lord Chaitanya at the Ratha-yatra comes from. That Srimati Radharani, although, as she said, He is the same Krishna, but He is not the same Krishna. In Vrindavan, He is dressed as a cowherd boy with a peacock feather in His hair and playing His flute. And there is the sound of the chirping of birds. Whereas in Kurukshetra, Krishna was dressed as a royal prince. And instead of the sounds of the chirping of birds and the mooing of cows, there are the sounds of chariots clattering and elephants. And it was a completely different atmosphere. So Srimati Radharani’s mood, the prayer was, “You are the same Krishna, and I am the same Srimati Radharani. And after many years, We are meeting on the field of Kurukshetra. But I am not feeling an ounce of the happiness that I felt with You in Vrindavan. So please come back to Vrindavan.”

And so in the Ratha-yatra, Nilachala, where the main temple is, represents Dvaraka or Kurukshetra. And Sundarachala, which is where the Ratha-yatra ends up at the Gundicha temple, represents Vrindavan. And so when Lord Chaitanya was pulling on the ropes of the chariot or pushing the chariot with his head, he was in the mood of Srimati Radharani at Kurukshetra, bringing Krishna back to Vrindavan. As Srila Prabhupada says, “Ratha-yatra is a very feeling festival for the Vaishnavas.” So when we celebrate Ratha-yatra here today, we are thinking of the New York Ratha-yatra. I think all the Ratha-yatras have been canceled because of the corona virus pandemic. Certainly, the Los Angeles Ratha-yatra nearby me has been canceled. All the Ratha-yatras have been canceled. I think even the Ratha-yatra in Puri was canceled or at least drastically restricted. But smaraṇam is a very important practice in devotional service. Smaraṇam means remembrance, śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ smaraṇaṁ. So by remembering the Ratha-yatra, remembering Lord Chaitanya’s celebration of the Ratha-yatra in Puri, even remembering Srila Prabhupada’s celebration of Ratha-yatra in New York City with the great saint Jayananda Prabhu in 1976, and then all the Ratha-yatras held in New York ever since then, we can, in a way, experience the Ratha-yatra. And certainly, pray to the Lord Jagannatha, “Jagannātha svāmī nayana pathagāmī bhavatu me—Oh Lord of the universe, kindly be visible unto me.”

Of course, generally, devotees do not pray to see the Lord. Srila Prabhupada would quote Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura that the devotee does not want to see the Lord, but he wants to act in such a way that the Lord will be pleased to see him. So, generally, that is not our mood. But here, there are different levels to that prayer. Jagannātha svāmī nayana pathagāmī bhavatu me. But certainly, Lord Chaitanya, in the mood of Srimati Radharani in separation from Krishna, she was eager or He was eager to see Lord Jagannatha after separation. And we can also be eager to see Krishna, not for the sake of our sense gratification, of course, but for the sake of serving Him and pleasing Him. It is one of the confidential understandings of Krishna’s interactions with the gopīs in Vrindavan. And that is that the gopīs appear to be lusty, which of course, they are not. The gopīs’ bodies are made of pure prema, mahā-bhāva. Their bodies are meant only for giving pleasure to Krishna. But they express themselves as if they were lusty in their Gopī-gīta, songs of the gopīs in separation.

So they make prayers like, “Please,” it is confidential, but it is a special occasion. “Please, please, remove the burning of the lusty desires in our breasts.” So all the scriptures proclaim that the gopīs’ love is completely pure and untainted by any tinge of lust. So why are they presenting themselves as if they are lusty and they want Krishna to satisfy their lusty desires? Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura gives the explanation with the example of a friend who calls upon another friend. Now, if the host asks his guests, “Can I prepare some food for you?” The guests will say, “No, don’t take trouble for me.” So the host will not ask the friend, “Can I prepare some food for you?” He knows that his friend will want some prasāda. So instead, he tells the friend that, “I was just about to cook an offering for my deities, and if you are patient, the cooking and offering will be finished soon, and I will honor prasāda, and we can honor prasāda together.” So actually, his purpose is to cook for his friend, but he is presenting it as if he is cooking for himself, because if he were to say to the friend, “Oh, I will cook something for you,” the friend would say, “No, no, don’t take trouble.” So in the same way, if the gopīs were to say to Krishna, “We know that You can’t be happy without us, so we are going to come to You,” Krishna would say, “No, no, I am all right. Don’t take any trouble for Me.” But instead, they present it as if they are lusty, that, “You are Krishna, please remove the burning fire of lust in our breasts.” And so, in that way, Krishna will do it for them, just like the example of the host and the hungry friend. The host will say that he is doing it for himself, but actually, he is doing it for his friend. So these are some of the intricacies of love between Krishna and His devotees, especially the gopīs. And so, those intricacies are also at play at the Ratha-yatra. When at Kurukshetra, Krishna met the gopīs and the other residents of Vrindavan, after long separation, Srimati Radharani wanted to bring Krishna back to Vrindavan.

