Shree Jagannath: Lord of the Universe

Lord Jagannath is the Lord of the Universe. He is Param Brahman, the Supreme Godhead, from which all Gods and Goddesses emanate. He is both the God unmanifest as well as the God manifest. He is both Nirgun Brahman (God without attributes. God as avang-manasa-gochara, beyond the reach of senses or mind) of Shankara and Sagun Brahman (God with attributes, the personified Brahman, such as Rama or Krishna) of Ramanuja. This multitudinous character of Jagannath reminds me of this great Vedic wisdom:

ॐ पूर्णमदः पूर्णमिदं पूर्णात्पुर्णमुदच्यते

पूर्णस्य पूर्णमादाय पूर्णमेवावशिष्यते ॥

ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः ॥

It literally means: “That is full. This is full. The full is taken out of the full. Take out the full from the full, the full remains. Om, peace, peace, peace.”

Lord Jagannath is both the ‘full’ and the parts that are also ‘full’, which are taken out of the ‘full’. Let us meditate on this. By creating the universe and all the elements in it, the Lord does not limit Him or lose His ‘full’ness. This brings another element. As the whole world is Lord's creation out of Himself, the whole world and its elements partake His consciousness. Applying this logic further, we are all divine as we are created by the Supreme Lord.

Then the question arises - if we are all parts of God, then why there is so much violence? Why there is so much chaos in the world? Why cannot we see and consider another individual as we consider ourselves? The answer is Avidya- Ignorance. We consider our separate selves as the sole reality. We cannot see all – ourselves and other selves – as creations of God. We cannot see the other integrated reality, the Lord, who is our Creator. Because of our ignorance, we think our separate selves as the sole reality. As dust particles cover a mirror and hides our view of ourselves, a thick miasma of ignorance veils us from our integrated and truer reality. Shankara took this aspect of ignorance and our indulgence in it seriously and declared the world is Maya, illusion. Shankara has a sound argument here. So far we consider ourselves absolute truth and ignore the divine truth, we are in illusion. But once we recognize that we are truth, but relative or empirical truth, the ignorance and illusion vanish, we become truly liberated.

Tulsidas believed that the Lord Jagannath is Lord Rama. At the first sight of Lord Jagannath, Tulsidas fell into a dilemma. How could Jagannath be not beautiful as Rama? How could this Lord be incomplete – no feet, no complete hands, no ears? Grief-stricken, he returned from the temple, thinking – no, Lord Jagannath cannot be Lord Rama. He had a vision. It was so powerful and compelling, he rushed to the temple and saw in place of Lord Jagannath was standing Lord Rama. He wrote in Ramcharitmanas:

बिनु पद चलइ सुनइ बिनु काना।

कर बिनु कर्म करइ बिधि नाना ।।…

He goes everywhere without legs.

He hears everything without ears.

He does everything without hands…

While Tulsidas’s vision of Lord Jagannath as Lord Rama can be characterized as his experience of the Lord as Sagun Brahman, his poem, quoted above, alludes to his experience of the Lord as Nirgun Brahman. Lord Jagannath is Lord Rama, but He is not confined to the image of Lord Rama as He is Nirgun Brahman. To a devotee like Tulsidas, He is amenable as a personified God, Lord Rama, but for a Jnana Yogi like Shankara, He is Nirgun Brahman - beyond the reach of human senses and conception, including the conception of a particular God.

Lord Jagannath is not confined to a particular people or a particular place. He is not the God of a particular state or a country. He is above the narrow confines of religion, nationality, creed, color, language, economic status or any man made divisions. Muslim Salabega was his devotee, as also poor Dasia Bauri. Guru Nanak went to Puri to see the Lord. Contemporary research suggests that Jesus Christ had visited Puri to receive light from the Lord.

Lord Jagannath is the only Lord who comes out of the temple every year so that all His devotees receive His grace. It has a deeper significance. Before the Supreme God all are equal. There is no discrimination on the basis of man-made divisions.

More the Jagannath culture spreads more the good for the world. The more this culture spreads, the more the people across the world come to know the Lord’s universal significance. I pray that the Rath Yatra in Tampa is a step in this direction.

Jai Jagannath !

(This article is part of the Tampa Rath Yatra Journal, July 2018.)

Jagannath Culture and Peace

Philosopher and Yogi, Sri Aurobindo, wrote in his essay ‘The Chariot of Jagannath,’ “The ideal society is the vehicle of the indwelling Godhead of a human aggregate, the chariot for the journey of Jagannath. Unity, Freedom, Knowledge and Power constitute the four wheels of this chariot.”

