Sri Jagannath Rath Yatra

The Ratha-yātrā is now celebrated all over the world, but the original and most prominent place for it is Śrī Jagannātha Purī.

If you observe carefully, you will notice that in every Ratha-yātrā festival, the Deities who ride on the chariots are made of wood. Why is this so? What is the reason behind it?

There are eight types of Deity forms (vigraha): Lohī (metallic), Śailī (stone), Dāru-mayī (wooden), Clay, Paint, Sand, Mind, Jewels

śailī dāru-mayī lauhī lepyā lekhyā ca saikatī mano-mayī maṇi-mayī pratimāṣṭa-vidhā smṛtā

The Deity form of the Lord is said to appear in eight varieties — stone, wood, metal, earth, paint, sand, the mind or jewels.

(ŚB 11.27.12)

Why is it that Jagannātha-jī is in a wooden form? There are four main historical reasons behind this.

I wrote “Jaya Jagannath” book when I was doing my PhD. It contains very beautiful details about Jagannātha-jī. Many scholars have done PhD research on different aspects of Lord Jagannātha, focusing on each topic. By the mercy of Guru Ji (Śrīla Narayana Gosvämi Maharaj), I was able to cover all of these different aspects, including many new elements and perspectives. The title of my thesis was Jaya Jagannātha.

If you know someone’s weak point, you can easily blackmail. If you know a person’s weakness, you can blackmail them, isn’t it so? Even a small child knows the weakness of their parents, and because of this, the parents show them extra love. For example, when a child has dental issues and goes to the doctor, the dentist advises, “Don’t give cold items, no ice cream.” The child’s teeth are decayed and falling out. The doctor says, “No more ice cream.” The parents also instruct the child, “Don’t eat ice cream.” But the very next day, when the ice cream vendor rings his bell, the child starts crying loudly, “Papa! Ice cream! Mummy! Ice cream!” Even when given other treats, the child throws them aside and continues crying.

Finally, what do the parents do? The father takes money from his pocket and says, “Go, buy and eat your ice cream.” Why? Because the child knows, “My parents love me.” This weakness of the parents is not a fault; it is their greatest quality; their love for their child.

Similarly, what is the greatest quality of Bhagavān? His love for His devotees. And what is the greatest quality of Gurudeva? His love and affection for his disciples, especially for his sevaka. Gurudeva’s special affection is for his sevak. Therefore, we should always give respect to the guru’s sevak, not only to the general disciples, but specifically to the sevaka.

What is Bhagavān’s weakness? His love for His devotees. Among all the qualities of Bhagavān, His most prominent quality is that He is bhakta-vatsala, affectionate to His devotees. This is not a fault; it is His greatest virtue. And we devotees often take advantage of this and lovingly “blackmail” Bhagavān through our devotion.

Have you all heard the name of Nārada Ṛṣi?

One day, Nārada Ṛṣi was traveling and arrived in Dvārakā. He asked Bhagavān, “Prabhu! Why have You taken a wooden form?”

Upon hearing this, Bhagavān thought, “Why has this mischievous person come now? What will he say next?” Bhagavān remained silent.

Again, Nārada Ṛṣi asked, “Prabhu, please tell me!”

Then Bhagavān replied, “Nārada! Don’t put your nose into My domestic matters.”

What are domestic matters? For example, a father may tell something confidentially to the mother, and then she spreads it everywhere. Such things happen. In this way, there are domestic affairs even for Bhagavān. He will not speak, and Nārada Ṛṣi will not stop asking.

Let me tell you a story.

Once, there was a fight between husband and wife. The wife was serving food but not speaking to her husband. She just placed the plate and said, “Here, eat.” After a few days, the wife came to her husband and said, “Look, we never really fight, but this time it is affecting our child. The child is growing up now, and this will have a bad influence. Let’s make a compromise.”

The husband asked, “What kind of compromise?”

The wife said, “You apologize to me, and I will forgive you. That will be our compromise.”

So similarly, Bhagavān says to Nārada, “Don’t stick your nose into My domestic problems!”

So what did Bhagavān say?

