why subhadra has no arms?

[Guest guest]

> >> yesterday one nice 8 year old boy asked a puzzling question.

> >>

> >> "why subhadra has no arms like Jagganatha and Baladeva?"

> >

> > The following is an excerpt from chapter 7 of the book "Embankment of

> > Separation" by Sri Srimad Gour Govinda Swami.

>

> This doesn't explain why Lady Subhadra specifically has no arms where

> Jagannatha deva and Baladeva do, however. Is there a specific reason

> why she has none, whilst they have (little) ones?

 

Krishna, Balaram, and Subhadras forms in Puri are known as maha-bhava

prakash. They are a manifestation of their ecstacy. As far as the difference

in arms between Jagannath/Baladeva and Subhadra my understanding is that the

difference is there because (as described again by Maharaja below) when

Subhadra manifested her form of mahabhava-prakash she was holding her arms

out straight and they completely shrunk into her body. Whereas when Krishna

and Balaram manifested their maha-bhava forms They were not holding Their

arms out.

 

Again from Embankment of Separation:

 

At last they decided that Subhadra should stand at the door. Standing in the

middle of the doorway, Subhadra stretched out her arms and barred the

entrance. Then Rohini-mata began to speak vraja-lila kahani, and all were

hearing with rapt attention. Though Subhadra was standing at the door, She

had given Her ears to this nice vraja-lila kahani. Therefore She completely

forgot herself and became ecstatic. Then Her ecstatic form came out; eyes

dilated and Her hands and legs pushed into the body.

[Guest guest]

Thank you for explaining this to me, Madhavananda prabhu,

 

Ys., Rama Kesava dasa

[Guest guest]

> He told me that in Bhubaneshwar, Madhavananda prabhu (GGS) once showed him

> a book which described the original forms of the deities that Indradyumna

> Maharaja saw. All three dieties where sitting in yoga posture and all had

> four arms. The book also described the four items that Subhadra was

> holding. So one answer to the question "Why doesn't Subhadra have any

> arms?" is 'She does have arms.'

 

Since you are citing my name perhaps I can comment further on this topic.

Subhadra/Ekanamsa/Yogamaya is the younger sister of Balaram and Krishna -

she certainly has arms. In the Vraja and Nava-Vrindavan lilas she has a two

handed form, while in her Dwarka and Mathura lilas she sometimes displays a

four-handed one. Her deity form, of course, has no hands. The detailed

subject of why this is, is far too big a topic to take up here.

 

Briefly, our Gaudiya conception is that Jagannath, Baladev and Subhadra are

Vrindavan Krishna, Balaram and Ekanamsa (another name for Krishna and

Balaram's younger sister). The particular deity forms that they manifest in

Puri are known as their maha-bhava-prakash - or their personified forms of

transcendental ecstasy. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur has described

Jagannath Puri Dham as Vipralambha Kshetra or the place of separation. Sri

Srimad Gour Govinda Swami remarked on a number of occasions that Jagannath's

form in Puri is radha-viraha-vidura-rupa or the personification of

separation from Radha. Similarly the forms of Balaram and Subhadra Mayi are

also personified forms of separation from Vrindavan and the Vraja-basis.

 

The painting you are referring to is known in Orissa as the "anasara pati".

The 15 days following snana-yatra are known as anavasara. During this period

when the deities are supposed to have fallen sick and are being repainted

there is no darsan. For these 15 days there is a need for substitute deities

and the tradition is that the citrakaras (special artists for this purpose)

make paintings of the deities which are then worshipped for this period.

Regarding the anasara pati, J.P. Das in his well-researched and

authoritative book, "Puri Paintings", describes the general view towards

these paintings:

 

"The patis are not merely meant to keep the temple rituals going, they also

provide something for the devotees to view. Yet the deities are not painted

like the missing images but differently: Jagannath as Narayana, Balabhadra/

Balaram as Seshadev and Subhadra as Bhuvaneshvari."

 

> As far as the forms we see today, we have to consider that the original

> Jagannath deities were probably established in the Treta-yuga of this

> Catur-yuga. Since that time the Jagannath temple has been repeatedly

> destroyed, invaded, (and probably moved )and closed many times, even for

> hundreds of years at a time. So there were instances when Jagannath

> deities would have to be recarved from memory after long intervals. This

> may explain the variation in form we now see.

 

Do you have any pramanas to support such an idea from sastra or any of our

acaryas? I don't think that our acaryas would be very impressed with the

suggestion that Jagannatha's present form is not what it was originally.

 

The oldest paintings and literary descriptions, such as in Skanda, Padma and

Brahma Puranas all describe the forms of Jagannath, Baladev, and Subhadra as

being the same as they are found today. Certainly this is the same form they

exhibited at the time of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Mahaprabhu is Krishna

Himself coming to have His own darsan as Jagannath; if He accepted their

forms as bonafide I think that we could also safely do so.

 

Aside from the above points, the Madala Panji (the ancient temple scripture

containing the history and details of worship of Jagannath, Baladev, and

Subhadra) gives detailed descriptions of their forms and how the citrakaras

(devotee artists) should carve, cover and paint them.

 

> There is a practical consideration for Subhadra not having any arms at the

> moment. The Jagannath and Baladev deities are very heavy and the pandas

> actually need to use Their arms for leverage to move them around. You can

> see this at the Ratha-yatra festival in Puri. It is described that during

> Ratha-yatra at the time of Mahaprabhu, the pandas would lift Jagannath

> from pillow to pillow and because He was so heavy, the pillows would

> burst. Nowdays, perhaps because the pandas are not so strong anymore, they

> simply drag Jagannath along the concrete ground, using His arms to rock

> Him backwards and forwards for momentum. You can pick up pieces of

> Jagannath by walking behind Him.

> But Subhadra is much smaller and lighter. Her arms are not required and

> she is carried simply by laying down. This may be a consideration for

> Subhadra eventually receiving no arms, or it may not.

 

I'm sorry, but this is pure nonsense. Subhadra Mayi is a person. She is

Yogamaya Devi and Krishna's eternal and divine younger sister. She is not a

sociological phenomena or a wooden idol whose form is simply based on the

wimsy of some pandas who don't want to carry heavy loads.

 

> There is another story that Subhadra has two arms, but they are folded in

> front of her, covered with cloth.

 

Yes, Subhadra has 2 arms and sometimes she manifests 4 when she exhibits her

form as Bhuvaneshvari. This idea you are mentioning here is also new to us.

Of course that does not make it wrong. But I wonder, where did you get this

from? Is this idea found in any tradition that can be supported by sastra,

or recognized authorities such as the pandas or the raja guru of the

gajapati dynasty? And if so, what is the purport behind it?

 

Das anudas,

Madhavananda Das