The conception of an ideal society has captivated minds of sages and philosophers throughout the ages. Whether the Upanishad’s exhortation ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’, or the Jaina concept of ‘Anekantavada,’ or the Buddhist ideal of the ‘Middle Path’, or the Christian commandment ‘Love Thy Neighbor’, the religions and the wise throughout the ages have sung the song of love and peace.

Who does not want peace? Who does not want a peaceful life, without violence and suffering? But, is there peace? Perhaps the world has never been as violent as today. Within a span of six years, from 2011 to 2016, more than four hundred thousand people perished in Syria alone, forget other conflicts scattered across the globe. Death, displacement, refugee crisis, seem to be the order of the day. The menaces of religious extremism and terrorism, aggressive pursuit of interests, excessive materialism and negligence of spiritualism, have contributed to the moral depravity of our age.

When I talk about peace, I do not mean an uneven peace – a peace of the strong over the weak, or a peace enforced by power of bayonets, or a peace in which we have material comforts at its peak, but moral and spiritual depravity at nadir. I am taking about a peace in which there is no violence from within or without, a peace that no circumstances can disturb, a peace established within but reflected without, outside in our daily behavior – in our thought and action.

How does Jagannath come in to the picture when we talk about peace? What does the Lord and his chariot signify? Jagannath or His chariot are not mere wooden instruments to be venerated; they possess tremendous meaning for all of us and for the world. They hold the key to address our moral depravity and our spiritual bankruptcy.

Jagannath, literally meaning Lord of Universe, is in true sense the Universal God, who transcends all divisions, and embraces all, whether the sinner or the virtuous. The pervasiveness of Jagannath consciousness can only be felt when one rises to the occasion, and leaving aside the ego, merges himself with the divine. Mere rituals do not help, unless they positively impact our mind, our consciousness. How many of us can echo Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu?  The devotee sang in his Sri Jagannathāṣṭakam:

“na vai yāce rājyaṁ na ca kanaka-māṇikya-vibhavaṁ

na yāce 'haṁ ramyāṁ sakala jana-kāmyāṁ vara-vadhūm

sadā kāle kāle pramatha-patinā gīta-carito

jagannāthaḥ svāmī nayana-patha-gāmī bhavatu me.

I do not pray to Jagannath for a kingdom, nor for gold, jewels, wealth, or even for a beautiful wife as desired by all men. My only prayer is that Sri Jagannath-deva, whose splendid glories are always sung by Shiva, be the constant object of my vision.

hara tvaṁ saṁsāraṁ druta-taram asāraṁ sura-pate

hara tvaṁ pāpānāṁ vitatiṁ aparāṁ yādava-pate

aho dīne 'nāthe nihita-caraṇo niścitam idaṁ

jagannāthaḥ svāmī nayana-patha-gāmī bhavatu me.

O master of the gods! Quickly deliver me from this worthless worldly existence. O Lord of the Yadus! Purge me of my limitless host of sins. Aho! You have promised to bestow Your feet upon the fallen and shelter less -- O Jagannath Swami, please be the object of my vision.”

I understand the concern of ‘roti, kapda aur makan.’ We need a healthy body and a healthy mind to engage in mundane as well noble activities. But, how much do we need? Mahatma Gandhi’s famous saying comes to mind: Nature has enough for everybody’s need, but not for everybody’s greed. We all aspire for peace, but we are not peaceful. We want the world to be peaceful, with no conflict in family, in society and in the world, but it does not happen. What is the reason? The reason we have to find within us. Alexander the Great while dying in Mesopotamia (modern day Iraq) ordered his men to put around him the wealth from the conquests, and told them, ‘Lo, I earned so much, but I am not taking anything with me.’ He was influenced by monks while returning from India. The monks inspired him to ponder over mortality of human life and vainglory. Flashing back to the 20th century English film ‘Death Becomes Her’, the protagonist refused to drink potion to become immortal, and argued that it is our work, our action here on the earth that makes us immortal.

Though Jagannath is considered a part of Hindu pantheon, He transcends religions or other social constructs. As Sri Aurobindo argued, Jagannath is the ‘Universal Godhead’, and the four wheels of the chariot represent ‘unity, freedom, knowledge and power’. Stories abound how the Supreme God embraced the fallen, the poor, the diseased, seekers belonging to diverse faiths. Whosoever seeks Him with all sincerity, He manifests. Whether it is Salabeg or Dasia Bauri or Bandhu Mohanty, Jagannath bestowed His grace on them. Do we call Jagannath in the spirit of these seekers, who ‘owned’ nothing, but Lord Jagannath?