“Don’t stick your nose into My domestic problems.”

But Nārada-jī was not the type to give up easily. He fell silent for a moment, but then again he asked, “Prabhu, please tell me what happened!”

Bhagavān replied, “Nārada! Don’t disturb Me.”

Again, Nārada remained quiet for a while but persisted, “Prabhu, then what happened?” Seeing that Nārada would not leave without hearing something, Bhagavān began to speak:

eko striyau prakriti mukhara dvitiya chancha ca putramek bhuvan vijayi

Bhagavān said, “Look, Nārada, I have two wives. One of them is very talkative. Whenever I try to say something, she cuts me off and speaks ten times more. I can never win an argument with her.” After saying this, Bhagavān again fell silent. But Nārada remained eager and pressed further, “Oh Nārada! Enough now. Please, stop asking.”

Bhagavān continued, “Nārada, I thought, no problem. If I cannot live peacefully with one wife, I will try to live with the other.”

Nārada asked again, “And then, Prabhu? And then?”

Bhagavān said, “The second wife is chanchalā, restless by nature. She never stays with Me. One moment she is here, the next moment she is there, constantly moving from place to place.”

Nārada again asked, “Prabhu, what happened next?”

Bhagavān continued, “No problem. Neither of My wives listen to Me, but I have a son. I thought, at least I will live with My son and find peace.”

Nārada again asked, “Prabhu, and then what happened?”

Bhagavān smiled, “Like mother, like son! If the mother does not listen, why would the son listen? After all, he came from his mother’s womb! Naturally, the son is more attached to the mother than the father. Although both parents contribute, the son’s affection is always greater towards the mother, just like her, like mother, like son.”

Nārada insisted, “Prabhu, then what happened?”

Bhagavān said, “Look, Nārada, I am fed up with these household problems. I just want some rest now.”

Nārada asked, “For rest, what do You need, Prabhu?”

Bhagavān replied, “I need a bed.”

Where does Bhagavān sleep? In the middle of the ocean.

What is His bed made of? Is it made of teakwood or something else? No! It is made of a snake; Śeṣa Nāga!

Who is Bhagavān’s carrier? Garuḍa. And what is the relationship between Garuḍa (hawk) and snakes? They are natural enemies, just like 36 and 63; completely opposed to each other. As soon as Garuḍa smells the presence of a snake, he will immediately attack.

Bhagavān said, “If I want to go to sleep, what should I do? I have only one place; on the ocean. My bed is made from a snake. If I try to sleep in the middle of the ocean, what will happen?”

“Some have taken a lion, some have taken a bull for their bed, like Lord Śiva. Someone else takes a lion. What am I left with? A small bird. And between Me and My bed (the snake), there is this eternal enmity.”

“So what to do? If I try to sleep, I will drown.”

Bhagavān then quoted a śloka:

smaram smaram sāgṛhi caritaṁ dāru-bhūto murāriḥ

“Nārada, by constantly worrying over these household affairs, I have become wooden.”

The meaning of ekā striyaḥ prakṛti-mukhra:

Bhagavān has two wives: Lakṣmī-devī and Sarasvatī-devī.

Those who receive the mercy of Sarasvatī become highly learned scholars. Such persons cannot be defeated by anyone. It is said that Sanskrit is not only the oldest language of India but the oldest language on earth. Even for computer programming, Sanskrit fits best among all languages. This fact was proven by Indian scientists, especially by scientists from South India.

Now, let us see what happens when one receives the mercy of Sarasvatī. I will give two examples.

You all must have heard the name of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. He is Svayam Bhagavān. How learned He was!

Though appearing like an ordinary human being, performing human-like pastimes, He had thousands of students. Whenever His students heard Him speak even once, they would leave their traditional schools and come directly to Mahāprabhu.

Even though Mahāprabhu was younger than most of His students in age, and all the scholars of Navadvīpa at that time were far older than Him. He troubled all the pandits in Nabadwip. Mahaprabhu would confuse and argue, establishing His principles in such a way that no pandit (scholar) had the courage to counter Mahaprabhu’s logic. Just as currently Cambridge University and Oxford University are at the top worldwide, similarly, Nabadwip was then the world’s top destination for education, as great as Cambridge and Oxford are now. At that time, if someone studied and passed from Nabadwip, they would become popular throughout the world.

