Hera Panchami
Understanding Hera Panchami
The fifth day of Jagannāthadeva’s Ratha-yātrā is called Hera Pancami. General people think that the fifth day of the moon, pancami tithi, is Hera Pancami but this is a misunderstanding. The festival of Hera Pancami is a celebration of a pastime between Śrī Jagannāthadeva and His consort Lakṣmī Devī. Before leaving Śrī Mandir, Jagannāthadeva told Lakṣmīji, “I became sick during Snāna Yātrā so I want to recuperate My health” and goes outside on His Ratha-yātrā. After waiting five days for the Lord to return, Lakṣmī Devī came out of the Temple to search for Jagannāthadeva, thinking to Herself “Oh Prabhu said He will come back soon, but why is He not returning?” In the Odia language this pastime refers to the fifth day (pancami) after which the Lord left the Temple and Lakṣmīji went to see (hera) Jagannāthadeva He did not return.
Another meaning is Lakṣmī Devī got lost from Jagannāthadeva and some sampradaya in odissa, they call this hara panchami and hara means getting lost, getting lost is called Hara panchami.
Śrīla Kṛṣṇadas Kaviraj Gosvāmī, in his Caitanya-caritamrta refers to Hera Pancami as lakṣmī-vijayotsava (Cc. Madhya 14.1). On the fifth day of Ratha-yātrā, Lakṣmī Devī along with Yamesvara Sivaji and many Devadasis went to the Gundica Maṇḍira along the bank of Narendra Sarovar. When She reached Gundica, the daitya servants of Jagannāthadeva became very scared and hid Jagannāthadeva inside the bhoga maṇḍira. Unable to find Her husband after so much searching, Lakṣmī Devī became very angry. When She left the Gundica She saw Jagannātha’s chariot there and thought that it was the root cause of Her trouble because the chariot carried Jagannātha away from her. In Her anger She broke a small part of the chariot.
Our beloved Śrīla Gurudeva has explained in detail the festival of Hera Panchami in this way.
After leaving Gundica Mandir, Lakṣmī Devī stops at one place called Hera Gohiri Sahi. When She arrives there, devotees will offer bhoga to Lakṣmī Devī there. After accepting that bhoga, She will returns to Śrī Maṇḍira again. During Jagannāthadeva’s Bahuda Yātrā, or return Ratha- yātrā, the Lord’s chariot stops in front of the royal palace and Lakṣmī is brought out seated in a palanquin with Her maidservants. Jagannātha’s garlandis offered to Lakṣmī Devī, Who then offers bandapana. Bandapana means – Lakṣmīji worships the Lord, taking some uncooked rice and some durva grass, some Indian Palm leaves and a ghee lamp, She will offer arati to Jagannāthadeva and do parikramā of Śrī Maṇḍira before going back inside the Temple again.
mora bhāgye mo-viṣaye, tomāra ye prema haye,
sei prema parama prabala
lukāṣiā āmā āne, saṅga karāya tomā-sane,
prakaṭeha ānibe satvara
Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta (Madhya-līlā 13.155)
Our love affair is more powerful because of My good fortune in receiving Nārāyaṇa’s grace. This allows Me to come there unseen by others. I hope that very soon I will be visible to everyone.
“I think that Your unprecedented love and affection will very soon make Me come in such a way that everyone will see Me. I have killed so many kings and powerful demons who were fighting for Kaṁsa, but there are still some left.”
yādavera vipakṣa, yata duṣṭa kaṁsa-pakṣa,
tāhā āmi kailuṅ saba kṣaya
āche dui-cāri jana, tāhā māri’ vṛndāvana,
āilāma āmi, jāniha niścaya
Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta (Madhya-līlā 13.156)
I have already killed all the mischievous demons who are enemies of the Yadu dynasty, and I have also killed Kaṁsa and his allies, but there are two or four demons still alive. I want to kill them, and when I have done so, I shall return to Vṛndāvana very soon. Please know this for certain.