What then is the major obstacle? The major obstacle is ego and its offshoots. I, Me, Mine – are useful instruments, but at some point they become obstacles to spiritual progress and to the building of an ideal human society. To quote the prophetic message of Sri Aurobindo in the essay quoted above, “But so long as the chariot of Jagannath is not built, the ideal society will also not take shape. That is the ideal and ultimate image, the manifestation of the highest and profoundest truth. Impelled by the Universal Godhead, the human race is striving to create it, but owing to the ignorance of Prakriti it only succeeds in creating a different image either deformed, crude and ugly or, if tolerably fair, incomplete in spite of its beauty.”

Sri Aurobindo pointed out that the human society is ‘striving’ to create an ideal human society, but ‘owing to ignorance’ it cannot realize the ideal. Ego is a reflection of this ignorance. While individual ego goads an individual to see and visualize everything through the narrow boundaries of I, me and mine, the collective ego – the aggregate ego of individuals living in a society or state – goads the leaders to aggressively pursuit national interest, leading to jingoism and war. The two world wars were mainly outcomes of the battles of the collective egos. May Lord Jagannath enlighten us, and save us from a Third World War with a nuclear catastrophe and with possible extinction of human race. Albert Einstein had said that if human race survives a Third World War, the Fourth World War will be fought with stones and sticks.

There is a light within us which impels us to rise beyond our individual and collective egos, and think of the world as one family, ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam.’ Lord Jagannath has provided us the way. It is time to follow it with all sincerity.

Let the Rath Yatra at Tampa in 2017 be a real Yatra – a collective march, and a collective promise to walk together, to work together, to establish an ideal human society, based on twin principles of love and harmony. It is time for action!

This article was written for the event of Jagannath Rath Yatra at Tampa, Florida, on 25 June 2017.

In Search of Cultural Roots

Early this month I attended a cultural event at Chelmsford, Massachusetts. The festival was organized by Odisha Society of New England (OSNE). OSNE is a cultural group of Odia people, who originated from India’s eastern state of Odisha, in New England region of USA. It started functioning in 1983 in Boston. It is part of the larger Odisha Society of America, the body representing Odias all over USA.

I am an Odia, but I am not parochial. One can come cross parochial people in parts of India, who are closed to other cultures and ideas, and protest migration of people from other areas as they are afraid of losing job and other opportunities. This parochial mentality prevails not only in India, but also in many other countries. I do not bracket myself in this category. I am an Odia, and at the same time an Indian. Both these identities do not contradict each other. Rather my larger Indian identity embraces my Odia identity. When I rise higher, I consider myself not only as an Indian, but also a member of the globe, a global citizen. To put in a different way, there are diverse identities of one person, and they are not necessarily contradictory. In one direction, this identity may start with oneself identifying with his or her village or town, then expanding to province, country and even the world. Drawing from Sri Aurobindo’s philosophy, I am a human being, and my identity does not stop at my village or closed community as it expands further towards an ideal human unity encompassing whole world. Hence, when I say I am proud to be an Odia – this does not contradict or undermine my other identities.

I got an email from OSNE that there is a regional drama festival organized in the first week of June 2015. I was prevaricating as to whether I should attend the event or not as the place was far from my place, and I did not have a suitable transport system to reach the place. But when I talked to the association president, an energetic and affable person, he suggested that I should come and enjoy the event. He offered to arrange my travel after I use public transport to a certain point. From the red line Savin Hill train stop I took train to Alewife, and from there I took a bus to Burlington Mall. The president picked me up from there in his car, and drove around 15 to 20 minutes to reach the festival venue. When I reached the event, the key members of the association were busy arranging various items for the event. I tried to help them. One lady told me to bring a small table from the outside of the auditorium to the dais. She placed on it a beautiful wooden statue of Lord Jagannath. I was very happy to see the statue. I would not dwell here about Lord Jagannath as one can come across huge material in Internet. Lord Jagannath is the reigning deity of Odisha, and every Odia prays Him. Puri, the city where the Jagannath temple is located, is considered one among the four holiest places for the Hindus. In Odisha, I have seen people remembering the Lord before starting any new venture. I have also seen people touching the ground and uttering His name before embarking on any journey.