One day, Keshava Kashmiri came to Nabadwip. His normal name was Keshava, and because he was from the Kashmir province, many people added “Kashmiri” to his name. He had a boon from Devi Saraswati, which is why he had defeated everyone in the world. Winning throughout the world, he arrived in Nabadwip. When it became known in Nabadwip that Keshava Kashmiri had arrived, they thought, “Does this mean he will defeat us? Our reputation will be ruined! We must do something to save ourselves!”

buddhiryasya balam tasya nirbuddhestu kuto balamkūpe simho madonmattaśśaśakena nipātitaḥ

“True strength comes from a strong mind. The unwise have no real power; even a mad lion was defeated by a small rabbit or mouse.”

Shiva Purana – Verse 2.4.19.52

The pandits of Nabadwip thought, “Nimai always bothers us, so first we will send Keshava Kashmiri to Nimai.

“One pandit said, “What if Keshava Kashmiri defeats Nimai?”

Then we will say, “Oh Nimai! You used to trouble us, but look, he came from outside and defeated you!”

“And what if Nimai wins?”

“Then we will say, ‘Oh fellow, you lost to our young grandson? Go, run away from Nabadwip!’”

“Whether Nimai wins or loses, it’s a win-win situation for us.”

Swayam Bhagwan (Godhead), being omniscient, thought, “Okay! You are residents of Nabadwip. Alright! I will arrange for him to be defeated.”

What color is the sky when the sun sets? It’s red. If someone wants to see a sunset, they should see it in Dwarka; it’s very beautiful.

So, Sriman Mahaprabhu was sitting by the riverside, teaching his disciples and discussing. At that time, writing and reading were less common because students remembered everything they heard orally. That’s why ‘Shruti’ means remembering by listening with the ears. At that time, the sun’s rays were shining on the waves of the Ganges. Now Keshava Kashmiri arrived there, and everyone started shouting,

“Oh! Oh! Keshava Kashmiri has come!” When Keshava Kashmiri saw Mahaprabhu, he was shocked. Such an aura was emanating from Mahaprabhu’s body that he asked, “Who is this?”

“This is Nimai Pandit.”

Shocked Keshava Kashmiri exclaimed, “Oh, this is Nimai Pandit! So much aura in this young boy?”

He was shocked to see this. He came and sat near Mahaprabhu, “Are you Nimai Pandit?”

Mahaprabhu said, “Yes, people call me that. Who are you?”

“I am Keshava Kashmiri.”

“Oh! You are Keshava Kashmiri. We have heard a lot about you. It is my good fortune that I have met you without any effort. Would you like to hear something?”

Keshava Kashmiri, being a great poet, certainly wanted to recite something, “Tell me, what do you want to hear, child?”

Mahaprabhu said, “We are sitting by the banks of the Ganges. Please tell us a little about the glory of the Ganga.”

Then, by the grace of Saraswati, he spoke rapidly, composing and reciting 100 new verses within an hour. Whether we want to or not, our eyelids keep falling on their own. The 1000 children with Mahaprabhu could not close their eyes, and their mouths remained wide open in shock, “Such a great pandit!”

Face is the index of mind. Keshava Kashmiri was very pleased with how he had amazed everyone with his knowledge. Then Chaitanya Mahaprabhu said, “Pandit Ji, just as I had heard about you, you are indeed a great pandit. Would you recite ten errors of one of your verses?”

Keshava Kashmiri then loudly said, “There are only good qualities in Keshava Kashmiri’s compositions, no faults! If you want to hear ten errors, then which verse do you want to hear them from?”