“You may say, ‘Come immediately,’” Kṛṣṇa tells Rādhikā and the gopīs, “but if I am in Vraja, the demons will decide, ‘Kṛṣṇa is there in Vṛndāvana with His father and mother, Nanda and Yaśodā, and all His friends. We should try to kill them all. He has no fort, no army, and nothing with which to fight.’ That is why I purposely remain here in the fort of Dvārakā, surrounded by water on every side, and protected by many armies. If I were in Vṛndāvana and the opposition party came to know of it, I would not be able to save You. That is why I do not come right away. I must first kill the remaining demons.”
sei śatru-gaṇa haite, vraja-jana rākhite,
rahi rājye udāsīna haṣā
yebā strī-putra-dhane, kari rājya āvaraṇe,
yadu-gaṇera santoṣa lāgiyā
Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta (Madhya-līlā 13.157)
I remain in My kingdom because I wish to protect the inhabitants of Vṛndāvana from the attacks of My enemies; otherwise I am indifferent to My royal position. Whatever wives, sons, and wealth I maintain in the kingdom are only for the satisfaction of the Yadus.
Kṛṣṇa continues, “My only consideration is that the Vrajavāsīs should not suffer or be disturbed. I live in Dvārakā, but I am indifferent to My kingdom and associates there, to My many queens, and to My numerous sons and daughters. I have no attachment for them. Rather, I am suffering due to deep separation from the Vrajavāsīs. “Yebā strī-putra-dhane, kari rājya āvaraṇe.” It is only to satisfy the Yadus that I have married so many princesses and live like a king in Dvārakā. They are my father’s friends. My father is Nanda Bābā, and everyone in the Yadu dynasty, such as Vasudeva and the others, are friends of Nanda Bābā. That is why I remain in Dvārakā; otherwise I would have already gone to Vṛndāvana.”
In Caitanya-caritāmṛta (Śrīla Kaviraja Gosvāmī) Śrīman Mahāprabhu discussed the significance of Hera Pancami with Svarūpa Dāmodara. The Lord asked, “If Kṛṣṇa is going to Sundarācala to play, why doesn’t He take Lakṣmī Devī? He may take everyone with Him to Vṛndāvana. What’s the harm in taking Lakṣmījī?” (There is a reason behind Mahāprabhu’s question: if Kṛṣṇa were to take Lakṣmī, it would be against the principles of rasa).
nānā-puṣpodyāne tathā khele rātri-dine
lakṣmīDevīre saṅge nāhi laya ki kāraṇe
“The Lord enjoys His pastimes day and night in various flower gardens there. But why does He not take Lakṣmī Devī, the Goddess of fortune, with Him?” (Śrī Caitanya- caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 14.121)
Svarūpa Dāmodara replied to Mahāprabhu’s enquiry as follows,
svarūpa kahe – śuna, prabhu, kāraṇa ihāra
vṛndāvana-krīḍāte lakṣmīra nāhi adhikāra
“My dear Lord, please hear the reason for this. Lakṣmī Devī, the Goddess of fortune, does not have the proper qualification to enter the pleasure-pastimes of Vṛndāvana”. (Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 14.122)
Lakṣmī Devī is not qualified to enter Vṛndāvana. There are eight prominent queens in Dvārakā, headed by Satyabhāmā and Rukmiṇī, and another 16,000 queens. These eight are special, but none of them are qualified to go to Vṛndāvana either. (If they were to enter Vṛndāvana, first they would have to take birth from the wombs of gopīs, marry gopas (cowherd men), and then become Kṛṣṇa’s paramours, as all the gopīs are. They will have to give up their husbands and everything else. They will only be able to serve Kṛṣṇa in Vṛndāvana if they are under the guidance of the gopīs; otherwise such service will not be possible.) Lakṣmī Devī could not enter Vṛndāvana, even though She performed severe austerities in Balavana. She wanted to cross the River Yamunā and witness the rāsa-līlā, but She could not.
Yogamāyā is greater than Lakṣmī, and she can control everyone. When she saw Lakṣmī’s austerities, she approached the goddess of fortune and said, “You are a chaste lady, a brāhmaṇī, married to Nārāyaṇa. Can you give up your husband and marry somebody else, a gopa?”
Lakṣmīji replied, “I cannot do it. How is it possible?”
Yogamāyā then asked, “Can you make cow dung paddies?”, to which Lakṣmī replied, “Oh, I cannot do that. I don’t know how to make it.”
Yogamāyā continued asking questions of Her, “Can you milk cows?” Lakṣmī replied, “I have never done it before.”