Before the program started at 4 PM, there were refreshments. I could see the number of Odias swelling as the time moved ahead. I interacted with some of the kids, who came with their parents to participate in the event and/or enjoy the event. While enjoying the delicious refreshments – particularly the chat and masala – I started chatting with two young boys. I asked them what they wanted to be in future, what are their career goals, etc. One of them – the elder one – said that he wants to be a mathematician. I asked whether he knows Srinivasa Ramanujan, the mathematics legend from India, he replied yes. The other boy replied he does not know what he wants to be. I interacted with some other Odias.

There were very few known faces; hence I was almost a stranger. But I could develop quick rapport with some Odias and started chatting with them. I started talking to a couple, siting next to me. Their daughter participated in the program. I asked the lady whether she misses Odisha. She replied, ‘there is no time to miss Odisha. The life is so busy here – taking care of daughter, managing family and job – all these leave no time to think about other things, including Odisha’. Perhaps that was a true confession. The people are so busy here that they do not have time to devote to other things. But, I took solace in thinking that despite their busy schedules they could organize this event, and prepare their kids to participate in the event, and devote time and energy for it, and this is not a small thing. That itself shows that their hearts and minds are embedded in the Odia culture.

I found the programs that night not only entertaining but also educative. The Odissi and Sambalpuri dances I watched after a long time. I liked the children’s drama Hari Darshana, literally meaning the sight of Hari (the Hindu God, considered to be one among the supreme trinity in Hindu pantheon – Brahma, Vishnu, also known as Hari, and Brahma). The theme of the story is this: the son of demon king Hirankashyapu, Prahlada did not relent in praying Lord Vishnu, despite pressure and ploys to kill him. Finally, the Lord emerges from a pillar as a testimony of faith of Prahlada and kills the king. The morale of the story: a true devotion to God can save from pitfalls. I also liked the dramas – Gopal 60, Muktidana and Elo Elo Mo Boulo. All of them drew from Odia narratives. In Muktidana, a girl fights against patriarchal system; in Gopal 60, three friends search and find their father-figure and mentor; and Elo Elo Mo Boulo reflects a deeper sense of humanity in a member from LGBT community. Some other programs like Bollywood dance, band and karaoke were equally heart-touching.

The message I came across was that despite being far from their native place, the Odia people love their culture, and work hard to retain their cultural memory in their daily lives. The organization of such events reflected this. The first generation Odias are strongly rooted in their culture, and are eager to impart it to their children. While I was watching the children’s drama, I could see many of them born and brought up here speaking native Odia. Only few of them had Americanized Odia. I commend the efforts of the first generation Odias who work hard to retain their culture roots, and impart the culture to the next generation. I also commend the efforts of the second generation Odias, who are American citizens by birth, to learn their parents’ language and culture. As I mentioned in the beginning, different cultures and different identities can survive, or rather prosper together, in same person. Hence, for me it is an amazing experience to see how these children navigate through their American identity and Odia identity, and how they are reconciling these two identities.

After the cultural program, we had a lavish dinner. It was a good experience to see so many people, about 150, from the same community. One Odia professor who teaches at a university in Boston gave me and another Odia ride back to our homes. We had a lively discussion in her car. The professor lamented that some Odias prefer to speak in English  with another Odia even though they know Odia language very well. She was not against the English language, and we all agreed that English is a necessary language, and is considered a global lingua franca, but when one is comfortable in his native tongue, why not use that? When I reached my home, it was late night. I was still relishing the cultural event and reflecting on Odia culture and language, but my eyelids were heavy and soon I fell asleep.

Salabega: An Embodiment of Love and Devotion

I was listening to a famous song written by Salabega, the 17^th century Oriya poet. The songs of Salabega are known almost to everybody in Odisha and in some other parts of India. He is a household name in Odisha. I had an idea that he was a 18^th or 19^th century poet, but a search in internet brought that he was born in the 17^th century. Internet hence proves to be a great utility. I disagree with those who argue that internet diverts our mind, and kills our time. I am a fan of information technology. It has made our life tremendously easy. If a person seeks distraction, it can be a good source. But a person who wants to excel in his field or needs useful information, internet can be a great aid.

Salabega’s story is unique. His mother was an Oriya Hindu Brahmin, while his father was a Bengali Musilm. The story goes that his father Lalbeg, a commander in the Nawab of Bengal’s force had taken part in the campaign against Odisha. While on return he saw this beautiful woman on a pond taking bath. He seized this woman and took away along with him as his prize. He married her (I do not know how far we can characterize it as a marriage. History does not provide much information on it: whether he married her and lived with her as a husband. General belief is that he married her and they lived together as husband and wife).

