(4) Far and Near

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Deities' Manifestation Anniversary festival, Siliguri, 1 May 2019, morning, part 4
Translated from Bengali

You have also heard about the Deity of Lord Jagannath. I know that many of you have not been able to go to have Lord Jagannath's darshan, so please try to come this time. Do you know how Jagannath appeared in Sri Puri Dham? Listen to this history very carefully.

Lord Jagannath's temple was built by King Indradyumna. On the last day of our parikrama, we always come to the Gundicha temple and the pond Indradyumna Sarovar. Who is Gundicha? Do you know it? You have been there many times and you do not know it? Gundicha Devi is King Indradyumna's wife. The day before Ratha-yatra, her house is cleaned nicely. Every temple comes there and cleans it. This is what is called Gundicha-marjan ('cleaning of Gundicha's house'). That temple was there long before Lord Jagannath's temple was constructed.

So, here is the story about Lord Jagannath's appearance.

Although Indradyumna was a king, he was very devoted to the Lord. He loved the Lord very much. One night, Lord Narayan came to him in a dream and said, 'O King, the ruler of the whole world! I live right here, in your kingdom, but I am kept hidden. The devotee who has been serving Me for a long time now is of the sabar caste. [Sabar people eat boiled roots, so that devotee would boil roots and offer them to the Lord.] My servitor is a very good devotee, he serves Me with much affection and care, but all he feeds Me is roots, so I want to come to you and eat nice opulent things. My sabar servitor keeps Me hidden and does not want to let Me go, but by hook or by crook I want to come to you. I will not tell you where I am – you must come find Me...'

[Somebody tries to come to the front to pay their obeisance.] Can you not pay your obeisance from over there? Why is it necessary to come all the way here? Do you think that you cannot pay your obeisance from far? You do not have to come close – if you offer your obeisance from far, it is the same. If you come to your guru, you can offer him your obeisance from afar, in whichever direction he is. When you come to the Lord's temple, you can pay your obeisance from far, too. For example, Lord Jagannath is here – I am talking about Lord Jagannath now, so we are offering our obeisances to Him from here.

So, after that dream, the king woke up the next morning and told his wife and everybody else about it. He told them that the Lord was right in his kingdom, but he did not know where exactly. He summoned his soldiers and sent them to the north, south and east to search for the Lord. They looked everywhere but could not find Him. The king was upset, thinking, 'The Lord said that He was right here in my kingdom, and my men have searched all three directions... Now only the eastern side is left – whom shall I send there? Oh, I have my chief minister. He is a very clever man...'

Do you remember this chief minister's name? Anyone? Vidyapati. And what is the name of the sabar who served the Lord? Visvavasu. Do not mix these names. At the time of Ratha-yatra, the chariots stay at Gundicha's house for seven days, and during this time the Lordships are served by priests called daitapati – they are devotees of the sabar caste. So, Visvavasu was the sabar who first served the Lord, and Vidyapati is the king's chief minister. Remember these names.

So, this Vidyapati was sent to the east, and he set off on his journey...

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