Krishnarvind Das
Annual Lord Jagannath Rath Yatra festival is going to be celebrated in Jammu
Rath Yatra is the festival wherein the Lord steps out of his residence and showers mercy on the general public. It is mentioned that one who sees the Lord on the chariot this day and dances in ecstasy in front of the Lord, is not forced to take birth in this mortal world again. Though one may voluntarily come for serving.
Pulling of Rath (Cart) during the Rath yatra procession by the devotees symbolizes the attempt of the residents of Vrindavan, especially the cowherd boys and girls, to bring Krishna, Balarama and Subhadra back to Vrindavan, the holy dhama in Mathura( UP) from Kurukshetra. Vrindavan is the place where the Lord resides eternally. Lord also resides in every living entity’s heart and if one realizes this then one’s heart also becomes like Vrindavan. Therefore pulling the rope of the Chariot also signifies trying to bring Krishna (The Supreme Lord) back to our heart. Actually Lord is already there in our heart but it helps us to realize this reality.
This is a festival in which people from different religious backgrounds come together to pull the chariot of the Lord, as the Lord is one. We may call him Krishna, Allah or Father in the Heaven, but he is the same. This festival unites the people and is celebrated in more than 100 major cities of the world including Singapore, New York, Dublin, Belfast, London, Toronto, Budapest, Kuala Lumpur, Melbourne, Montreal, Paris, Los Angeles, Venice, Mexico, Bath, Mumbai, Delhi etc. in the spirit of love for GOD. The logic is simple : True identity of every living being is that he/she is a spirit soul, Hindus call it ATMA, Muslims call it RUH while Christians call it SOUL. All spirit souls are created by the Supreme Lord, thus we have a common father. Because we have a common father so we are brothers and sisters. Thus there cannot be any scope for conflict, if we understand the things deeply. The purpose of this festival is to bring people close to GOD, to Love GOD and when one actually develops Love for the Lord, he/she naturally loves all the beings created by the Lord (including the plants and animals).
Who is Lord Jagannath
Question arises what is the reason of this extraordinary form. Reason behind the unusual form of Lord Jagannätha is recorded in the book Mahäbhäva-prakäsha. In Gambhéra (Sri Chaitanya Mahäprabhu’s residence in Puri), Svarüpa Dämodara and Rämänanda Räya asked Mahäprabhu about the extraordinary feature of the deities of Jagannätha, Baladeva, and Subhadrä and He explained to them as follows:
Once, when Rohini Devi, the mother of Lord Balaräma was visiting Dvärakä, Lord Krishna’s queens surrounded her and asked her to speak about Krishna’s childhood pastimes in Vrindavana .They said, “Sometimes we hear Him talking in His sleep. With a sweet voice He calls out the names of His friends like Sridämä and Subäla, and the names of His cows. Sometimes He calls, ‘O Lalita, Vishakhä; O Sri Rädhe’ And other times He says, ‘Mother, please feed me fresh butter.’ Sometimes He cries, then wakes up and sobs for hours. How special are those residents of Vraja! Please tell us about them.”
Mother Rohini agreed but said that Krishna must not hear her words, otherwise He would get overwhelmed with emotion and may rush towards Vrindävana. So it was arranged that Krishna’s sister Subhadrä Devi would stand guard outside the room. With one ear pressed to the closed door, Subhadrä became so absorbed in Krishna’s astounding dealings with the Vrajaväsis (inhabitants of Vrindavan), which are all filled with emotional love, that she didn’t notice Krishna and Balaräma approaching. Indeed, in her ecstatic trance she was even unaware of her own bodily transformation. Her eyes had become wide and her limbs shrunk into her torso due to intense spiritual emotion. Being expert in physiognomy, when Krishna and Balaräma saw the condition of Subhadrä Devi, They immediately understood that something extraordinary must be going on inside the room, so They also began to listen.
In a very short while due to feeling of the highest spiritual emotions (mahäbhäva), Krishna and Balaräma experienced similar transformations. At that time Sri Närada Muni appeared. Amazed at this sight, he began to dance and chant in great jubilation. When Jagannätha, Baladeva and Subhadrä regained their external senses, Närada Muni exclaimed in great wonder, “Oh Lord! I have seen many of Your transcendental forms but never have I beheld such a wonderful form of mahäbhäva. Please Oh Lord, kindly manifest this form in such a way that everyone may have this extraordinary darshana.”
Thus by the mercy of the Lord’s great devotee Sri Narada Muni we are now able to behold and serve the Lord in these wonderful deity forms of Jagannätha, Baladeva and Subhadrä.
How Lord manifested later on in the present deity form is a separate story of King Indradyumna, a great devotee of Lord Vishnu who yearned to see the Lord face to face.
(Issued by ISKON)
Follow our WhatsApp channel