Salabega, after grown up, took part in campaigns as his father. Once he got severely wounded but could not recover from the wounds, to which his Hindu religious mother suggested to pray Hindu God Krishna. The prayer worked miracle and he was cured. This motivated Salabega to be a devotee of Krishna. Krishna is held an incarnation of Lord Vishnu, and also of Lord Jagannath. Salabega turned to be a devotee of Lord Jagannath.

A few words about Lord Jagannath. Jagannath is considered patron God of Odisha. He is also called living God of Odisha. I have seen people when going out for some work chant Jagannath as they step out of home. I have seen people touching national highways in Odisha and chanting Jay Jagannath (hail to Jagannath), believing that the God will save them from accidents on road and the other problems. There is a long story behind Jagannath, which I will narrate some other time. Suffice to say, Jagannath is a part of parcel of Odisha culture, particularly among the Hindus. The Hindus all over India visit the temple of Jagannath situated on the east coast of Odisha, India. The Jagannath temple is considered to be among the four holiest places for Hindu pilgrimage.

Salabega became a devotee of Jagannath, and started writing poems filled with intense devotion and love for the God. The song I was listening today on YouTube meant that ‘O’ God you are for your devotee, everything you have is of your devotees; you do everything for your devotee.’ It is said that many of his songs were lost as they were not preserved. There is a common trend one can find in Salabega’s poems and devotional songs. He seems to chastise himself, his birth in a family, which is neither Hindu nor Muslim. To paraphrase, he says, ‘My father is son of a Mughal, my mother is a Brahmin, O’ my Lord, you gave me a low-birth.’

The angst is clearly visible in his songs. Though a devotee of Jagannath, Salabega was never allowed to enter the temple because his father was a Muslim. That did not deter this great poet and lover of humanity to continue his work, writing devotional songs. There is a story that once when Salabega was coming from a distant place (perhaps Bengal) to watch Car Festival (this takes place every year, in which the wooden statues of Lord Jagannath along with his brother Valbhadra and sister Subhadra are taken out from the temple by the devotees and placed on wooden cars to visit their aunt’s house This ritual has a strong mythical origin). Salabega thought of watching his God from a close, because for him it was not possible to see the God in the temple. But he was getting late, and he had to walk so much. He wrote in one song, ‘I have to walk 750 kosh (Oriya word, perhaps implying mile).’ The legend has it that the car of Lord Jagannath did not move and stopped at one place despite all efforts by the priests to move the car. Salabega reached the place and had communication with his Lord, and only after that the car moved. To mark and cherish this event, every year even now the car stops for few moments on the road.

I would call Salabega a gift of God. He did not have any formal training in literature or rhetoric or music. His writings were profound, so powerful, it would be impossible to write such inspiring poems without God-given creativity. When I think about this, another powerful Oriya poet comes to my mind, whose name is Bhima Bhoi, whose poems are so powerful, so self-effacing, and so meditating, I doubt whether persons having university degrees could match such poems. I think Salabega belonged to the genre of Bhakti movement. Some other great stalwarts of this movement are Sri Chaitanya and Pancha Sakha (five friends – Balaram, Jagannath, Ananta, Yashowant, and Achyuta). Among many strains of Hindu yogic movements, Bhakti is a prime one which emphasizes on devotion to God. It also demands surrender to God. It is characterized by intense passion and love for God. In that sense it has similarities with another strain called Prema Yoga (meditation of love, in which the Yogi completely surrenders himself to God, and considers the God as if his lover. Mirabai of Mewar was perhaps the highest embodiment of this Yoga, another one was Andal of South India).

When I think deeply about these great devotees who touched the apogee of spiritual realization, I wonder whether the education in the formal institutions can train in these qualities. Most of these people, I mentioned earlier, did not go to any school. Bhim Bhoi was blind, and was a shepherd. Salabega was not educated in the sense we call ourselves educated. But, they left highest imprints in our minds and heart. Their lives were messages.

The life of Salabega raises larger questions before me. Does the education in formal institutions make us really educated? I am not a detractor of modern education system, but I think how far they impart moral and spiritual education to individuals. As I listen regularly the song written by 14^th century Gujarati philosopher, Narsinh Mehta, Vaishanva Jana Jo Tene Kahiye, Jo Pid Parai Janere (the person is divine, who feels and cures the pain of others. One of the favorite songs of Mahatma Gandhi), I realize that true wisdom transcends the limits of formal education as it is not in the pages of book we find it, but rather in a sincere cultivation of our heart and mind. Salabega taught me this.