Keshava Kashmiri was thinking that this boy wouldn’t be able to name any verse because he had composed all the verses himself. These are not written anywhere in the scriptures, so how would he know? But Mahaprabhu recited the 50th verse.

mahattvaṁ gaṅgāyāḥ satatam idam ābhāti nitarāṁ yad eṣā śrī-viṣṇoś caraṇa-kamalotpatti-subhagā dvitīya-śrī-lakṣmīr iva sura-narair arcya-caraṇā bhavānī-bhartur yā śirasi vibhavaty adbhuta-guṇā

All of Mahaprabhu’s students were surprised and started saying, “Look how great a pandit Nimai is. We couldn’t even remember one verse, and Nimai recited the whole verse?”

Keshava Kashmiri was also surprised, “Child, I recited the verses at cyclone speed; how did you memorize them so quickly?”

Mahaprabhu said, “Pandit Ji, by the grace of Saraswati, I recited all these verses. If one can become learned by Saraswati’s grace, can’t one also be a Shruti Dhar?”

A Shruti Dhar is one who never forgets after hearing something once. Our Guru Maharaj – Srila Bhaktivedanta Vamana Goswami Maharaj, came to the Matha at the age of 9. He received his Harinam from Prabhupada Saraswati Thakur. He came in 1930, at the age of 9, and our Paramgurudev Srila Bhakti Pragyana Keshava Goswami Maharaj admitted him to school. Srila Trivikram Goswami Maharaj came in 1942, and Gurudev – Srila Narayana Goswami Maharaj came in 1946. So, our Guru Maharaj – Srila Bhaktivedanta Vamana Goswami Maharaj ji was first rank in his school. In old times, the head teacher used to teach English and had a stick in hand. Nowadays, you can’t even show a stick to a child. So, Guru Maharaj was asked, “Who is the first boy? Stand up and read the text from the book.”

Guru Maharaj was very shy by birth and did not pick up the book and remained in a position with his head down and hands together.

The English teacher said, “I am telling you to read the text, are you dumb or deaf?”

The 2nd boy and 3rd boy raised their hands, so the teacher asked, “What do you want to say?”

They said, “Sir, he doesn’t need a book?” Then the teacher said, “I didn’t ask him to read a poem. I asked him to read a text, prose!” Then they replied, “Yes sir! He doesn’t need a book.”

The teacher asked Guru Maharaj if this was true? So Guru Maharaj said, “If you have some doubt, please rule it out. Whether it’s prose, poetry, Bengali, geography, science, math, anything, just tell me the page number and how you want to hear it.”

The teacher was shocked, “Does such a thing is even humanly possible?”

This is an example of Mahaprabhu’s associates, so imagine what Godhead Himself must be like? Simultaneously, Mahaprabhu recited to Keshava Kashmiri, and his heartbeat began, and he thought, “How did he memorize and recite this?”

Then Mahaprabhu said, “Pandit Ji, shall I now tell you the faults in your verse?” Keshava Kashmiri was very angry, “Didn’t I tell you that Keshava Kashmiri’s compositions have no faults, only good qualities.”

Keshava Kashmiri was boasting. So Mahaprabhu said, “Shall I tell you some qualities now?” If you want to suppress someone, first praise all their good qualities. Swell them up completely. After that, one by one, poke them. So Mahaprabhu first mentioned five good qualities, and Keshava Kashmiri was shocked, “Oh, these qualities were also in it? This child is absolutely right!”

Then Mahaprabhu pointed out 5 flaws: “You yourself said ‘Bhavani Bhartur’. Bhavani refers to Durga Maa. ‘Bhav’ means Shiva, and ‘Bhavani’ means Shiva’s wife. And you yourself stated that Parvati is called Bhavani because she is Shiva’s wife. And then you are talking about her ‘Bhartur’ (husband). So, does she have any husband other than Shiva? What are you saying? Parvati is a chaste woman, and you are pointing fingers at her? If a chaste woman has 4-5 husbands, she will be defamed worldwide. What were you saying?”

Whatever was said, he became speechless, and the children started clapping and laughing. Mahaprabhu stopped everyone, “No. One should not insult others.”

But young children wouldn’t listen to this. So everyone was laughing and saying, “That’s why we call him Nimai Pandit.”

