Jagannatha: A Veritable Ocean
Jagannatha on Sick Leave
Devasnana
Purnima was celebrated at Shreemandira on Jun 22, 2024. To hydrate after the
scorching summer, Lord Jagannatha and the accompanying major deities
(Balabhadra, Subhadra, and Sudarsana) enjoyed a lavish, luxurious bath with 108
pots of fragrant, herbal-infused water from the Sunakua, the golden well. As
per custom, they fell ill, since on normal days they are given a virtual bath
with a mirror placed in front of the deities and water poured on their
reflection on the mirror. A ritual required to protect the wooden idols,
possibly.
Why do the
deities fall ill? For maintenance, cleaning, and freshly painting the deities
(nava joubana vesha) to prepare them for the annual Ratha Yatra (due this year on July 7) where millions
of devotees throng for darshan? To provide Earned Leave for the cooks and other
servitors?
However, the
anavasara embargo on darshan applies only to the four major deities whose idols
are made of wood. There are more than thirty temples in the Shreemandira
premises where several deities are installed and worshipped. Other deities in
the premises – various forms of Vishnu: Nrusingha, Sakshi Gopala, Kshirachora
Gopinatha, Patitapabana; various Shivas: Kashi Vishwanath, Pancha Pandavas*,
Ishaneshwar Mahadev; Devis: Bimala, Lakshmi, Kaali; Surya, Ganesha, and others –
all with idols sculpted in stone or bronze continue to be visited and worshipped
during this period.
Sri Chaitanya
Sri
Chaitanya (15th -16th century), the famed saint from
Bengal arrived by boat at Khadgeshwar Ghat at Cuttack, and upon setting foot in
Jagannatha Desha was so overwhelmed that he rolled on the sands of Mahanadi
from which the river bank got its new name Gadagadia Ghat.
At Puri, Chaitanya
bonded with the Pancha Sakhas (Five Soulmates) – Achyutananda Das, Balaram Das,
Jagannath Das, Jashobant Das, and Shishu Ananta – all leading bhakti poets of
Odisha. He achieved mahanirvana at Puri.
During his
stay at Puri, Chaitanya visited Shreemandira daily for a darshan of Jagannatha,
but no devotee was allowed darshan during the fourteen-day period of anavasara
when Jagannatha and his accompanying deities are sick and under treatment and
recuperation.
Jagannatha,
aware that his devotee cannot suffer separation even for a day, appeared in
Chaitanya’s dream and said: Go to Alarnath temple where you will find me during
anavasara. Chaitanya went to Brahma Giri which is about 25 kms from Puri and worshipped
Alarnath by conducting nama sankirtan, the ecstatic song and dance method of
devotion that he had initiated. According to a myth, after one such sankirtan
Chaitanya offered prostrate salutations and fell into a deep, trance meditation
which was so moving that Alarnath, the stone idol, began melting like butter,
and when Chaitanya got up after a long time, the marks of his forehead, chest,
and knees were carved into the stone slab on the floor which is called Prem
Shila, the stone of divine love.
Gaudiya Vaishnavites believe Sri Chaitanya to be the joint incarnation of Radha-Krishna, and their matha at Puri is named Radha-Krishna matha. An illustrious disciple of this sect, Swami Prabhupada established the ISKCON (International Society for Krishna Consciousness) which popularised the prem bhakti marg all over the world.
Alarnath
Alarnath is
the local name for Alvarnath, the Lord of the Alvars, the Tamil saint-poets who
were the earliest bhakti poets to compose and sing the glory of Vishnu in Tamil,
and began a long tradition of Vaishnavism which over the centuries re-established
the eminence of Hinduism which had been very strongly challenged by Buddhism
and Jainism. Significantly, Nammalvar (‘Our own Alvar’), the most eminent of
the twelve Alvars was a shudra saint-poet, who began the non-Sanskritic, non-brahminical
devotional literature to be continued much later by other illustrious saint-poets
like Sarala Das and Balaram Das in Odisha.
There is no
record of any Alvar saint-poet’s visit to Puri; but several leading Vaishnava
saints of the Advaita and the Vishista-Advait sects – Adi Shankara (8th-9thcentury),
Ramanuja (11th-12th century), Nimbarka (12th
century), and others - had visited Puri which emerged as one of the most
prominent Vaishnava pilgrimage centres.
Alarnath is
Chaturbhuja Vishnu, and the idol is a stone sculpture. Till recent years, South
Indian priests managed this temple, as in Badrinath.
The myth of Jagannath
temporarily migrating to Alarnath during the anavasara period is no doubt
symbolic, suggesting the several ways in which devotees may visualise,
comprehend, and approach God. Vishwavasu, the Shabara chieftain, worshipped
Nila Madhava, possibly a piece of blue sapphire stone in a dark cave. Indradyumna,
king of Avanti who came in search of Nila Madhava and was heartbroken to find
that the idol had vanished reached the Blue Mountain at Puri where he sighted
Ugra Nrusingha, too fearsome to be approached by any devotee. Prayed by
Indradyumna and Narada, Nrusingha (Vishnu) agreed to reappear as Jagannatha to
provide solace to his devotees in Kaliyuga.