Then Yogamāyā told Her, “Then You cannot go to Vṛndāvana, because You are not qualified. First You would have to take birth from the womb of a gopī, associate with the gopīs, and try to follow their guidance. You would have to marry a gopa like Durmukha, Durmada, Abhimanyu or Govardhana Malla. Then, when You have given up that husband, You would be able have Kṛṣṇa as Your beloved. This is the only process.”
In one kalpa it was Yogamāyā who questioned Lakṣmī-Devī, and in another it was Kṛṣṇa Himself, but both of them had to tell Her the same conclusion: that She is unfit for this parikiya- rasa that is dominant in Vraja.
Svarūpa Dāmodara continued,
vṛndāvana-līlāya kṛṣṇera sahāya gopī-gaṇa
gopī-gaṇa vinā kṛṣṇera harite nāre mana
“In the pastimes of Vṛndāvana, the only assistants are the gopīs. But for the gopīs, no one can attract the mind of Kṛṣṇa”. (Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 14.123)
Was Svarūpa Dāmodara telling a lie? The gopas are also there in Vṛndāvana, but he did not mention them. Rather, he said that only the gopīs can control and steal away Kṛṣṇa’s heart, and Kṛṣṇa Himself has confirmed this (by His statement).
It is for this reason that Svarūpa Dāmodara especially mentioned the gopīs. He said that no one but the gopīs can enter the Lord’s most intimate pastimes. Even Yaśodā-maiyā cannot go there. She has some idea what Kṛṣṇa is up to, but she cannot go. Mother Rohiṇī also knows somewhat, but she cannot go there either. She will remain very far away and, like Mother Yaśodā, pretending not to know anything. Mother Yaśodā does not know that Kṛṣṇa meets with the gopīs and engages in amorous pastimes throughout the night. In the morning, when she sees Kṛṣṇa with many marks on His body, she thinks, “Oh, all these naughty boys were playing with Kṛṣṇa, and they have made scratch marks on Him.”
Kṛṣṇa lives with His thousands of queens in Dvārakā, but sometimes His remembrance of Vṛndāvana is so strong that He cannot control Himself. At that time He tells his queens, represented by Lakṣmī-Devī, “Now I am feeling sick. I want to go somewhere for a change of climate.” Jagannātha is pretending. He is actually going to Vṛndāvana, but He does not tell His wife, Lakṣmī Devī. Lakṣmījī replies, “You can go, but return very soon, and don’t go alone,” and Jagannātha agrees, “I will not go alone.”
Baladeva is Jagannātha’s brother, and along with Subhadrā, He also has great affection for the gopīs; so Jagannātha took them with Him in the chariot and went to the Guṇḍicā Mandira, which represents Vṛndāvana. He went to meet all of the gopas and gopīs, Nanda Bābā, and His other associates in Vraja. He first went to Nanda-bhavana, and after meeting with His parents He left Baladeva and Subhadrā there in Nandagaon and went alone to Vṛndāvana to play with the gopīs.
Śrīman Mahāprabhu then asked Svarūpa Dāmodara,
gopī-saṅge yata līlā haya upavane
nigūḍha kṛṣṇera bhāva keha nāhi jāne
“All the pastimes with the gopīs that take place in the gardens are very confidential ecstasies of Lord Kṛṣṇa. No one knows them. Why does Kṛṣṇa take Baladeva and Subhadrā with Him?” (Śrī Caitanya- caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 14.125)
There is a deep meaning behind this. Baladeva and Subhadrā would be staying with Yaśodā-maiyā. They do not understand Kṛṣṇa’s confidential pastimes with the gopīs, and they do not know where He goes alone at night. They do not know that He is sometimes at Vaṁśīvaṭa, sometimes at Sevā-kuṣja, and sometimes at Rādhā-kuṇḍa. Kṛṣṇa also goes to these places in the daytime, and He meets the gopīs there. He is alone with the gopīs there, sometimes playing on swings, and sometimes gambling with them, sometimes being defeated by them, and sometimes having His flute forcibly taken by them. And sometimes they play in Rādhā-kuṇḍa or Śyāma-kuṇḍa, throwing water on each other. Even Yaśodā-maiyā does not actually know what goes on in these confidential pastime-places. Only Yogamāyā Paurṇamāsī, Vṛndā, Dhaniṣṭhā, and Kundalātā know. Sometimes Subala and Madhumaṅgala know, but even when they know, they do not go where Kṛṣṇa is enjoying His pastimes. So Subhadrā and Baladeva do not know for what purpose Kṛṣṇa has gone to Vṛndāvana. Only Kṛṣṇa knows what He does in Vṛndāvana, and He has brought Baladeva and Subhadrā only so that Lakṣmījī will not mistrust Him. She will not wonder, “Why has He gone away? Has He run away to Vṛndāvana?” She will think, “If Baladeva and Subhadrā are there, they will tell Kṛṣṇa when it is time to return to Dvārakā.”Only Kṛṣṇa knows what He does in Vṛndāvana, and He has brought Baladeva and Subhadrā only so that Lakṣmījī will not mistrust Him. She will not wonder, “Why has He gone away? Has He run away to Vṛndāvana?” She will think, “If Baladeva and Subhadrā are there, they will tell Kṛṣṇa when it is time to return to Dvārakā.”
