SRI PURI DHAM MAHATMYA-MUKTA-MALA

(9) Mahaprabhu’s Journey to Puri:
Atharnala

When Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu took sannyas, He took the danda that He had received from His sannyas-guru and went to Puri together with Nityananda Prabhu, Mukunda and other devotees. As they were walking on the way, Nityananda Prabhu thought, ‘Why must Mahaprabhu carry Me?’

Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is non-different from Supreme Lord Sri Krishna. One time, when Krishna was little, He did something wrong and Balaram gave Him a slap. Gopal started to cry and went to Mother Yasoda to complain. He said, ‘Mother, Balai has hit Me!’ Mother Yasoda scolded Balaram gently, ‘He is Your younger brother. You must explain things to Him, why do You raise Your hand to Him?’

Balaram stood with His head hung and said nothing, but when Mother Yasoda went away, He grabbed Krishna by the shoulders and shook Him. He told Him, ‘I have hit You, but I did it for Your benefit! And You went to complain to Mother! What do You think? Do You think that Mother loves You more? How much time do You even spend with Mother?! You are always roaming here and there, You enter the whirlwind, You kill Aghasur, Bakasur, Batsasur, and then You come here and cry like an innocent baby. How is Your crying going to help? Who loves You more, Your Mother or I?’ Then, Gopal cried again and said, ‘Brother, You love Me more.’

Such is His love. Balaram serves Krishna with ten bodies – not just one body, but ten, ‘Balai is the dearest idol of Chaitanya-chandra. Anyone who commit any offence to Him dies. Although He is a selfsame worshippable Deity Himself, He personally becomes a servant of the Lord. All these symptoms are manifest in His incarnation. As a friend, brother, fan, bed, carrier, house, umbrella, clothes, ornaments, seat – He Himself serves Himself in all these forms. Whomever He blesses can understand this’ (Sri Chaitanya-bhagavata, 1.1.42–45).

Therefore, Nityananda Prabhu, being selfsame Balaram, thought, ‘My Lord is walking and carrying this danda – why will He carry Me?’ What did He do then? He broke the danda into three parts and threw it into the Bhargi river. Mahaprabhu was overwhelmed with Krishna-prema, so He did not notice anything. He only kept walking forward.

Near Puri there is a bridge called Atharnala. When Mahaprabhu came there, He suddenly remembered about His danda. He asked, ‘Nityananda, give Me My danda!’ But Nityananda Prabhu told a lie, ‘You were so engrossed in kirtan that You got the asta-sattvik-vikar. You fell on Your danda and it broke into three pieces, so I threw it into the Bhargi.’ Mahaprabhu got angry, ’Nitai, are You kidding Me? I have left everything in this world and I took only one precious thing from Nabadwip, but what have You done? You have destroyed it! What have I come to this world for? You know everything. I did not take anything with Me, I only had that one precious thing – a mere stick (danda)! – but You have thrown it away? Go! Will not come with You. Either you all go first and I will go after you, or I first go ahead and you will come later. Which do you choose? Tell Me quickly.’

The devotees consulted among each other and thought, ‘If we go first, how will we know in which direction the Lord goes? We will never find Him. But if the Lord goes first, then at least we will be able to see Him from afar.’ So, Nityananda Prabhu said, ‘You go first, and we will go after You.’

As soon as Mahaprabhu heard it, He started walking so fast, like a mad elephant! The devotees actually ran after Him, but they still could not catch up with Him. In this way Mahaprabhu walked straight into the temple of Lord Jagannath.

At the temple of Lord Jagannath, there is a bar in front of the Deities. When Mahaprabhu stormed into the temple, He stumbled onto this bar, fell down, and foam started coming out of His mouth. He could not even say, ‘Jagannath’ – He only kept saying, ‘Ja-ja-ga-ga’, ‘Ja-ja-ga-ga’. His whole appearance also changed – His figure did not look human at all.

The guards of the temple saw that some madman had run into the temple and were coming to beat Him, but by Mahaprabhu’s influence, they could not do it – seeing Mahaprabhu’s appearance, His effulgence and opulence, nobody dared raise their hand to Him. Somebody went away to Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya and informed him, ‘Prabhu, please come to the temple. Such a man has come there! He keeps saying, “Ja-ja-ga-ga” and foam is coming out of His mouth! He is lying there senseless.’ Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya came to the temple and saw Mahaprabhu’s condition. He told the guards, ‘Whoever He may be, take Him to my house.’

This is how Mahaprabhu arrived in Puri.

The map showing the road from Bhuvaneshwar to Puri.

The Atharnala bridge over the Bhargi (Bhargavi) River
(covered in growth in the picture).

Lord Jagannath's Temple (the outer entrance).

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