When Keshava Kashmiri lost, it was like a forest fire, a davanala. We don’t see forest fires in India, but recently there was one in Australia, and in Florida, forest fires occur every year. Similarly, the news spread throughout the village that “Nimai defeated Keshava Kashmiri.”

Now all the pandits were embracing each other and sharing sweets, “Nimai has defeated Keshava Kashmiri! Now, no matter how much Nimai Pandit teases us, we will tolerate it; there’s no worry.”

Then Mahaprabhu said to Keshava Kashmiri, “Pandit Ji, you have come a long way and must be tired, so we will meet tomorrow.”

Those who were defeated became the disciples of Mahaprabhu. Now, Keshava Kashmiri returned to his place where he was staying. He bathed and began chanting the mantra of Saraswati,

“Devi! If I had been defeated by a great pandit, I would not have had any sorrow. But I was defeated by a small child, who is the age of my grandson. There can be no greater sorrow in my life than this.”

As he was saying this and lamenting, the Devi appeared.

“Devi, you have given me the boon to be a Digvijay (conqueror of all directions), to be a Vishva Vijaya (conqueror of the world), but why did you let me be defeated?”

Devi then said, “Keshava! The boon I gave you was that you would defeat everyone. That is correct. You will defeat everyone. But I did not say that you would defeat my husband, did I?”

Keshava Kashmiri was shocked, “He is your husband?”

Saraswati Devi explained further, “Yes, He is my husband, Sri Krishna. He is currently performing His human-like pastimes (narvata lila). If you wish for good fortune, go and take refuge at his lotus feet in the morning; only then will you be blessed.”

The next morning, Keshava Kashmiri went to Mahaprabhu and said, “Prabhu! Devi has told me everything. You are Lord Sri Krishna Himself.”

Mahaprabhu said, “Alright. Don’t tell anyone this. If you tell, I will kill you.”

Mahaprabhu gave him various teachings, and he departed. He would occasionally come to see Mahaprabhu, changing his disguise, to have the darshan of Gaur Hari.

I discussed before and gave an example from scripture. I will give another example, “eka striyo prakrti mukhara…”

In India, there was a very learned and scholarly princess. She promised that she would only marry a man who could defeat her in a debate. Not only was she an extremely learned scholar, but she was also extremely beautiful. So, many princes and learned scholars came for her hand in marriage, but all were defeated by her. Some of the scholars became very dejected, thinking, ‘Oh, we were defeated by a girl!’ They tried many times but were never victorious over her.

One day, as they were returning after a debate, they saw a man who was cutting a branch from a tall tree. The man was sitting on the same branch that he was cutting. As soon as he cut through the branch, he would fall very far down to the ground with his axe. The learned scholars thought he would be the fittest candidate to debate with the princess. They understood he was a very foolish person. They called him and asked him to come down.

They said to him, “Hey guy, would you like to marry?”

The foolish guy said, “Yes. Who will I marry?”

The scholars replied, “A very beautiful princess. She has so much money. You will never have to cut trees again for the rest of your life. You will only eat, drink, and be merry.”

The foolish guy became very happy. He said, “Okay, what do I have to do?”

The scholars explained, “Simply follow what we ask you to do, nothing more.”

They trained him that they would talk to the princess, and he would not talk at all. They explained, “If she shows you one finger, you show her two fingers. Okay? You can do that?”

The foolish guy replied, “Yes, no problem.”

They dressed him very nicely with a big turban and put perfume all over his body. They went there and told the princess, “This is our Guru, but he has some obligation at present, so he will not speak. He has taken mauna vrata (a vow of silence) to maintain silence. He will reply to your questions and debate with you only by hints.”

The princess said, “No problem.”

The debate started. On one side was the princess and her courtiers, and on the other was foolish Kalidas and the learned scholars who came to see the fun. So the princess showed one finger and asked the question, “Is Brahma one or more?”

Kalidas then showed two fingers. Kalidas thought she wanted to poke out one of his eyes. So he thought, “I am a healthy, male person. If she wants to poke out one of my eyes, I can poke out her two eyes.”

Then the learned scholars began to clap, saying, “Our learned scholar has become victorious!”

The princess asked, “Why?”