To this, Svarūpa Dāmodara responded,
svarūpa kahe, – prema-vatīra ei ta’ svabhāva
kāntera audāsya-leśe haya krodha-bhāva
“It is the nature of a woman afflicted by love to become immediately angry upon finding any neglect on the part of her lover. (Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 14.127)
Because Jagannātha took so long in returning, Lakṣmī considers that He was ignoring her. She was thinking, “Oh, My Prabhu has not returned. He is neglecting me. He is not actually sick, as He told me; He was pretending. Now He must be playing with the gopas and gopīs there and He must be very happy!” This is the reason for Her anger. If a woman loves her husband, and her husband takes another lover, what will she do? A chaste lady will pour fuel on her body, set fire to herself and burn herself to ashes. In the West no such problem exists. If one’s husband keeps any number of (different) lovers, there is no harm; the wife will also get new boyfriends. In India, however, this type of thing creates a great problem. A wife will become very angry, even if she feels slightly neglected.
While Śrīman Mahāprabhu was relishing all the kathā He was discussing with Svarupa Damodara, He said, “I have never heard anything like this before, that Lakṣmī comes to Gundica with Her whole party as a commander-in-chief, as if to attack and then She beats Jagannātha’s Chariot”.
Jagannāthadeva ordered His very dear devotee Mahārāja Indradyumna, “Oh My dear King, in the month of Asadh, on shukla dvitiya, I will take Myself, with Subhadrā and Balarāmaa riding on chariot to do my navaYātrā utsava where I appeared, that same place where you did thousands asvamedha yajña and mahavedi yajña is still there, you will take me to the same Gundica Mandira”.
How Ratha-yātrā starts in the month of vasanta pancami? They start collecting wood for chariot, every year new chariots. In front of Jagannāthadeva temple in east direction of arun stambha from there to gundica mandira, very big high way, it is called barhadanda. The devotees pull chariot barhadanda. Every year the construction of new chariot starts in aksaya tritiya. The three chariots—one for Jagannāthadeva, one for Baladeva, another one for Subhadrā Devī.
The name of Jagannāthadeva’s ratha called Nandighosh, top of Jagannāthadeva’s chariot is Sudarśana disc and Garuda is there. On top of Baladeva prabhu’s chariot, there is a symbol of Tala (Palm) called Taladhvaja. So name of Jagannātha’s chariot Cakra dhvaja or Garuda dhvaja. Baladeva Prabhu always use plough (hala) so another name of his chariot is Hala dhvaja. Name of Subhadrā Devī’s chariot is Padmadhvaja or Devadalana. Śrī Kṛṣṇa always use yellow cloth and Baladeva prabhu blue cloth so Jagannāthadeva’s chariot is decorated by yellow cloth; Baladeva prabhu’s chariot is decorated by blue cloth and Subhadrā Devī’s chariot is decorated by black cloth. The protector of Jagannāthadeva’s chariot is Śrī narasiṁhaDeva, name of his charioteer is matali. There are four horses in Jagannāthadeva’s chariot, named recika, mocika, suksma and amrita, all are white in colour. The protector of Baladeva prabhu’s chariot is shesha avatara means in the form of snake, name of saritiyar charioteer sudyumna, name of four horses thira, dhriti, dhiti and siddha, all are black in colour. The protector of Subhadrā Devī chariot is vanadurga and charioteer is arjuna because arjuna kidnapped Subhadrā Devī. Name of horses are adharma, agyan, aparajita and jyotini. From bottom to top about 34 parts of the chariot consists of different names.
