Skip to main content

LORD JAGANNATH'S ONGOING LILA: RATH YATRA 2021

 
Ever since the pandemic, it has been extremely difficult for us to come together and be in association of devotees and to celebrate the various occasions that we otherwise did with so much of grandeur. Nevertheless, we have been trying our best to bring to you every celebration in the best possible way. We felt that even this year, we wouldn't be able to have a Ratha Yatra like we usually did, but Lord Jagannath had other plans. 
 
Although the whole intention of Ratha Yatra is that everyone gets the Darshan of the Lords, we decided on having a small ceremony, with just a few devotees, within the ashram area, since the pandemic is still prevalent. We decided to utilise the old Ratha from our morjim centre. But to our disappointment, we were informed that the old Ratha was damaged due to rains and hence couldn't be used.

Before long, one of our ardent devotee, Pradeep Chodankar Prabhu, from Mapusa came to our rescue like a knight in shining armour. During his visit to the ashram, he learned about our situation and without a second thought offered to help us by building a new Ratha for Their Lordships. His family and many other devotees and well-wishers came together and contributed to give us an elegant, new handcrafted Ratha. If you haven't already watched, please do watch the video and the pictures to see the beautifully designed and painted Ratha. It clearly portrays the love and devotion to our beloved Lord Jagannath, Lord Baladev and Maiya Subhadra from Their honest devotees.

With the Ratha arranged we had nothing else to worry about, except may be the weather. But on the day of the Ratha Yatra, Lord Jagannath had managed to take care of that too. Mostly clear skies and maybe a drizzle of rain every now and then. Which was good enough for us.

On the day of Yatra, the Ratha, adorned with flowers and Their Lordships mounted on it, were ready to be chauffeured around our land. But on the last moment, we thought that the wheels of the Ratha may not be be able to manoeuvre well through the soft soil of the fields. So we finally decided to take the Ratha over the tarred road for better stability. Even though we planned to avoid going on the road because of not having permission for the procession, Lord Jagannath wanted to go on the main road. He showed us that He is the master who makes all plans. We covered a decent length around the village and back. In this way, the Lord had also managed to give his Darshan to all the people.

Life of a devotee is like this. One obstacle after another. It just goes to show that, these obstacles are in place for a reason. For us to try, to learn and to surrender to His will. Our illusion is that we think we can control what happens in our lives. But clearly, we don't. When faced with a hurdle, best is to let the Lord take control of it. Inspite of all these difficulties, the Ratha Yatra took place in a grand fashion. It is Lord Jagannath's Lila that we witnessed during this Rath Yatra.

Written by Trisha Chodanker.

Story narrated by Achyut Gopal Das.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A RADHASHTAMI MEDITATION

Jai Sri Radhe!! Is the chant on everyone's minds and hearts now. Atleast in the minds and hearts of devotees. It's time to celebrate the most auspicious of auspicious festivals; it's time to celebrate Sri Radhashtami - the appearance day of Srimati Radharani. For devotees, Radhashtami is a more important festival than Janmashtami. Why? Because for the world Krishna is God but for devotees, Radha is God because they know that Krishna is subservient to the love of Radha. In our ISKCON circle, it is said that - Janmashtami is a public event but Radhashtami is a private event for only devotees who understand the supreme position of Srimati Radharani. On the most auspicious occasion of Radhashtami, I would like to bring to your attention a beautiful meditation that His Holiness Bhakti Tirtha Swami wrote many years back on this occasion called "An offering for the Divine Mother". The best prayer is to repeat the prayer of previous realized, great souls. Keeping thi...
Post a Comment
Read more

CLOSE YOUR EYES AND OPEN

Don't build your house in shifting sand, build it on a solid rock foundation." - Paraphrased from the teachings of Jesus Christ. As I close my eyes to chant japa and open my eyes a little while later, I notice that something has changed. Either someone who was chanting along has got up and left or someone new joins the chanting. As I close my eyes to chant in the Kirtan on the beach and open my eyes a little while later, I notice that the scene has changed. As I go outside Goa for a few days for any trip and come back, I notice that things have changed, some more development has happened. As I meet a child I know after a few years, I notice that he or she has gone through a lot of changes. Change after all is constant factor in this world. Just by observing life and being aware of the happenings around, one can learn about the truths of life. Srimad-bhagvatam mentions the story of a King called Muchukunda who once was summoned by the demigods to lea...
Post a Comment
Read more

THE POWER OF OBEISANCES

Offering obeisances to the Supreme Lord in His deity form may superficially look like a very small and a simple activity. But, it is one one of the very important and significant aspect of Bhakti. Therefore Lord Krishna stresses the importance of offering obeisances to Him in one of the most important verse of the Bhagvat-gita in chapter 9, verse 34. "man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru mām evaiṣyasi yuktvaivam ātmānaṁ mat-parāyaṇaḥ" "Engage your mind always in thinking of Me, become My devotee, offer obeisances to Me and worship Me. Being completely absorbed in Me, surely you will come to Me." - Bhagvat-gita 9.34 This verse comes exactly in the middle of Bhagvat-gita making it all the more important. Not only that, this is the only verse that appears almost as it is, again towards the end of the eighteenth chapter of Bhagvat-gita as follows - "man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru mām evaiṣyasi satyaṁ te pratijāne priyo ...
Post a Comment
Read more