The scholars replied, “Shakti and Shaktiman are two persons. Without Shakti, there is no value of Shaktiman. You want to say there is only Shaktiman, but our Guru has said no. There is not only Shaktiman, the potent, but also the potency, Shakti, is with Him.”

The learned scholars even said that, “God is love and love is God. If God is alone, then how can he enjoy love? You are showing one finger, but God cannot enjoy love alone. So our Guru has shown two fingers, meaning to enjoy love, then two persons are needed. That is Shakti and Shaktiman.”

After this, they clapped so much, and the princess accepted her defeat. So that night, the wedding ceremony took place. The learned scholars did not reveal their trick and were very happy. They went back to their homes after the marriage, agreeing they had achieved a great revenge.

The first night came; they would meet together, open their hearts to each other. In the meantime, the princess was sleeping in her bedroom, and she had put up a mosquito net. The foolish Kalidas came in the night to meet with her. She was waiting for him. Kalidas came, and seeing inside the mosquito net, he became surprised. He thought, ‘In the daytime, there was not a second room inside this room. How did it come? There is no door, no window; how can I go inside?’

He had never seen any mosquito net in his whole life; he had no knowledge about this. So he thought it might be better to jump on top to enter the newly made room. As soon as he jumped on top of the net, all the strings broke, and he landed on the princess. The princess thought he was joking.

She asked, “Why did you do that?” Kalidas replied, “You made another room inside the room, and there was no window or door to enter. I came to meet with you, as this is our first meeting night after marriage. How could I enter?” The princess could not understand and thought he was joking. After they fell asleep, a camel made a sound.

The princess asked, “What is that sound?”

Kalidas replied, “Utra.”

In Sanskrit, a camel is called ushtra, but Kalidas could not utter it properly and said “utra.” The princess understood he was a great foolish guy, and she kicked him out, saying, “You are foolish, get out of here!” He went out, and close by there was a river. He wanted to commit suicide.

He thought, ‘I came to enjoy with her, and already she has kicked me out! I will not maintain my life any longer.’ So, as he was just about to sink in the water, the Goddess of Knowledge, Saraswati Devi, appeared there and said, “Don’t commit suicide. By my grace, you will be a world-famous learned scholar. As long as there are sun and moonbeams in this world, your name and fame will be in this world. So go back.”

He came out and knocked on the door. The princess opened the door, and Kalidas said, “asti kascit vak visesa” (śloka). “I have to tell you something.”

When the princess heard his extraordinarily beautiful Sanskrit pronunciation, she became surprised. She thought, ‘How is he speaking such beautiful Sanskrit?’

She said, “Okay, if you can make three epics starting from ‘asti kascit vak visesa,’ then I will accept you again as my husband.”

Kalidas did so, and she accepted him as her husband again. This is the evidence that if someone becomes the recipient of Saraswati Devi’s mercy, then he will be a learned scholar and he will be very talkative. This is the example of ‘prakriti mukhara’.

So Krishna said, “I left all hopes for her. I thought it’s okay, I have another wife, Lakshmi Devi, with whom I can spend the rest of my life. But she is also chanchala (restless) and always moving from one place to another.”

In this world, money never stays at one place and jumps from one place to another. So we should always use money in the service of Hari, Guru, and Vaishnava. So Krishna said, “What shall I do, my wives are not under my control? No problem, I have a son with whom I can spend my life, and that is Pradyumna. He is the origin of Cupid, and the whole world is under his control.” He became victorious over this whole world; even if someone wants to stay alone, he is taken over by him. So what to say for human beings, even Cupid controlled Naradaji, Brahmaji, and Shivji. Four-headed Brahma is our Adi-Guru and creator of the universe, and we are in his sampradaya.

Hence, Krishna is telling, “Smarang Samrang svagriha charitam daru bhuto murari.” So because of my domestic problem—that one wife is very talkative and not listening to me, another wife is always running from one place to another, and my son is busy in capturing the world—remembering my domestic problem again and again, I became a wooden vigrah (deity). So this is the cause why Lord Jagannath appeared in wooden form.