So it is, I guess, unfortunate that the at least some of the pujaris and pandas in Jagannatha Puri criticize Srila Prabhupada, very unfortunately, for introducing Ratha-yatra at different times during the year in different places. According to these very orthodox priests, Ratha-yatra should be conducted only on a particular day in the year which is the day on which it is observed in Puri. But there are so many things, but Srila Prabhupada knows Lord Jagannatha very well, better, I might dare say, than any of the priests in Puri, and he knows that Lord Jagannatha wants to give mercy, not only to his devotees but to all the fallen souls who are ultimately devotees intrinsically. And so he introduced Ratha-yatra all over the world, and he would personally attend. Sometimes he himself would dance ecstatically in the Ratha-yatras. The first Ratha-yatra I ever celebrated was a very simple affair in Boston. I joined the temple and we didn’t have, this was in 1969, we didn’t have chariots. But we just made three palanquins and we put each of the three deities, were pretty small on these three palanquins. And we took them out of the temple, in the neighborhood, we went some distance with them. And then when we got the news of the Ratha-yatra in San Francisco, and of course, that was a joint effort, but the two big figures were Jayanand Prabhu who would work so hard to build the chariots and get support for the festival in so many ways, and Madhuvesa Prabhu.

So when we got the reports and then saw the pictures of the Ratha-yatra in San Francisco, it was, it was amazing. And from there, it spread to other cities by Srila Prabhupada’s grace and Lord Jagannatha’s mercy. He came to London, and it ended up at a very prominent location, Trafalgar Square, and Srila Prabhupada addressed the people. In one talk, he spoke about the confidential meaning of Ratha-yatra. And so there is a picture of the canopy of the chariot, next to a big column in Trafalgar Square called Nelson’s Column, named after, I think, a naval hero. And so the London newspaper carried a photo of it with the caption, “Rival to Nelson’s Column.” And in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta, it says that the chariot rivaled or reminded people of Mount Sumeru. So Srila Prabhupada compared the London newspaper saying that the chariot was a rival to Nelson’s Column with the idea that the chariot was rival or reminiscent of Mount Sumeru.

And one last thought about Ratha-yatra was in Australia because Madhuvesa Prabhu, he was in San Francisco, he organized Ratha-yatras. He actually had tremendous faith in Ratha-yatra. Then he came to India for some time, he was based in Bombay, we were together there. And then Srila Prabhupada sent him to Australia, he was organizing Ratha-yatras in Australia. So the devotees were constructing, or assembling the Ratha-yatra chariot on a street in Sydney. And right near where they were assembling the chariot, a building caught fire. And a lady in the building, the only way she could escape with her life was to jump out of the window. And the devotees took the canopy, I guess, the canvas for the canopy, and brought it under the window where the lady jumped. And they caught her in the canopy, in the canvas from the chariot. So this incident was picked up by the press. They were very impressed that, we would use the sacred cloth from the chariot, in the service of the woman, to save the woman jumping from the window. And Srila Prabhupada told Shyamasundara Prabhu, his secretary, that he should send the clipping of that newspaper article to me in Bombay and say that I should show that article to all important men of Bombay and tell them that Krishna consciousness is doing the best welfare work, materially and spiritually.

So I guess you could say these are some of our Jagannatha pastimes in conjunction with his devotees. Usually at this stage in my presentation, I would ask if there are any comments or questions, but in this format on Facebook, I don’t know if that is possible or if some devotees want to send in, any questions or comments. Otherwise, we can just sing the Jagannatha-aṣṭakam. Excuse me, I lost track of the time because it says I have been live for fifty-three minutes and fifty-eight seconds, but actually on the clock it is 1:59. So thank you very much.

Jaya Jagannatha, all glorious to Srila Prabhupada. All glories to your service.

Hare Krishna.