Jagannatha: Unusual iconography
Jagannatha
iconography, an unfinished carving in wood, is most unusual for the chief Hindu
deity since incomplete or unfinished idols are neither installed in a temple
nor worshipped. A myth explains why the idols remained unfinished; an anxious
devotee interrupted the divine carpenter Vishwakarma’s work and broke a solemn
contract. There are other theories, too. Shabaras worshipped wooden poles as
totems, and Vaishnava saints appropriated these idols under Sanskritization
while maintaining as close a resemblance to the original wooden totems to
comfort the Shabaras. This accommodation is still visible in the descendants of
the Shabaras assuming full control of the deities during the anavasara period,
and they alone provide them herbal medicines and therapeutic diet. At least a
two-week period of exclusive access to their gods, an echo of Vishwavasu worshipping
Nial Madhava in secrecy in a dark cave in a remote forest.
Why are the
idols in other temples in Shreemandira premises made of stone or bronze, and
only the major deities in wood? Some believe that the ancient deities of the Shabaras
were incorporated into Hinduism under Sanskritization while their wooden idols
were retained in a deliberate de-Sanskritization as a gesture of accommodation.
There is some merit in this theory since it is counter-intuitive to revert to
wooden idols at a period when stone and bronze sculpture were well-developed.
Some
interpret the iconography as a reminder of the abstract nature of the divine,
which is pure thought, and objectified or externalized for ease of focus. Vedas
and Upanishads sang about the abstract Godhead. Jagannath, apanipada (without
hands and legs), is a reiteration of ancient upanishadic concept of God.
Mahodadhi: the sacred confluence
Why did a famous
king in Satya Yug travel far to the east for a darshan of sakshat parameshwar worshipped
in secrecy by a Shabara chieftain in a dark cave in a remote forest, and why did
the deity who had now vanished inform that He would now resurface as Jagannatha,
in a seemingly crude, unfinished wooden idol to preside over a stately temple on
the Blue Mountain overlooking the majestic Mahodadhi? The sea-faring traders
from distant lands called it the Bay of Bengal, but for the Odias it always was
and still is the sacred Mahodadhi from which emerged Lakshmi and the entire
living world.
Why is the
search, striving, and craving for God endless; because realising the divine is
not a destination but a journey?
Why did a
sannyasi from Kaladi, Kerala choose Puri to set up the Govardhan Peetha? Why
did Jagannatha direct His dear devotee from Bengal to pray to Alarnath during
the anavasara period? To orchestrate the confluence - of the sparkling streams
of Tamil, Bengali, and Utkaliya bhakti that flowed from the south through the
east to the north and the west; of the Vedic-Upanishadic nirakara brahma, the puranic
gods, and the totemic gods of the tribals; of the diverse philosophies of gyan
bhakti, prem bhakti, and other methods of realising the divine; of the
symbiosis between Sanskrit and vernacular languages; of the syncretic essence
of Shaiva, Shakta, Saura, Ganapatya, and Tantric sects?
Why do the
Buddhists believe that the daru brahma inside Jagannatha idol which none
has seen is a relic of Buddha; and the Jains believe that Jagannath is Jagat
Nath, one of their tirthankars?
Jagannath has
such charismatic appeal that any devotee can see in Him the form and image she
seeks. Adi Shankara saw Krishna, Tulsidas found Sriram, Ganapati Bhatt visualised
Ganesh. To humour his devotees from various sects and persuasions, Jagannath, a
compassionate, inclusive god assumes different veshas, and celebrates festivals
associated with every major god.
Jagannath,
the presiding deity of Shree Purushottam Dham, Puri is a veritable ocean where
several sparkling streams from all over India endlessly pour in waters imbued
with the religion and culture of peoples of distant lands. In this unique cosmopolitan
deity, the East meets the West, the South, the North, and the Central Highlands.
Various sects of Hinduism – Vaishnavas, Shaivas, Shaktas, Souras, Ganapatyas,
Shunyavadis, and even the Tantrics – happily commingle at Shreekshetra, Puri.
Why should
it be a surprise, therefore, that Jagannatha sent a sannyasi from Bengal to Bramhagiri
to connect him with the Alvars, the Tamil saint-poets who had composed and sang
the earliest devotional poems in vernacular in praise of Vishnu?
***
* Pancha Pandava is the name for the five Shiva temples believed to have been built by the Pandava brothers during their one-night stay at Puri during agyat vaas. As per a myth, Shiva had manifested as the five Pandava brothers. The names of the five Shivas are - Lokanatha, Markandeswara, Jameswara, Nilakantheswara, and Kapalamochana.
During Chandan Yatra, these five Shivas accompany Madanmohan, Rama, Krishna, Bhudevi, and Shreedevi for a boat-ride at Narendra Tank.
Resources:
1.
Jagannatha Temple
https://www.shreejagannatha.in/shreemandira/
2.
Hymns for
the Drowning: Poems for Visnu by A.K. Ramanujan
3.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaitanya_Mahaprabhu
4. http://magazines.odisha.gov.in/Orissareview/2014/Jun/engpdf/115-119.pdf
No comments:
Post a Comment