Jai Jagannatha - The Lord Who Never Disappoints!

It’s been a year with the Gods, I spent time with them more than I spent time with people. I lived with them, thought about them, loved them, prayed to them, adored them, sang to them... it has been so fulfilling and they didn’t disappoint. Lord Shiva, Ma Tara, Ma Kamakshi, Ma Kali are real in my head, more real than you and me. But recently circumstances presented themselves, events unfolded and I found myself heading to the temple of Puri more often than I had planned for. 

The larger picture is starting to get clear, the play of fate is a game am slowly getting to understand. There is a way to control things and not let it unfold as it feeds on our temperament. That’s when we rise towards being higher than just human. In this subtle reality, the mind has to work harder but if the heart is in the right place, it’s completely doable. Astrology helps to give direction, lets you know what’s coming but doesn’t get down to the depth of it...it lets you figure it out. And when the Daksha of fate comes to challenge us, hang on...face him with the army of Gods to support. Lord Shiva will come, or he will send someone. In my case, he sent Lord Jagannatha... and he didn't disappoint. 

I speak of a subtle reality, which has now become very loud. In my consciousness everyone around me now has become an actor, of a larger play and I am in it. Life has started to look up, people hardly matter for now my enemy is within, it’s me, it’s my fate... can I change it? I believe I can.

When we keep faith, when we surrender completely, I mean completely without doubts the Lord will act on it. And it’s an intoxication, the mind hardly wants to come back and live in this world. The other world is just more beautiful. Am I hallucinating, I wasn’t sure but when Lord Jagannatha just kept coming back I was certain, this is for real. Yes the heart has to be in love with him, the mind has to be persuasive and the magic of living can bring all the difference. Its deep, it’s fulfilling and it’s beyond human frivolousness. We are capable, more capable than we thought. 

The calling is strong, very strong and I just end up following my heart. Puri, land of the great Lord, a bustling temple swarming with people and with monkeys. Lord Rama is there with his Vanar sena, Lord Shiva has descended from Kasi, Lord Hanuman has come from the east gate and Goddess Mahalakshmi is seated on her throne. This dham, one among four, is the great seat of Lord Jagannatha, Neela Madhava... oh the bhava of surrender is just so amazing as we make our way into the sacred sanctum of the Lord who stands with Subhadra and Balarama. 

It’s a quiet chamber with a bit of day light streaming in and the lamp lights brighten up the interior. Ignore the sounds of the people and then you can feel the silence. Jagannatha stands there, with his hands spread out, with his eyes that don’t ever close, with his heart that is ever open to receive if we are willing to give. HE is my Jagannatha, my dear Lord, who called me again and again to visit him, to be with him, to surrender to him and to leave my heart behind with him for safe keeping. In this world of divinity, full of energy and divine secrets, its his home and its my home, my Hrydaya Kamalam where he resides, where Lord Shiva resides, where I have chosen to merge with him. 

Lord Jagannatha never disappoints, if we let go He will come to protect. Jai Jagannath!

Om Na Mo Bhagavate Vasudevaya

Divinity born from the depths of the ocean

The Great Preserver, the Lord who sleeps in Anantha Sayanam, the Lord who dwells in the cosmic ocean blessed this Yuga with sacred emblems of faith from the depths of the cosmic ocean of life.

It was in the ancient seas that a sacred log came floating back to shore, a log that was referred to as Daru in the Rig Veda. No one knows the origin of this piece of wood but it has powers, powers that could rule the world. It came ashore along the eastern coastline of India, finding its home within the topography of Shankha Kshetra. 

Subsequently it is believed, as the days of the great Buddha came to an end, his bones and teeth were buried within the sacred Stupas, a symbolism that depicted his Samadhi. One piece of tooth enamel is believed to have been embedded within this sacred log of wood. And this mysterious log of wood now became the center of worship not just for Hindus but also the Buddhists.

It is very rare, that the earth gets sanctified and carries on its surface the topography of a conch shell as rare as the Dakshinavarta Shankha. This rare form, with its south facing opening marks the land up to a distance of 10 miles along the coastline. It is believed only 40% of this sacred earth is accessible while the rest has been absorbed by the sea.

What possibly could the mysteries of this land be, to which four* of the greatest faiths that shaped this country stake a claim, where an ancient log of wood is most revered, and where mysterious temples sprung up to define the sacred contours of this holy land.  

 

This is the land of Jagannatha, the sacred soil of Puri that marks the iconic emblems of Lord Vishnu. This sacred earth is defined by Lord Shiva as Lokanatha and Nilakantha at its apex, followed by 8 other Shiva shrines that mark this land. The form of this Shankha is defined by 7 concentric folds, the first and the innermost being the navel of the Shankha, at the seat of which resides the sanctum of Jagannatha, Baladeva and Subhadra.

This land is a representation of the heavens on earth, starting with the main temple of Lord Jagannatha that has 9 gates leading towards it. 4 gates in the cardinal directions lie along 2 boundary walls that surround the temple and one that leads towards the ethereal realm beyond. There are little intertwined streets that lead from the temple up to 114 other sanctified residences and Tirthas that surround this great temple.

This land that surrounds Puri is called Shankha Kshetra, that surrounding Bhubaneshwar is the Chakra Kshetra, Jajpura is the Gada Kshetra and Konark is the Padma Kshetra. This makes the land around this coastline conceptually powerful though when we descend into its real world, the Brahmin corruption kills every pulse of divinity on this earth.
   
And yet the air is powerful, the feel is mystical, the architecture is supreme and faith is unlimited. This is the land that gave birth to great poets and saints like Jayadeva and Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. But slowly and surely with the chaos of today and the lack of understanding of this sacred divinity, in these times this faith is dying a slow death. 

Om Na Mo Na Ra Ya Na Ya

* [Vaishnavism, Tantricism, Buddhism, Jainism]

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